{"title":"How to Do a Perfect Push-Up in 6 Steps","canonicalUrl":"https://www.showmestepbystep.com/health/how-to-do-a-perfect-pushup","category":{"slug":"health","name":"Health"},"creator":{"name":"CHRIS HERIA","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaBqRxHEMomgFU-AkSfodCw","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onEE9-LYG-U"},"tldr":"Build perfect push-up form: 1-min high plank first, cobra-to-plank for core, hands shoulder-width, controlled descent, push the floor away, then progress.","totalDurationSeconds":514,"difficulty":"easy","tools":[],"materials":[],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Master a Perfect High Plank First","text":"Before you do a single push-up, build a 1-minute high plank with perfect form. Body completely aligned (no drooping hips, no peaked butt). Hands flat, arms locked out, shoulders stacked directly over fingertips.Squeeze the floor with your hands, point your toes, engage everything from shoulders to calves as one unit. If you can't hold a minute on the floor, do it on an elevated surface (bench, table) until you can."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Build Core Strength With Cobra-to-Plank","text":"From a high plank, drop your hips all the way to the floor (cobra pose). Pause, then bring your hips back up to the perfect plank position.Reps of 10-20 train the core and lower back to maintain a straight line under load. This is the foundation move - if your hips droop or peak during push-ups, this exercise fixes it."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Set Hand Position for Push-Up Width","text":"Get into your high plank with hands shoulder-width apart, directly under your shoulders (slightly wider for chest emphasis, slightly narrower for triceps). Spread your fingers and grip the floor.Rotate your elbows so they point roughly 45 degrees behind you, not flared straight out to the sides - flared elbows kill your shoulders over time."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: Lower Your Chest to the Ground With Control","text":"Bend your elbows and lower your chest until it's an inch above the floor (or actually touching). Take 2-3 seconds on the way down - controlled, not collapsing.Keep your body in one straight line the whole way. Elbows stay at that 45-degree angle. If your hips drop or your chin pokes forward, you're losing the line."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: Push the Floor Away to the Top","text":"From the bottom, push your hands into the floor and drive your body back up. Imagine pushing the floor away from you, not pushing yourself up off the floor - this cue keeps your shoulders set.Lock your arms out at the top without hyperextending. That's one rep. Reset for a second before going again."},{"number":6,"title":"Step 6: Progress to Harder Variations Once 20 Reps Feel Easy","text":"Once you can do 20 strict push-ups in a row, progress: feet elevated on a bench (decline push-ups), hands on parallettes for deeper range, plyometric clap push-ups for explosive power, or one-arm push-ups for unilateral strength.The push-up is your gym - adding leverage progressively replaces adding weights. You can build serious chest, triceps, and shoulder strength without ever touching a barbell."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-05-19T14:11:55.791Z","published":"2026-04-27T00:19:50.124Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}