Build Strength for Everyday Life: Beginner's Guide to Push-Ups

Push-ups are a popular exercise that works on your upper body. However, if you do it wrongly, it can lead to muscle strain or injury. Read on to find out how to do push-ups for beginners and how to build your strength.

What you should know:

What is the correct form for push-ups?
What are the benefits of push-ups?
How to start doing push-ups for beginners

What is the correct form for push-ups?

Push-Up, for beginners, is popular, but many do it in the wrong posture. The first step is lying flat on the ground with your palms on the floor slightly wider than your shoulder. Raise your body off the ground and hold it in a plank position.

Here are some key points to remember while you do standard push-ups for beginners:

Keep your body in a straight line from your shoulder to your ankles.
Lower your body and stop when you are an inch above the floor before lifting again.
Start slow and with fewer reps. You can start by doing 5-10 push-ups.
Holding a plank pose for a minute is a good test to understand if you can start doing push-ups without much effort.

What are the benefits of push-ups?

pushups_activ living community Here are some of the benefits of practising push-ups for beginners on a daily basis:

Enhances your upper body strength.
Help in improving overall stability.
Promotes bone health.
Keeps your heart active and healthy.
Helps in managing body weight.

How to start doing push-ups for beginners

pushup at home__activ living community

It might not be physically safe to start doing push-ups for beginners immediately. Instead, you can build up your strength with the following exercises to avoid a risk of injury.

Wall push-ups

Wall push-ups for beginners are an excellent way to reduce pressure on your joints. Here is how you can do this exercise:

Stand with your feet apart in front of a wall and keep one arm’s distance.
Press your palms against the wall and lean forward into a standing plank position.
Move your upper body towards the wall with your feet on the ground.
Hold this position for 2 breaths before returning to the standing plank positions.

Seated push-ups

To strengthen your shoulder muscles, try doing push-ups while sitting. Here are the steps for doing seated push-ups for beginners:

Sit down on a chair or a bench with your palms resting at your side.
Place your feet on the ground. (If you want to exercise your legs, you can also straighten your knee.)
Push down on the chair or bench and lift your body a little.
Hold the position for 2 breaths and sit down again.

Kneeling push-ups

These types of push-ups for beginners might put pressure on your knees. So, consider keeping a pillow to rest your knees on. Here are the steps for practising kneeling push-ups:

Rest your palms and knees on the floor with your face looking downward.
Slowly lower your upper body towards the ground.
Hold this position for a few seconds before pushing to your starting position.

Incline push-ups

This exercise can challenge your upper body by keeping your hands on an elevated stable surface. Here are the steps for doing it correctly:

Place your hand on a sturdy surface that rests above the ground.
Step back while keeping your arms straight and your palms flat on the surface.
Breathe in as you lower your upper body towards your palm
Hold this position for a few seconds before pushing upwards again.

Pike Push-ups

These push-ups for beginner exercise involve strengthening your upper body part, involving more priority on your shoulders. Here are the steps that you can follow to practise this pose:

Begin with a downward dog yoga position.
Maintain the V position while bending your elbows and lowering your head towards the floor.
Go back to the initial position and repeat this as many times as you’re comfortable.

Staggered hands push-ups

This type of staggered hand push-up includes training your push-up muscles throughout your body. Typically you’ll need a lot of core strength and stability to do this perfectly. Here are the steps for doing it the right way.

Start with the standard pushup position
Move one hand forward and take your other hand backwards. The farther they are, the tougher it’ll be.
Bend your elbows slowly and lower your chest and then get back up to the starting position.
After one or two times, switch the hand positions to work on each side equally

Consider keeping your elbows close to your body while doing this exercise.

Inside pushups with reversed arms

This kind of pushup involves changing the alignment of your hands to make arm-curling movements. This can help you strengthen your biceps. Here are the steps:

Start with a standard pushup position
make your hands as if your fingers are touching the wall backwards. Align them with your back portion of the body
Lower your body and tuck your elbows in as much as you can.
Once your chest has reached the floor, go back to the initial position

Consider joining a group exercise to find like-minded people, all working towards attaining the same goals. This can help you stay active and reap the maximum health benefits quickly!

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