How to Increase Your Push-Ups (In Just 30-Days!)

Strength often begins with relative strength. This means moving your own body weight against gravity. That's why body weight exercises like push-ups are a good first test. They challenge even seasoned athletes. Many find push-ups daunting though. They struggle to do many at once. To boost your push-up numbers, we offer three methods. These will help you increase your total push-ups. Choose different variations to match your skill. If push-ups on the floor are too hard, try incline or knee push-ups. You can also change push-up types. This helps target specific muscles. Want to improve your pike or diamond push-ups? Use the same methods shown here. These approaches work well. But beginners should be careful. If you're new to exercise, this training might be too much. Your muscles, joints, and tissues might not be ready. Start with beginner routines. These prepare your body for harder training. Our workout plans follow this exact idea. Each program begins with a prep phase. Then, you gradually build up. Find the right plan and level at calimove.com. Our first method is high volume training. As the name suggests, you do many sets. We suggest ten sets of push-ups. Rest for two minutes between sets. Do this three times weekly. To maintain consistent effort, do only half your max reps. For example, if you can do ten push-ups, do five per set. This feels easy at first. But doing more sets makes it harder. You might not finish five reps in the last few sets. This is normal. Don't worry if you only manage three or four. This method works best for fewer reps. It also helps if you aim for over twenty reps. Simply choose fifty percent of your maximum. Then you're set. If you don't know your maximum, test it. Do this two days before starting. This test also shows which variation suits you. You need at least four reps. If you can't do four on the floor, use incline or knee push-ups. Switch to floor push-ups when you gain strength. The second method is high frequency training. Train often, but don't push to exhaustion. We suggest five sessions each week. Each session includes five sets. Rest for three to five minutes between sets. Unlike the first method, don't aim for a set number of reps. Stop each set before you fail. To train moderately, reduce reps slightly each set. It's fine to do seven reps in the last set. If they feel as hard as ten reps felt earlier, that's good. This method takes practice. You must learn when to stop a set. Avoid stopping too soon. Also, don't stop when you can barely do a rep. Like method one, this works for various rep counts. It suits those who do few or many push-ups. The third and final method is greasing the groove. This training is powerful but inconvenient. We have a video on this topic. It uses pull-ups to explain the idea. It works for push-ups too. You can find more details there.

Mastering the push-up unlocks serious upper body strength. But doing them incorrectly wastes your effort. You'll hinder progress and invite injury. Chances are you're making one of these five common errors. Let's fix them.

First, avoid looking up. Tilting your head misaligns your spine and strains your neck. Instead, fix your gaze on a spot ahead of your hands. This keeps your head in line with your spine.

Second, don't flare your elbows wide. This 90-degree angle exposes your shoulder joints to harm. Tuck them back around 45 degrees toward your body. Your upper body should form an arrow shape.

Third, stop letting your hips sag. This stresses your lower back. It also makes the exercise too easy in the wrong way. Engage your core and squeeze your glutes. Maintain a straight line from head to heels. Don't let your middle drop.

Fourth, stop rolling your shoulders forward. This shifts focus away from your chest. It burdens smaller muscles that fatigue quickly. Pull your shoulders back and stay tight throughout your set.

Fifth, don't move purely up and down. Push-ups are not an elevator. This limited motion misses out on full chest activation. Push slightly forward as you push up. Imagine shoving the floor away.

Now that your push-ups are perfected, discover five other workout mistakes and their solutions.