Ultimate Push-Up Progression Guide [VIDEO TUTORIAL – 2023]


What are push-up progressions?

Push-up progressions are a series of step-by-step push-up variations designed to improve your push-ups and make you stronger.

This guide shows you exactly how to make progress with push-ups in 3 simple steps.

Step 1 – Identify your current “push-up level” based on your ability to do the exercises below.

Step 2 – Watch the full video tutorial linked below to perfect your form.

Step 3 – Achieve the recommended “Progression Requirements” before moving onto the next exercise.

Note: Perform the exercise 2-3 times per week, adding repetitions whenever possible.  

Let’s begin!

Best Beginner Push-Up Progressions:

Beginner Push-Up Progression Level 1 – Incline Push-ups 

Description: Incline push-ups are done standing on your feet with your palms against any sturdy object that is chest height or below. 

The angle of your body during incline push-ups dictates the level of difficulty of this exercise. The more vertical your body angle, the easier incline push-ups become. The more horizontal your body angle, the harder this exercise becomes. 

Incline push-ups are better than wall push-ups because they perfectly mimic regular push-up mechanics. 

If you can consistently lower your body angle until you’re horizontal to the ground, you can progress to regular push-ups with just this one exercise. 

But, there are other ways to continue making progress with push-ups, the next progression is my favourite.

Progression requirements: Achieve 3 sets of 12-15 reps.

Progress to: Knee Push-ups/Half Push-ups/Regular Push-ups (depending on your strength level and the angle of incline achieved).

Beginner Push-up Progression Level 1 [Alternative] – Incline Ring Push-ups:

Description: Incline Ring Push-ups are incline push-ups done on gymnastics rings.

The downside to the previous exercise (incline push-ups) is the inability to consistently reduce the height of the inclined surface. 

However, gymnastics rings can be consistently lowered all the way to the ground until you’re able to do regular push-ups. 

Most people believe that gymnastics rings are an advanced training tool. 

But gymnastics rings can be adjusted to suit your individual level of strength (beginner or advanced).

To make ring incline push-ups harder, lower the level of the rings, to make the exercise easier, increase the height of the rings.

The more vertical your body angle, the easier the exercise becomes because most of your bodyweight is supported by your legs. 

The more horizontal your body angle becomes, the harder the exercise. 

To progress with ring incline push-ups, continue to lower the rings every time your hit the progression requirements below. 

Progression requirements: Achieve 3 sets of 12-15 reps before progressing to the next level of incline i.e. by lowering the level of the rings.

Beginner Push-up Progression Level 2 – Knee Push-ups:

Description: Kneeling push-ups or knee push-ups are the easiest push-up variation you can do on the ground.

Knee push-ups are easier than regular push-ups because of shortened leverages – the distance from your knees to your palms is less than the distance from your feet to your palms. 

These shortened leverages place less of your bodyweight on your hands, thereby making knee push-ups easier than regular push-ups. 

Progression requirements: Achieve 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

Note: Can be combined with Negative Push Ups for best results

Beginner Push-up Progression Level 3 – Negative Push-ups [ARTICLE]:

Description: As the name suggests, negative push-ups involve only the negative (or eccentric) portion of the push-up while neglecting the positive (or concentric) part. 

Negative push-ups are extremely efficient at building eccentric strength in the push-up (which is easier to build compared to concentric strength). 

To get the most out of this exercise, it is best to combine it with kneeling push-ups. 

Negative push-ups combined with kneeling push-ups make up the next push-up progression – Half push-ups.

To be combined with: Kneeling/knee push-ups. Do 2-3 sets of negative push-ups after 3 sets of kneeling. 

Progression requirements: 2 sets of 2-3 repetitions.

Beginner Push-Up Progression Level 4 – Half Push-ups:

Description: Half push-ups are a combination of two push-up variations – kneeling push-ups and negative push-ups. 

To do this exercise, first perform a negative push-up, then push yourself up to the starting position with your knees still in contact with the ground. 

Other variations of half push-ups encourage the use of half reps by placing a ball or block under the chest to limit range of motion. 

Limiting range of motion during any exercise limits the amount of muscle and strength that can be built.

It’s better to take the muscle and joint through a full range of motion whenever possible, so it’s best not to do half reps at all. 

Instead, do half push-ups as described above by doing a negative push-up eccentric, followed by a kneeling push-up concentric.

Progression Requirements: 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions

Beginner Push-Up Variation Level 5 – Regular Push Ups:

Description: A full/regular push-up is done with your palms and feet on the floor. Your glutes and abs should be squeezed tight, with your elbows arms making a 45-degree angle with your torso. 

If you can successfully complete the progression requirements for half push-ups, you’re ready to try out your first full push-up. It might be challenging at first, but your body is now fully prepared to progress to regular push-ups. 

Progression Requirements: 3 sets of 15-20 repetitions.

Beginner Push-Up Variations To Avoid: Wall Push-Ups (SKIP THIS VARIATION):

Description: Wall push-ups are done standing on your feet with your palms placed on a wall in front of you. 

Most “experts” recommend starting at this step, but wall push-ups can be skipped entirely.

Wall push-ups are awkward to do, hard on the wrists and encourage poor push-up mechanics. They’re more akin to bodyweight skull crushers than they are to push-ups. Your head will contact the wall before achieving full range of motion.

