Push-ups are one of the best exercises for your upper body, especially when you're just starting out. Not only do they work your chest and arms, but they also strengthen your core, which is one reason why many Pilates instructors use push-ups as part of their classes. If you're not ready to do traditional push-ups yet (or even if you are), try these beginner variations on this classic exercise:
Lie on your stomach
Lie on your stomach, with your hands and feet shoulder-width apart.
- Start position: Lie on the floor with your legs straight in front of you and arms at right angles to your body. Your palms should be facing down with your fingers pointing towards the floor. Make sure that when you do this exercise, there is no gap between the ground and the base of your palm (i.e., don't let them touch). This will take some practice but it's important to get it right from the beginning because otherwise, it can cause wrist pain later on in life!
- How to do it: Slowly lift yourself up by raising one hand off of its starting position at about 45 degrees from vertical, keeping both shoulders pressed firmly against the floor throughout the movement; then lower back down until both hands touch again before repeating with the other hand - this constitutes one rep or "pushup".
Keep your elbows at a 90-degree angle while lowering and raising yourself
This will help you keep the correct form and make sure that your core is tight. Your back should also be straight while doing this exercise so that you don't strain it or hurt yourself in any way.
- Don't go too fast! If it takes more than 10 seconds to lower yourself down into the push-up position, then slow down until it feels comfortable for you before picking up speed again. It's better to take more time now than have an injury later on because of rushing through something you aren't ready for yet.
- Don't hold your breath! Breathing is important when doing any kind of exercise so make sure that each inhale happens before lowering yourself down towards ground level and each exhale happens after raising back up again (this includes taking breaks during rest periods).
Lower your chest so it's parallel to the ground and then push yourself back up to the start position
Beginners should begin with their knees on the floor, but as you get stronger move them further away from you so that they are elevated above your hips instead of touching the ground. To perform a basic push-up:
- Lower your chest so it's parallel to the ground and then push yourself back up to the start position. Repeat for desired reps (the more reps you do at once, the more challenging this exercise becomes). Keep your elbows at 90 degrees throughout; don't let them flare out or dip below 45 degrees either! Your hands should be shoulder-width apart with palms facing away from each other; when doing this with proper form (as explained below), it will bring about greater benefits for building strength as opposed to having smaller movements that won't help much at all.*
You can do push-ups even if you're just starting out!
Push-ups are a great way to build upper body strength. They're also easy to do, can be done anywhere, anytime, and can be modified for people with disabilities. Push-ups are a perfect exercise for beginners because they don't require any equipment or special skills--you just need yourself! The only thing you'll need is commitment (and maybe some sweatbands). Push-ups don't cost anything either--just find a quiet corner in your house or apartment where there's enough room for your body weight on the floor; then get down there! Start with one push-up at first and then build up from there. If that's too much right now try doing negative reps: lower yourself down slowly until your arms are locked out then press back up slowly until your arms are locked out again before lowering yourself again etc...
Conclusion
If you're just starting out with push-ups, we hope that this article has given you some insight into how to do them correctly. Push-ups are a great exercise for building upper body strength and endurance, so if you want to get started on your journey towards getting in shape then try these tips out!
