Push-ups are a classic staple exercise due to the fact they require no equipment and are simple to learn. However, part of getting the most out of any exercise is matching the intensity to your performance level. This means if you can’t currently do a push-up or even if you can do one or two, it’s hard to get an appropriate training stimulus from an exercise with mismatched intensity. Not enough intensity and there will be insufficient mechanical tension to stimulate strength adaptations. Too much intensity (exercise is too heavy, too hard) and there will be insufficient volume of exercise to elicit improvements. Today we are going to cover finding that sweet spot between intensity and volume with push-ups.
In my experience most people are familiar with the idea of doing push-ups from the knees if they struggle with doing push-ups from their toes. This is a perfectly sound means of adjusting leverage favorably to more closely match the capacity of the individual. However, a major problem with this is it’s often to much of a jump to go from knee push-ups to toe push-ups. You may find you can do 60+ push-ups from your knees but still can’t do one from your toes. This is a clear example of the intensity not being sufficient with the knee push-ups in this case and the volume not being sufficient with push-ups from the toes as they can’t be completed. How can we bridge this gap?
First we need to understand that while no “perfect” repetition range exists and different people respond better to different programming that some general rules can be applied. You may have seen repetition range charts showing something like this:
- 1-5 Absolute Strength
- 8-12 Hypertrophy (muscle growth)
- 15-20 Strength Endurance
- 20+ Endurance
These types of repetition range charts more or less hold up, and it’s beyond the scope of this article to go too deeply into nuances and different findings. The point here is that we can simplify further and state that 5-20 repetitions is a decent working range for adaptations to occur. The 1-5 Absolute Strength category can certainly work as well, but it’s taxing and requires longer rest periods and more sets to get the volume needed which aren’t the most conducive to time-efficient work (which is what we are after – maximizing improvements with minimal time). One really simple way, that most people have access to, for adjusting push-ups into this range is done using a stair case. By placing hands on higher step the angle is adjusted so there is less force needed to push back up. As you work down the stairs you will find the challenge increases until you are doing them from the floor. Starting out you just want to find a step that allows you to do between 5-20 reps to match your intensity and volume needs. I like to have people start with a step that allows 5-10 reps as a starting point and then building up to 20 reps from there. Once you can do 20 reps from a given step you should be able to do 5-10 from the next step down. Over time you can simply move your workouts down the stairs until you have managed to get to ground level successfully. The following video gives a quick visual:
If you don’t have access to steps the same thing can be accomplished in a number of ways, such as:
- Working from a higher hand position on a hill with level ground for the feet at the bottom allowing you to gradually work your hands down the hill.
- Working from the wall, to a counter, to a chair/bench, etc. Simply find sturdy objects that will support you and move to shorter objects as you progress.
- With a squat rack or smith machine you can also do push-ups with your hand against the barbell (be sure you are not pushing the bar off the rack, but into it) and lowering the rack height over time.