Standard Push-Ups

A standard push-up works your

shoulders, chest, triceps, biceps, back,
core, quads, and glutes. Think of it as
a moving plank—you'll want to keep
everything tight as you bend your
arms. "Keep your neck neutral and
aligned with your spine (chin tucked),"
Stalzer says.
 Start in a high plank position with
your hands flat on the floor about
shoulder-width apart, wrists under
shoulders.
 Keeping your body in one long
line, bend your arms and lower yourself as close to the floor as you can.
Your elbows should be at about a 45-degree angle to your torso.
 Push back up to start.
Wide-Grip Push-Ups
"This is performed similar to a standard push-
up, just with your hands positioned slightly
wider than normal. This places more force on
the anterior deltoids and pectoralis minor,"
Stalzer says. (Those are the muscles in the
upper part of your chest, close to your
shoulders.)
 Start in a high plank position with your
hands flat on the floor a little bit wider
than shoulder-width apart, wrists under
shoulders.
 Keeping your body in one long line, bend your arms and lower
yourself as close to the floor as you can.
 Push back up to start.

One-Legged Push-Ups
"Doing push-ups with one leg works the quads more on the leg that is on
the floor and works the glutes of the leg that is in the air," Stalzer says. The
higher you lift your leg, the tighter your glutes will contract—just make sure
you don't extend so far that you start to arch your lower back, she warns.
 Start in a high plank position with your hands flat on the floor about
shoulder-width apart, wrists under shoulders.
  Lift one leg off the ground.
 Keeping your body in one long line, bend your
arms and lower yourself as close to the floor
as you can.
 Push back up to start. Keep the lifted leg off
the ground the entire time.

Spiderman Push-Ups
"Bringing your knee up to your elbow
adds hip flexor and oblique contractions,
depending on the angle that you can
handle. The farther out to the side that
your leg is from your body, the more you
engage your obliques," Stalzer says.
 Start in a high plank position with
your hands flat on the floor about
shoulder-width apart, wrists under
shoulders.
 Keeping your body in one long line,
bend your arms and lower yourself as
close to the floor as you can.
 As you lower your body, bend one leg out to the side and bring your
knee toward the same-side arm.
 Push back up to start, and straighten your leg back out.
 Repeat alternating sides.
Eccentric Push-Ups
"An eccentric push-up is done by
slowly lowering oneself down to the
floor and quickly pressing back up,"
Stalzer says. Why would you want to
do that? Research shows that
focusing on the eccentric (lowering)
portion of a movement can lead to
bigger gains in both strength and
muscle size.
  Start in a high plank position with your hands flat on the floor about
shoulder-width apart, wrists under shoulders.
 Keeping your body in one long line, bend your arms and lower
yourself the floor very slowly. It should take about three counts to get
there.
 Push back up to start.
 Push back up to start.

Hand-Release Push-Ups
"Hand-release push-ups
force you to generate
momentum from the
hardest point of the
movement," Stalzer says.
They also add some
sneaky back work into the
push-up. It's important to
keep your core tight and
back flat as you push back
up—it's easy to strain your
lower back in this movement if you're not staying stiff as a board.
 Start in a high plank position with your hands flat on the floor about
shoulder-width apart, wrists under shoulders.
 Keeping your body in one long line, bend your arms and lower
yourself down to the floor.
 Keeping your elbows bent and close to your body, lift your palms off
the floor and squeeze your shoulder blades.
 Place your hands back down on the ground and push back up to start.

Modified Push-Ups
These pushups are great for beginners;
they are performed by supporting the
lower body on the knees instead of the
toes.
 Diamond Push-Ups
This variation really challenges your
triceps. "The closer your hands are to
the midline of your body, the more your
triceps have to compensate for the lack
of force produced by your chest and
shoulders," Stalzer says.
 Start in a high plank position with
your hands flat on the floor about
shoulder-width apart, wrists under
shoulders.
 Walk your hands in under your
chest so that your thumbs and
forefingers on each hand are close
together and form a diamond.
 Keeping your body in one long line
and your elbows close to your sides, bend your arms and lower
yourself as close to the floor as you can.
 Push back up to start.
Clap Push-Ups
"The clapping push-up incorporates
an explosive motion and a
deceleration motion. You must
generate enough force to lift yourself
off the ground to give yourself
enough time to clap your hands
together and then return to your start
position," Stalzer explains. "It's
definitely an advanced move to work
up to."
 Start in a high plank position
with your hands flat on the floor
about shoulder-width apart,
wrists under shoulders.
 Keeping your body in one long
line, bend your arms and lower yourself as close to the floor as you
can.
 Use as much power as you can in your arms to push back up and lift
your body high enough off the ground that you can then clap your
hands together under your chest.
  Quickly put your hands back on the ground to land, and lower
immediately into another rep.

Plank to Dolphin—1 minute

"Plank to Dolphin is a great warm-up for the
shoulders, arms, and core," says West. "We want
the shoulders warm for the push-ups to come."
(Don't say you weren't warned!)
 Start in a forearm plank with arms parallel to
each other and palms flat on the floor.
 Lift hips up and back, creating an inverted V
with your body.
 Pause, then slowly lower back into a forearm
plank.
 Continue for 1 minute.