Push-Up — form guide
Chest · Triceps · Front Delts · Core. Equipment: Bodyweight. Difficulty: Beginner.
A push-up is a moving plank. If your hips sag or pike, you've lost the lift before the rep starts.
Sets & Reps
Programming defaults depend on your goal. Pick the row that matches yours:
Cues
- Hands slightly wider than shoulders
- Elbows tracked back at ~45°, not flared 90°
- Full body rigid plank from heels to head
- Chest grazes floor at bottom
Common mistakes
- Hips sagging or piking
- Partial ROM — head bobs but chest doesn't lower
- Elbows flared 90° — shoulder impingement
Injury notes
Wrist pain → push-up handles or fists. Build to 3×15 before adding weight.
Progression
BW → feet elevated → weighted vest → ring push-ups → one-arm progressions.
Indian gym reality
Zero-equipment lift — works in a hostel room, PG, or a park. No excuse for skipping it on travel or gym-closed days.
If your gym doesn't have this equipment
- Zero-equipment variant works — see the home version below.
Home & hostel version
Push-ups (elevated, deficit, or archer variants) hit chest hard with zero equipment. Weighted push-ups with a backpack of books scale for months.
Nutrition & recovery around this lift
Isolations recover fast — 24 hours is usually enough. You can hit the same muscle again the next day with a different exercise. For an Indian lifter, land 30–40g of protein within 90 minutes of finishing — 200g paneer, 4 whole eggs, 150g chicken, or a whey shake all work.
Programs that feature Push-Up
Full workout plans where this lift sits in the main slot — pick the goal, split, and frequency that fits your life.
Eat to support this lift
Recovery and growth happen at the plate. A meal plan matched to the training goal:
Frequently asked
What muscles does Push-Up work?
Primarily Chest · Triceps · Front Delts · Core. Load and rep range shift the emphasis — heavy triples bias the primary mover, sets of 12+ bring more of the secondaries in.
How many sets of Push-Up per week?
For hypertrophy, 10–20 direct working sets per week across all exercises for that muscle. This exercise usually contributes 3–8 of those sets, depending on where it sits in your program.
What if I'm training at home in India?
See the home & hostel version above. Bodyweight variants of every major pattern exist and progress for months if you're intentional about it.
How often should I do Push-Up?
Most intermediates do best with 2× per week frequency on any given lift — one heavier session and one lighter, or two matched sessions with different rep ranges. Beginners can add a third if recovery holds up.