Can't Do a Push-Up? A Progression That Works

Push-ups build strength like the bench press when the effort is matched. Here's how to get from wall push-ups to your first full set, one step at a time.

If you can't do a push-up yet, you're far from alone, and the fix is simpler than it looks. A push-up has your arms pressing a large share of your body weight, so the trick is to start at an angle that takes some of that weight off, then make the angle harder a little at a time.

Here are the steps from the wall to the floor, the form cues, a three-day weekly plan and clear rules for when to move on.

Why push-ups are worth learning

The CDC counts exercises that use your body weight for resistance, such as push-ups, as muscle-strengthening activity. It suggests 8–12 repetitions per set, done to the point where it's hard to do another rep without help.¹

Push-ups can also do the same job as the bench press. In an 8-week study, young men trained twice a week with either the bench press at 40% of their maximum or push-ups adjusted to the same load, for example by doing them from the knees. Both groups got stronger and built similar amounts of chest and triceps muscle.² In another study, moderately trained men did progressively harder push-up variations three days a week for four weeks, and their bench press maximum went up, as it did for a group that trained on the bench press itself.³

Push-up ability may also say something about your overall fitness. In a 10-year study of 1,104 male firefighters, those who could do more than 40 push-ups at the start had a much lower rate of cardiovascular events than those who could do fewer than 10.⁴ That's an association in one group of active men, not proof that push-ups protect your heart, but the authors suggest that push-up capacity may be a simple, free way to gauge fitness.

Why the angle changes everything

How hard a push-up is depends on how much of your weight goes through your hands. A force-plate study of 23 recreationally fit men and women measured it. Push-ups with the hands raised on a box, and push-ups from the knees, put less force through the hands than a regular push-up, while raising the feet on a box put more. Men and women responded the same way.⁵

So you can start with your hands high enough to make the push-up manageable, then lower them step by step until you reach the floor.

How to do a push-up correctly

These cues apply to every step below:

Hands: slightly wider than your shoulders, fingers pointing forward.
Body: one straight line from head to heels (or head to knees on knee push-ups). Tighten your stomach and squeeze your glutes so your hips don't sag or stick up.
Elbows: angled back diagonally as you lower, not flared straight out to the sides.
Depth: lower until your chest almost touches the surface, then press back up until your arms are straight. Breathe out on the way up.
Head: in line with your body, eyes on the floor just ahead of your hands.

A rep only counts when it's full range with a straight body.

The progression, step by step

Start at the hardest step where you can do 8 good reps. Most people combine two neighbouring steps in a session.

Step 1: Wall push-ups

Stand an arm's length from a wall with your hands flat against it at chest height. Bend your arms to bring your chest toward the wall, then push back. The NHS includes wall press-ups in its home strength routine, with 3 sets of 5–10 reps, building up gradually.⁶ To make them harder, step your feet a little further back.

Step 2: Incline push-ups

Put your hands on something lower: a kitchen counter, then a sturdy table, then a gym bench, then a low step. In a gym, a Smith machine bar works well because you can lower it one notch at a time. Whatever you use, check that it can't slide or tip. Watch the incline push-up demo.

Step 3: Knee push-ups

Kneel on a mat with your hands on the floor and keep a straight line from knees to head, with no bend at the hips. Knee push-ups are lighter than regular push-ups, like hand-raised push-ups are,⁵ and they're one of the adjustments the 8-week study used to match the push-up load to the bench press.² Use knee push-ups or a low incline, whichever suits you.

Step 4: Negatives

Start at the top of a full push-up and lower yourself as slowly as you can, aiming for 3–5 seconds, until your chest is just above the floor. Drop your knees, push back up, and repeat. Do 3 sets of 3–5. This trains the full range before you can press up from the bottom.

Step 5: Your first full push-up

Test it once a week at the start of a session, when you're fresh. Once you get one, collect a few sets of 2–3 reps in each session and build from there toward 3 sets of 8–12. Compare your form with the push-up demo.

Scapular push-ups: a warm-up worth doing

In the top push-up position (or against a wall or bench), keep your arms straight and let your chest sink a few centimetres so your shoulder blades come together, then push the floor away so they spread apart. In a muscle-activity study, a push-up finished with that extra push at the top, the "push-up plus", activated the serratus anterior, a muscle that helps control your shoulder blades, more than versions done on the elbows, on the knees or against a wall.⁷ Do 2 sets of 8–10 as a warm-up.

Your weekly plan

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends training 2–3 days a week as a beginner, and making an exercise harder once you can do one or two reps more than your target.⁸ Plan three short sessions, such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each takes 10–15 minutes:

Warm-up: arm circles, then 2 × 8–10 scapular push-ups.
Main sets: 3 × 8–12 at your current step, resting 1–2 minutes between sets.
Extra (from Step 3 on): 3 × 3–5 negatives.

When to move on: once you can do 3 sets of 12 with good form, go to the next step, or lower your hands one notch, and build back up from 8 reps. How long that takes depends on where you start, so judge your progress by your numbers, not the calendar.

Can you do push-ups every day?

Hard sets need recovery, which is why the ACSM recommends 2–3 training days a week for beginners.⁸ On the days in between, keep any practice easy, a set or two well short of your limit, and back off if your shoulders, elbows or wrists ache.

After your first push-up

When 3 sets of 10 full push-ups feel comfortable, you can keep making them harder:

Close-grip push-ups: hands closer than shoulder-width. In a study of 40 adults, a narrow hand position made the chest and triceps work harder than a wide one.⁹
Decline push-ups: feet on a bench or step. In the force-plate study, feet-raised push-ups put more force through the hands than any other version tested.⁵
Slow lowering: take 3 seconds to lower on every rep.

It's also a good time to take your strength into the gym. The 3-Day Full Body program builds on it with three kinds of bench press, alongside squats, rows and pull-ups. Push-ups also appear in the 5-Day Transformation, paired with the incline bench press on its chest day. For the pulling side, see your first pull-up.

Stay safe

If you have a shoulder, elbow or wrist injury, or a health condition that affects exercise, check with a doctor or physiotherapist before you start.
If your wrists ache on the floor, try doing push-ups with your hands on a pair of hex dumbbells (they don't roll) so your wrists stay straight.
If a step causes pain, go back to the previous one. Pain that keeps coming back is worth getting checked.
Muscle soreness for a day or two is normal when you start. Sharp or joint pain is not.

How to start this week

Find your step: the hardest version where you can do 8 clean reps.
Schedule three sessions with a rest day between them, and note your reps in the first one.
Beat one number each week: more reps, or lower hands.
Check your form against the animated incline, full, close-grip and decline push-up demos in the TrainSmart app.

Three short sessions a week, one step at a time, will take you from the wall to the floor.