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The MOST Underrated Plank Exercise You’re Not Doing

The MOST Underrated Plank Exercise You’re Not Doing

by | Aug 3, 2025 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Planks are an amazing core stability move.

And you’re never above that fundamental basic front plank.

However, too often we just stick with one variation of an exercise instead of seeing the opportunity in the different options.

To progress and build on your plank and core work, it isn’t just about holding longer.

It’s about holding harder and even slight changes in your posture or position that can help you see better results faster.

That’s why I want to share how one tweak to your plank can not only improve your shoulder stability and health by strengthening your serratus anterior, but also target your abs and especially your lower abs even more…

And this one tweak can make your planks look kind of weird…It even feels kind of wrong…

It’s round your back.

Yup.

Rounding your back.

By rounding your back to perform a plange plank, you can activate your serratus anterior or those muscles around your rib cage as well as your lower abs even more.

The key to targeting these two areas is in how you round your back which is why I first want to go over form and then ways to modify and even kick the plange plank up a notch to be even more challenging!

First, how do you properly round your back with the plange plank?

Start by setting up in that basic forearm front plank.

From this position focus on pushing the ground away with your forearms to pull your shoulder blades forward and around your rib cage.

This engages your serratus anterior through the protraction of your shoulder blades, which is your shoulder blades moving away from your spine.

With rounding your mid back up toward the ceiling, your chin should slightly tuck vs straining to keep your head straight out.

As you round, think about not only tucking your ribs toward your hips, but even slightly tucking your pelvis up toward your ribs.

This posterior pelvic tilt with the round is what really engages those lower abs and even your glutes more.

Use that mind body connection to focus on what you feel working and pulling your ribs in and down toward your belly button as your pelvis is pulled up and in toward your belly button as well.

This is a great way to focus on that ab engagement as you hold.

Too often we just go through the motions with exercises, mimicking form.

Instead we want to focus on holding harder to create that shakeage and get everything working.

This mind-body connection to better recruit muscles efficiently is what helps us improve our stability and strength.

So don’t focus on holding this plank just for longer – focus on holding harder.

To modify this move and really focus on that rounding and serratus anterior and ab engagement, start off an incline.

While you can do this move from your hands and knees in a variation I call the vomiting cat, an incline is best to train that full plank position and engage everything from your shoulders to your feet.

If you need to do the modification off your knees, remember to focus on that big round up and ab engagement. I call it the vomiting cat because you want to draw in your abs as if coughing up a hairball.

This ab engagement makes this move different than the cat cow stretch you may be used to doing.

Focus on that push of the ground away to round up as you tuck your pelvis toward your ribs.

If you have a bench or can use even the edge of a couch, table or stair, you can perform the full plank variation but with less resistance on your upper body which can help.

Now if you’re feeling the plange plank and want to progress it further, there are two options I really love and both can also be modified off an incline to add diversity to your routine.

One is the Dolphin Plank and the other is the Extended Plange Plank.

The Dolphin Plank challenges your core with not only the round up to engage your serratus anterior and lower abs, but also works your abs to fight extension as you lower your hips toward the ground.

It challenges your core with movement and really works your core with both flexion but also to fight extension of your spine.

To do this variation, you’ll perform that plange plank but then lower down through a front plank to drop your hips toward the ground. Your abs will have to fight to protect your spine from extending as you dip.

Then your abs will work to bring your hips back up and as you round back up.

The Extended Plange Plank on the other hand will challenge your serratus anterior and lower abs more by extending out the length of your plank.

Walk your feet back so your elbows are out in front of your shoulders.

Your lower abs will work to really fight that spinal extension and maintain a slight posterior pelvic tilt with a longer lever.

And your serratus anterior will be challenged by not only the protraction but also elevation of your shoulder blades because of the placement of your elbows out in front of your shoulders.

Just be careful you don’t end up shrugging or overloading your shoulders. This does require more shoulder strength and stability to do.

Both of these moves can be modified off the incline.

So while they are progressions of the basic plange plank, they can also be adjusted to be used by any fitness level!

Too often we feel if we need to modify moves that we’re stuck with only certain variations BUT that incline can be a great tool to help us ultimately regress to progress all the different planking postures.

