Push-ups aren’t the flashiest exercise, and they aren’t exciting to perform or write about. I’d rather write about a lot of other things—standing in line at the Post Office, rugs, buying socks, or listening to another kid’s clarinet recital. But with everyone training at home with limited equipment and the flood of push-up tutorials on social media, I figured I’d share a quick two cents on the topic.
Seriously, stop making this mistake.
I may complain about push-ups, but I’m actually a fan. They offer many benefits: they’re user-friendly, require no equipment beyond your body, and you can easily adjust them to fit your needs. They’re also highly transferable to everyday life and athletic performance. After more than 18 years of coaching, I haven’t seen a client improve their push-up without also getting better at other lifts like squats or deadlifts. When a push-up is done well, it improves lumbo-pelvic control (the canister position or stacked joints), which aids force transfer and, ultimately, everything you do. It’s powerful.
In short:
Do this:
Solid torso position — posterior pelvic tilt, moving plank.
Do not do this:
Poor torso position — lower back arch, anterior pelvic tilt.
But that isn’t the main mistake I want to highlight. Here’s the one I want to point out: performing push-ups with pants on. Why? What’s the point of wearing pants during a push-up? There isn’t one.
Okay, the real point I want to make:
Another real benefit of the push-up is its positive impact on shoulder health. When someone comes to CORE with a shoulder issue, I’ll watch them perform a push-up and often see a common pattern: two shoulder blades effectively glued together.
This is a warning sign—the shoulder blades aren’t moving properly around the ribcage. They’re supposed to move. When they don’t, it can lead to overactive rhomboids and scapular downward rotation, and the ligaments of the anterior shoulder capsule can become lax, increasing injury risk.
That’s not good. What I prefer to see is the subtle protraction at the top of the push-up — a forward push that activates the serratus anterior and nudges the scapula into upward rotation and abduction. The result is a proper push-up and shoulders that feel much better.
The Ultimate Push-Up Program
My good friend Meghan Callaway released a new program focused on the push-up this week. It’s a fantastic resource and fits well with everyone’s quarantine routine. It’s currently on sale, about $50 off the regular price, and you can pair it with her Ultimate Pull-Up Program as well. Check it out.
