How to Make Push-Ups More Challenging

Push-ups are one of the most commonly performed exercises at CDSF. They’re great for training the upper body and anterior core and can easily be progressed and regressed to meet you where you’re current fitness level is at.

Once you’ve built up the strength and mastered technique for push-ups on the floor you can begin challenging yourself with different variations that are more difficult due to increased resistance, stability demands, or range of motion.

Here are four push-up progressions that we use at CDSF that allow you to continue making your push-ups challenging once you’ve mastered your push-up technique on the floor.

1. Push-Ups vs. Chains- Adds a variable resistance to the movement, meaning as you push yourself up the chains deload off of the floor and add more resistance to the movement.

2. Yoga Push-Ups- Trains scapular upward rotation, a movement that is beneficial for overhead athletes and keeping your shoulders healthy.

3. Single-Leg Push-Ups- Decreases your number of points of contact to the ground which increases the challenge for your core and hips to stabilize.

4. Feet-Elevated Push-Ups- Increases the challenge for your anterior core.

Give these push-up variations a try and let us know how they go!

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