If you can do wall push-ups, you can surely do the next push-up progression – incline push-ups, so start there instead. 

Goal Repetitions: SKIP THIS STEP ENTIRELY.

Congratulations, you’ve unlocked your first regular push-up! You’re now ready to move onto intermediate and advanced push-up progressions.

Best Intermediate push-up progressions:

Intermediate Push-Up Progression Level 1 – Deficit Push-Ups:

Description: Deficit push-ups increase the range of motion of regular push-ups by creating a deficit. This deficit allows your chest to travel further at the bottom of the push-up, thereby building more muscle and strength.

Create a deficit by placing your palms on parallettes, yoga blocks, dumbbells or stacks of books. 

The increased range of motion further stretches the chest muscles thereby making this progression harder than regular push-ups. 

Progression Requirements: 3 sets of 15-20 repetitions

Intermediate Push-Up Progression Level 2 – Diamond Push-ups:

Description: Diamond push-ups are a close grip push-up variation that places the hands in a diamond formation. This diamond formation brings the hands closer together, thereby placing greater emphasis on the triceps.

While Diamond push-ups are a fantastic triceps builder, they also emphasize the shortened position of the chest. The “diamond” hand positioning enhances the deep squeeze of the chest at the top of the movement.

Note: Diamond push-ups have the tendency to place excessive strain on the wrist. If this progression irritates your wrists, then feel free to skip this push-up progression.

Progression Requirements: 3 sets of 12-15 or 15-20 repetitions

Intermediate Push-Up Progression Level 3 – Rings Turned Out (RTO) Push-Ups:

Descriptions: RTO push-ups require the rings to be turned outwards at the top of the repetition. 

RTO push-ups encourage:

  1. Shoulder external rotation at the top of the rep
  2. A greater pectoral (chest) contraction at the shortened position
  3. Increased pectoral (chest) range of motion at the bottom of the rep.

Thus, RTO push-ups include movement elements from both diamond and deficit ring push-ups. 

These two elements of movement make RTO push-ups harder than diamond or regular deficit ring push-ups. 

The rings allow for a deficit to be created, thereby increasing range of motion at the bottom of the movement and increasing the stretch on the chest. 

While turning the rings out at the top allows the chest to obtain peak contraction.

Progression Requirements: 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions with 15-20 kgs added to a backpack, 2 times a week.

Intermediate Push-Up Progression Level 4 – Decline Push-Ups (deficit on rings):

Description: Decline push-ups are done with your feet elevated above the level of your hands. 

This position places more bodyweight on your hands, making the exercise harder. 

Decline push-ups emphasize working the upper chest fibers. The higher the incline the more the shoulders get involved. Decline push-ups done without a deficit reduce range of motion and thereby reduce muscle and strength building capacity. That’s why it’s important to do decline push-ups using rings, parallettes, plyo boxes or even stacks of books to create the deficit. 

Goal Repetitions: 3 sets of 12-15 with 25-30kgs added to a backpack 2 times a week.

Intermediate Push-Up Progression Level 5 – Weighted Push-Ups (Rings):

Description: Weighted push-ups can be done in several ways. They are usually done with a weighted dip belt hung on the hips with weights attached. They can also be done with weights placed in a backpack on your back. 

There are pros and cons to each technique. Using the dipping belt allows you to use extremely heavy weights. The downside is that the weights contact the floor at the bottom of the movement, so you need to elevate your legs to mitigate this problem. The other downside to using a weighted belt for weighted push-ups is that placing the belt on the hips makes your abs the limiting factor as the belt pulls down on your hips.

Using a sturdy backpack on the other hand mitigates the downsides of using the weighted belt. But carrying a loaded backpack off the floor can get difficult and a weighted backpack limits free scapula movement.

Regardless, weighted ring push-ups can a fantastic physique.

They can be progressed in the following by:

  1. Adding the RTO movement at the end of each repetition.
  2. Creating a deficit with the rings in combination with the RTO position.
  3. Doing paused repetitions at the bottom of the movement.

Although loading push-ups can be cumbersome (especially when adding more than 3 plates and beyond), you can build a spectacular physique with just this exercise. 

But at some point, adding more plates to weighted push-ups becomes awkward. That’s when it’s time to move onto weighted dips. 

Weighted dips can be loaded much heavier than weighted push-ups and thus provide a greater training stimulus. 

Progression Requirements: 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions with 35-40 kgs added to a backpack 2 times a week.

Once you’ve mastered ring weighted push-ups, you’re basically stronger at push-ups than most individuals. 

From here there’s only one way to go – progress to advanced pushing variations. 

Advanced Push-Up Progressions:

You’ve now reached a point where it’s time to hyper specialise in your calisthenics training. 

You can go one of 3 ways; you can choose to train the:

  1. Dip/Weighted Dip progression
  2. One Arm Push-Up Progression
  3. Handstand Push-Up Progression
  4. Planche Push-Up Progression

Conclusion:

Anyone can do push-ups. The key is to pick the appropriate push-up progression for your current level of strength. 

This free push-up progression guide is all you need to progress from a beginner to advanced push-up trainee. 

Recent Posts