{"id":4679,"date":"2020-11-27T10:43:52","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T15:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/?p=4679"},"modified":"2025-11-27T13:15:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T18:15:19","slug":"push-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/push-up\/","title":{"rendered":"The Push Up: A Super Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The push up is an upper body movement that targets muscles of the chest, shoulders, and arms. This movement is also excellent to develop trunk and scapular stability. Therefore, it is ideal to include in\u00a0 your rehab or general strengthening program. It can also be easily adapted to suit a variety of levels. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Due to the variability in anatomical differences, mobility restrictions, and muscle flexibility this exercise may look different from person to person. This is why it is important to use this resource as a general guide. If you have any questions, don&#8217;t hesitate to reach out to your physiotherapist to ensure the exercise is properly and safely executed.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>How to do the Exercise\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Starting Position: <\/span><\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Begin in a 4-point position with your hands placed under your shoulders and knees touching the ground<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Straighten your legs by lifting your knees from the ground, feet together while keeping the shoulder blades flat against the ribcage <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Your body should be aligned from the crown of your head through the shoulders, low back, and all the way to the ankles<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Action: <\/span><\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Lower your chest towards the ground by bending your elbows to approximately 90\u00b0 while keeping your trunk and legs straight<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">After lowering your chest, return to starting position by pushing through your arms and straightening the elbows<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Common Mistakes to Avoid:<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Dropping the hips towards the ground and extending the low back<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Forcing the head forwards and craning the neck throughout the movement<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Winging the shoulder blades during the movement<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Modifications and Progressions:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Hands placement will target muscle groups differently;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Narrow placement: increased activation of pec major and triceps<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Wide placement: increased activation of anterior deltoid, biceps<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Body positioning may be modified to increase or decrease difficulty <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Level 1: push up with knees on ground<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"background-color: var(--bs-body-bg); color: var(--bs-body-color); font-family: var(--bs-body-font-family); font-size: var(--bs-body-font-size); font-weight: var(--bs-body-font-weight); text-align: var(--bs-body-text-align);\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">Level 2: <\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">hands placed on a higher surface than feet<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Level 3: hands placed on a lower surface than feet<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Parameters: <\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Based on your individual goals, the parameters for exercise can vary significantly by changing the sets, repetitions and tempo to optimize your programming. Whether you are returning from injury, looking to get stronger, or improving your sport performance, speak to your physiotherapist to establish your training goals.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The push up is an upper body movement that targets muscles of the chest, shoulders, and arms. This movement is also excellent to develop trunk [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/push-up\/\">Read More&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> from The Push Up: A Super Exercise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,80,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-low-back-lumbar-spine","category-super-exercises","category-arm-upper-extermity"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physiodynamik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}