The Push-up Progression Plan (Get Your First Push-up!)

Yeah, I know, there’s nothing too earth-shattering there.

But no matter what your current strength level is, the best way to work towards a push-up is to train your push muscles consistently. No matter where you’re starting today.

This is how our friend Mason went from wall push-ups to regular push-ups, then all the way to diamond push-ups.

Oh, and he lost like 70 pounds along the way too!

I’ll discuss push-up variations you should start with in the next section. Plus, we’ll wrap up today’s guide by discussing just how often you should train your push muscles.

Just remember, if you want your first push-up (and you should cause push-ups are awesome), then you’ll need to be consistent with our push-up progression plan.

Cool?

Cool.

Our first stop on the Push-up Progression Plan: finding a push-up variation for you to become comfortable with. Something you can do about 8-10 reps with, for about 3-4 sets.

To start, you’ll probably train with an elevated push-up variation:

These will be easier than a regular push-up, since the higher the elevation, the less of your body’s weight you’ll be lifting during the movement.

Conversely, if you were to elevate your feet, you’d actually be lifting more than a regular push-up:

The video above walks you through the correct way to do a proper push-up, and also includes a few well-placed jokes from yours truly.

Here’s how to complete one perfect push-up:

• With your arms straight, glutes clenched, and abs braced, steadily lower yourself until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle or less.
• Try to keep your elbows relatively close to your body, and keep note of when they start to flare out as you get tired.
• Once your chest (or nose/chin) touches the floor (or your arms go down to a 90-degree angle), pause slightly and then push back up until you’re at the starting position.

Here are 4 common mistakes with push-ups:

#1) Make sure you keep your elbows in. Often, beginners will flare out their elbows when doing a push-up.

A good way to think of this, is you want your body to appear more like an ARROW from the top, not a T.

This infographic on the proper push-up form shows you want I mean:

#2) Keep your head in line with your body. We don’t want your head shifting forward, which could put unnecessary stress on your neck and prevent a full range of motion.

#3) Keep your hips in line with your body (no sagging). We want you in one straight line as you push your body up and down:

#4) Attempt to do a full range of motion with your push-up (as long as it’s pain-free). Shoot to come all the way down, so your chest is touching the ground or the object you’re doing push-ups against.

Exercises For Achieving a Full Push-Up

There are two exercises that will go a long way towards achieving your first push-up:

1. Push-up Negatives
2. Front Planks or Top of Push-up Holds

First, let’s talk about push-up negatives.

“Negative” in exercise terminology generally means only doing half of a traditional rep, normally lowering the movement.

To do a Push-up Negative: 

• Hold yourself up at the top of a push-up, with the body in a straight line from shoulders to feet.
• Lower down and touch the ground, then let the knees rest on the ground to help you push back up.
• You can do a push-up negative from an elevated surface too.

Next, let’s talk about Front Planks or Holding at the Top of a Push-up.

This is important for a few reasons:

Holding a plank might be tough for you, so let’s talk about a few variations you can experiment with.

Hold Level 1: Knee Planks

Hold yourself up on your forearms and knees, with the body in a straight line from shoulders to knees.

Hold Level 2: Front Planks

Lie on the floor with your forearms flat, making sure that your elbows are aligned directly under your shoulders.

Engage your core and raise your body off the floor in a straight line from head to feet, keeping your forearms planted. Try not to let your hips rise or drop.

Hold Level 3: Push-up Hold

Hold yourself up at the top of a push-up position, with the body in a straight line from shoulders to feet.

If you follow the Push-up Challenge in NF Journey, you’ll notice that pretty much every workout ends with a type of one of these holds, since core strength is so critical for push-ups.

Oh, and if you want to just try Nerd Fitness Journey to see what I mean, you can do so right here:

The Push-up Workout Plan

Remember earlier when I said the name of the game with push-up progression is consistency?

I’d recommend three workouts a week for a Push-up Progression Plan, with a rest day between.

Could be Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday.

As long as there’s a day off between workouts, it’s fine.

Oh, and if you can only do two workouts a week, that’s okay too. Just do the best you can (even once a week).

The “Get Your First Push-up” Workout is:

• A Warm-Up
• 3 or 4 sets of a Push-up Variation for 8-10 reps
• 2 or 3 reps of a Push-up Negative
• 60-second Plank or Hold

Let’s dive into each of these a bit more.

Step #1) Warm-up

• Arm circles: 10x/way
• Wrist stretches: 5/side

Arm circles for push-ups will look like this:

Wrist stretches for push-ups will look like so:

You can always do a more formal warm-up routine, but just make sure you include some variation of these two moves.

Step #2) Train with a Push-up Variation

This could be:

• Adding another rep (8 reps of waist-high push-ups to 9)
• Adding another set (3 sets of knee push-ups to 4)
• Moving up to a more difficult variation (waist-high push-ups to knee-high)

Oh, and if you need any help along the way, I gotcha boo.

Here’s how to continue your journey with Nerd Fitness:

#1) Our Online Coaching Program: perfect for someone who wants an expert (like me!) to design the right path for conquering push-ups. We’re all different, so why not have a coach guide you through a program that’s custom-made for you?

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program would be a good fit. Just click on the image below for more details:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

#2) If you want an exact blueprint for crushing push-ups, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Plus, our 6-week Push-up Challenge has helped quite a few Rebels achieve their first push-up!

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. You’ll meet individuals from all different walks of life, all of whom are trying to level up their lives. 

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our “Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know” guide, which will teach you exactly how to grow strong enough to rock push-ups:

Download our comprehensive guide

• Everything you need to know about getting strong.
• Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
• How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

Alright, I want to hear from you now:

Can you do a proper push-up?

If not, what level are you on?

Are we missing any helpful suggestions for a beginner?

Let me know in the comments!

-Jim

PS: Check out the rest of our guides on doing push-ups:

###