The push-up is a moving plank: your body stays rigid from head to heels while your arms lower you to the floor and press you back up. In CrossFit a rep counts only when your chest touches the floor and your elbows lock out at the top, with no sagging or snaking in between. CrossFit coaching treats a strict push-up as a prerequisite for handstand push-ups, so build it properly first.
Build a rigid plank
Place your hands at shoulder level, just outside your shoulders, fingers pointing forward or turned slightly in.
your shoulders sit directly over your hands.
Set your feet no wider than shoulder width, toes tucked, and straighten your body from head to heels with no bend at the hips or knees.
Make the whole body tight: brace your abs as if for a punch, squeeze your glutes and quads, and keep your head in line with your spine.
one rigid piece; you can take short breaths without letting the brace go.
Press outward into the floor as if screwing your hands in (left hand counter-clockwise, right hand clockwise) without moving them.
your elbow pits turn forward and your shoulders feel set.
Lower as one piece
Bend your elbows and lower your whole body together, upper arms about 45° from your body and kept under about 60°. From above, your head and elbows should make an arrow, not a T.
your shoulder blades draw together as you go down.
Lower under control (about 2 seconds when you practise) until your chest touches the floor. Your chin, chest, hips and thighs should arrive together with a light touch, no flop.
your chest reaches the floor first, not your face.
Press to lockout
Push the floor away and press back up in the same straight line until your elbows are fully locked out.
the whole plank rising as one, shoulder blades spreading apart at the top.
Start the next rep only after full lockout. In a workout you can speed up, but don't bounce off the floor; rest only at the top.
Feel it
Chest, shoulders and triceps do the pressing while your abs, glutes and quads just hold the plank. Think "push the floor away" on the way up. If your hips start to sag, your head reaches for the floor, or you stop reaching full depth, end the set and rest. Technique shouldn't break down as you tire.
Fix-its
- Your hips sag or snake up after your chest Re-brace your abs and squeeze your glutes before each rep. If the line still breaks, rest or move to rack push-ups you can do straight.
- Your head reaches for the floor Keep your neck in line with your spine. Your chest has to touch the floor; craning your chin down only shortens the rep.
- Your elbows flare out into a T Screw your hands into the floor and bring your upper arms back to about 45° from your body, well under shoulder height.
- Short reps at the bottom or top Touch your chest to the floor every rep and lock your elbows before starting the next. If you can't, scale with rack push-ups instead of cutting the range.
- Bouncing off the floor Slow down to about 2 seconds down and 2 seconds up and make the bottom a light touch.
Drill
- Rack push-ups: hands on a bar set between waist and chest height. Start with 3 sets of 8 strict reps, add a rep each session up to 3 sets of 15, then lower the bar about 10 cm (4 in) and build up again.
- Slow eccentrics: lower from the top over about 10 seconds with a rigid body, 6 to 12 reps per session.
- Bottom-position push-ups: start each rep lying on the floor, set full-body tension, and press up as one piece.
- Slow-motion push-ups: 5 to 10 reps at 5 seconds down and 5 seconds up, once you can do a few strict floor reps.
- Ladders for volume: 1-2-3 reps with short rests, three times through, adding rungs as the reps stay strict. Film from the side to check chest to floor, straight line and full lockout.
Sources
- CrossFit — Stephane Rochet, The Lowly Push-Up Revisited (2022)
- CrossFit Games — Open Workout 20.3 Workout & Movement Standards (2019)
- ACE — Exercise Library: Push-Up
- Suprak et al. — Scapular kinematics and shoulder elevation in a traditional push-up, J Athl Train (2013)
Last checked 2026-10-26.