When teaching push-ups, after proper form is discussed, the next big criteria I lay out for students is full range of motion.
If we want to fully develop the muscles being worked, we need to take those muscles through their full range of motion.
With this in mind, for those who aren’t able to do push-ups off their knees, I encourage them to put their knees down, keep their back as flat as they can, and do reps as fully as they’re able. Better that than 20% down, 20% uppers.
By doing this, they meet themselves where they are, will build quality strength through persistence, and can increase reps as they go—eventually working their way to off-the-knee push-ups when ready.
During a recent physical exam, while watching my students doing push-ups, a guest instructor made a comment I liked.
He said, “I understand many of you need to do push-ups on your knees, but try at least the first one off your knees.”
And the point he went on to explain was that many times we pigeon-hole ourselves into a certain way of doing things, with old limits in mind, and—whether consciously or unconsciously—mostly stay within those previously defined constraints.
By doing the first one(s) off our knees and at least giving ourselves a quality eccentric contraction as we slowly lower ourselves to the ground, not only do we expose our muscles to the weight of our eventual goal, but we—whether consciously or unconsciously—remind ourselves that we’re capable of doing more than we previously might’ve decided.
…Because we are.
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