Do not write off a move just because you can’t do the full variation yet!

And see opportunity in slight changes to your postures and positions with fundamental moves to tailor them to match your needs and goals.

Do you like the plange plank? Which variation will you try next?

For fun moves and workouts you can do anywhere, check out my Dynamic Strength program.

–> LEARN MORE

Unlock More Pushups With 3 Tips

Unlock More Pushups With 3 Tips

by | Jun 15, 2025 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Push Ups

Push-ups aren’t just hard. They’re deceptively hard.

Because what looks like a simple bodyweight upper body move…Is actually a moving plank.

It’s why mastering the full push up isn’t just about upper body strength – it’s about creating full body tension.

It’s a mind-body connection challenge!

So if push-ups have felt frustrating, painful, or even impossible —

I want to walk you through exactly how to build up to that strong, picture perfect push up from your toes with not only the best modification to use but 3 key form cues.

These tips will help you build up to multiple reps in a row without dropping to your knees, compromising form or guessing at what’s actually working.

So what’s the best way to modify the push up to regress to progress?

Stop dropping to your knees…Use an incline!

That’s right. The best modification isn’t off your knees.

It isn’t partial reps. It isn’t powering through fugly reps hoping they get better as you get stronger…

It’s using an incline that meets you where you are at – whether that’s off a wall, counter, bench or barbell in a rig.

An incline works best because you’re not changing the movement – it’s still that full plank off your toes.

You’re just adjusting the resistance.

An incline allows you to scale the difficulty without changing the form.

This allows you to learn to set up in that full plank position and create tension through your core in the right way as you build up strength.

You learn to drive back through your heels.

You learn to flex your quads and use that posterior pelvic tilt, or tuck of your pelvis toward your ribs, to brace your core.

You learn to maintain this core engagement as you have to power the press using your chest shoulders and triceps with proper scapular control.

You learn the form you’ll need even as you lower the incline closer to the floor.

And this is what makes this modification better than the knee push up, where you only learn to engage down to your knees.

Everything moving together is what makes the push up hard and a mind-body connection challenge over just a strength one.

The incline allows you to slowly master that control.

And as you get stronger, you lower that incline.

The wall becomes a countertop. The countertop becomes a bench or the edge of a couch. The bench becomes the floor.

You’re building strength with real push-ups and you can make sure your form is solid before you lower down further.

But with using the incline you have to be conscious to not just add more reps at the incline you’re doing.

Instead lower it if you can do more than 5.

Because too often when we do modified moves, we just make ourselves better at the modification by adding more reps.

While this builds strength endurance, it can also keep us stuck just getting stronger at the modification.

So if you can do 5 reps, lower the incline just a bit!

Better to even do 1 rep at a harder variation and have to rest to do more than 5 in a row at an easier one if you want to master that first full one off the ground!

And as you progress that incline, you need to focus not just on making your push ups look pretty, mimicking proper from – you’ve got to actually make sure you feel the correct muscles working.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 key push up cues to help you focus on having the most powerful and efficient movement possible.

Too often we forget that strength isn’t just brute force but about efficiency. Can we use the correct muscles to the correct extents at the correct times…

Here are 3 cues to make sure you do exactly that…

Cue #1: Drive through your heels.

Even though the push up is an upper body move – your lower body can’t be disengaged.

Driving back through your heels to flex your feet creates that tension all the way up your legs and through your core.

It actually reduces the pressure on your upper body to press, making your body move efficiently move as one unit.

Remember, you’re not just pressing. You’re planking.

This cue is so powerful to focus on as the tension it creates fixes a ton of common form problems.

Struggle with your hips sagging? Worming up from the floor? Butt too high in the air?

All of that starts to clean up when you drive back through your heels.

Cue #2: Grip the ground.

Have you ever really noticed what you’re hands are doing during a push up?

Too often we don’t pay attention to the pressure we’re applying down into the ground.

But your hands aren’t just passive in this movement – they’re your foundation.

You want to push that ground away to properly press and that starts with spreading your fingers wide to grip the ground with your entire hand.

