Push-up Training Tailored to Your Needs

Ensuring that your push-up training is tailored to your needs and, above all, to your physical condition as an athlete, will help you to get the most out of this productive exercise.
Push-up Training Tailored to Your Needs

Last update: 27 January, 2021

Push-up training should be part of your weekly routine. Not only because it’s an alternative to the exercises you already do but because it can benefit you in many ways. In addition, you don’t need any equipment to do push-ups.

In normal conditions, a workout routine consists of three fundamental exercises: ab exercises, squats, and push-up training. However, many people make the mistake of only focusing on one type of exercise and neglecting the others.

Ideally, you should do them all, including push-up training, which we’ll tell you all about below. Depending on your physical condition, you can choose and incorporate any of the following push-ups.

Push-up training for different conditions

You can do push-up training in many different ways. Obviously, it’ll vary according to your own individual needs and condition. However, in general, push-ups offer similar benefits and are responsible for stimulating the same muscle groups, at least most of the time.

The muscles that push-up training works out the most are the triceps brachii, the deltoid, the pectorals, and the trapezius. However, they also stimulate the biceps brachii and the core muscle groups, as a study published by Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise details.

Beyond strengthening these muscles, and generally as a consequence of this improvement in muscle tissues, the benefits of regularly doing push-ups are:

  • Improving posture.
  • Preventing injuries.
  • Help boost physical abilities such as strength and endurance.
  • Stimulate metabolism.
  • Contributing to self-esteem and helping to improve personal appearance.
A people doing push-ups.

Although push-ups have general characteristics, four supports, two on the palms of the hands and two on the balls of the feet, with the head, back, and legs aligned, many variables depend on each person’s needs or capabilities. In this vein, we’ll now tell you about some of the variables of push-up training so that you can take them into account.

Push-up training for sedentary people

Physical inactivity is one of the most important global health problems. A sedentary lifestyle favors the appearance of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which affect a large portion of the world’s population.

Therefore, it’s advisable to do moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity. Push-up training is a great way to eliminate a sedentary lifestyle.

Knee push-ups

This type of push-up is one of the easiest and is recommended for sedentary people or people who don’t have a lot of arm strength. To do it, you must support your body on the palms of your hands and knees and then start the movement. We advise you to do few reps until your physical condition improves.

Wall push-ups

Doing wall push-ups won’t only help you improve your technique but also decreases the complexity body weight adds to the exercise. These are good for people who are sedentary, overweight, or pregnant.

A woman doing a wall push-up.
You can include wall push-ups in your push-up training.

All you need to do is stand facing the wall with your arms at shoulder height and your hands resting on the wall. Once in this position, you can start doing the number of repetitions that seem appropriate to you.

Intermediate push-up training

You may not be sedentary, but not a fitness guru either. If this is your case, these push-up exercises can help you.

Incline pushups

Find an object you can support your feet on so that your body is leaning forward. The more inclined your body is, the harder the exercise will be. Support the palms of your hands and begin to do the repetitions.

Clapping push-ups

They aren’t much harder to do than standard push-ups. The difference is that, when you raise your body, you must clap your hands. To do this type of push-up, you require more arm and torso strength, as well as adequate technique.

A man doing a clapping push-up.
Clapping pushups are a type of plyometric exercise.

Advanced push-up training

There are many variations of push-up training for people who are in better physical condition. However, you can start with intermediate level push-ups and increase the number of repetitions or add external loading to make them harder.

You can also add the following push-ups to your routine:

  • Handstand push-up. To do one, only support your hands and keep your torso vertical.
  • Double and triple clap push-up. Simply do a conventional push-up but use more momentum to clap more than once.

Be responsible in your push-up training

Many people are fearless and like to take risks. However, experts advise against demanding more from your body than it’s ready for.

Therefore, don’t try to impress anyone. Simply focus on developing your muscles gradually and be responsible for the routines you try out. This way, you can prevent injuries that hinder your process and will make it harder for you to reach your goals.


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.



This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.