This simple change and focus does two major things:

It protects your shoulders and elbows by allowing you to better engage your back and helps you avoid that elbow flare that can lead to more strain.
It activates your chest for a more efficient press and less overuse of smaller muscle groups.

A little bonus cue to create a more powerful press and better engage your pecs is to imagine trying to drag your hands together on the floor as you push up.

This focus on adducting without moving also helps you avoid rocking out on your hands which further protects your wrists and elbows while working your chest more.

So if you’ve ever struggled with elbow, neck or shoulder pain as you do more push up work, this cue is a game-changer.

And Cue #3: Engage your back.

Yes — your back.

Proper back engagement leads to proper shoulder blade movement, which in turn supports and protects your shoulders.

So your backs…It matters more than you think.

Here’s what proper scapular movement looks like in a push up so you can better use your chest, shoulders and triceps without overloading your neck shoulders or elbows…

As you lower down, engage your upper back to pull your shoulder blades toward your spine, retracting them.

As you press back up, push the ground away, pulling your shoulder blades apart or protracting them.

You’re not trying to lock them in place. You’re guiding them through the movement.

No pinching, no shrugging, no leading jutting your head forward.

Just your back engaged to stabilize your shoulders as your shoulder blades move.

This cue alone can make you feel like your upper body instantly got stronger!

And combining all three cues and the incline modification? Well that’s magic.

Here’s your cue checklist next time you do a push up.

Set up off an incline you can control and drive back through your heels to feel tension through your entire core. Grip the ground or bench or bar as you unshrug your shoulders engaging your back.

As you lower feel your shoulder blades come together.

As you push the ground away (yup that tension through your hands) and drive back through your heels, feel your shoulder blades come back apart.

And then repeat.

Test out a lower incline.

If you can only control the lower down, stop at the bottom and reset and know that’s where you max out for now.

Remember sometimes even a single rep done well at a lower incline can be better than more reps done with a higher one.

It’s not just about doing more. It’s about making our practice more perfect.

Quality reps lead to improvements. We don’t want to ingrain bad habits.

Regress to progress and use that incline as a way to build up.

So stop grinding through sloppy reps. Start training with intention.

And guess what? That picture-perfect push-up may be closer than you think!

Ready to conquer those push ups?

–> Take my 30-Day Push Up Challenge

Add This To Your Shoulder Workout (AT HOME!)

Add This To Your Shoulder Workout (AT HOME!)

by | Apr 15, 2025 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Workouts

When training at home or when we travel without access to equipment, it can feel like there are some body parts that are hard to hit and exercises that are hard to replicate.

But we can get in a killer workout no matter what.

That’s why I wanted to share a great replacement exercise for the overhead press if you want to target your shoulders without any weights.

That move is the Pike Push Up.

However, this push up variation is much harder than we realize and you don’t want to…well…drop yourself on your head while doing it.

Please regress to progress and make sure you build up to this deceptively hard yet simple move.

To help you build up I’m going to share some form tips to implement this move correctly but also an amazing modification.

Because with the pike push up you can mimic that vertical press to work not only your shoulders but also your triceps and core!

The key is actually performing this push up variation though as the vertical press!

First, let’s break down the form on the full pike push up.

If you want to get the vertical pressing benefits of this push up variation, you’ve got to make sure you’re actually performing a vertical press.

It is easy to let this move become more of a horizontal push as you fatigue. But the more you start to let yourself drift into more of a traditional push up position, the less you’re going to emphasize your shoulders and triceps and the more your chest is going to begin to work.

You may find your pike push up turns more into a decline variation, which isn’t bad, it’s just not working the same muscles to the same extents!

To do the pike push up, you want to place your feet up on a bench or couch or stair. The higher the platform, the more challenging this move will be.

The platform allows you to shift more weight onto your arms for added resistance.

Walk your hands back so your butt is up in the air and your chest is facing back toward the wall behind you with your arms extended.

You want to try to create as straight a line as possible from your hands up to your butt.

As you begin to lower, you will shift forward just slightly as you lower your head toward the ground at about your fingertips.

Think about the similar movement of the overhead press but in reverse.

When your head is near the ground, that’s like the bar at about your chest.

Then as you extend your arms out to push back up in the pike, that’s like you pressing the bar overhead.

You want to think “vertical press” and push your butt up toward the ceiling.

You just don’t want to end up rocking so forward your hands are at your shoulders or chest. This isn’t that incline bench or decline push up.

You can even lower your head down to lightly touch the ground before pressing back up. Really focus on pushing that ground away with your entire hand.

As you get tired it is easy to not notice you start to push forward off your feet and move into less of that vertical position.

While you ARE pushing off your toes on the bench to load your weight vertically, you want to push your butt up toward the ceiling not rock back and forth.

If you notice as you fatigue your hands creeping out from the platform or your butt sinking, pause and reset or even modify.

This seems simple, but is much harder than it looks.

That’s why you may want to start first off the ground from a more downward dog position, doing the Downward Dog Pike Push Up.

With this variation your feet will be on the ground and you’ll set up almost as if you’re doing the downward dog.

But even off the ground you have room to modify more or less.

The more forward you walk your feet, the more challenging the move will get.

You want to even shift your weight a bit forward onto your hands if possible to make it harder.

You then want to maintain that nice straight line from your hands on the ground up your spine to your butt as you lower your head between your fingertips then press the ground away to extend your arms straight back out.

Just be conscious you don’t rock forward and drop your butt or you’ll end up turning this into more of a regular push up.

You want to focus on those triceps and shoulders and feel like you’re pushing your butt up into the air.

If you film yourself doing this, you want to still see an angled press with your arms in line with your body and spine as you extend out.

Visualizing that barbell or dumbbell press can help!

You can walk your feet closer to your hands and really push up onto your toes before then moving your feet to a low incline to progress.

If you’re struggling to control the more downward dog position though, do not walk your feet in toward your hands yet

Instead even consider putting your hands on an incline like a stair.

By raising your hands up, you reduce the resistance on your upper body, helping you practice that vertical press with a lighter weight.

Regress to progress and focus on the proper movement and feeling your shoulders and triceps working.

There is always a way to match our fitness level and even the equipment we have on hand to get in a great workout based on our needs and goals!

But try one of these pike push up variations, using what you need based on your abilities now.

Just like we change up tools and weights and reps to create progression with the overhead press, you can vary resistance through inclines and foot positions with the pike push up.

You can even change up the tempo you use to perform the pike push up, slowing down just parts of the exercise.

And then you can use it for interval work or different rep and set designs as needed.

When we don’t have access to equipment we can still challenge ourselves and build muscle and strength with fabulous workouts!

Want amazing workouts you can do anywhere?

–> Check Out Dynamic Strength

The BEST Lat Exercises You’re Not Doing

The BEST Lat Exercises You’re Not Doing

by | Oct 27, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pull Ups

Don’t get me wrong, I love pull ups…

I love being able to lift heavier loads with the traditional lat pull down…

And both are FABULOUS exercises to target your lats.

But so often we find one move we deem “BEST” and then ignore the opportunity in other options out there. Yet diversity is key, especially over the course of our weekly workout schedule.

This diversity of movement can help us see better strength and muscle gains faster. Because creating progression in our workouts isn’t just about adding weight or doing a directly “harder” exercise variation all of the time…

Sometimes it is about doing the same but different to target those weak links even.

And that is why I want to share a lat exercise I feel is underutilized and underrated and one you should be including in your back and lat workouts…

It is the side seated single arm lat pulldown.

It’s a mouthful to say, but this move is deceptively challenging and a great way to really target those lats while correcting any strength imbalances we may have between sides!

And it really forces you to take the ego out of things and lighten the load to isolate not only each side but that lat.

I’ll go over how to do this amazing move, why it is so beneficial and even how you can adjust it to fit your needs and goals, as well as a home alternative you can try!

So first, how do you do this amazing move and why is this exercise so beneficial?

I love the cable variation of this exercise although you can use a traditional lat pulldown machine with a single handle or even a resistance band anchored overhead.

You’ll also need a bench, and ideally an incline bench you can relax your side against as you set up gripping the cable in the hand furthest from the machine.

The incline bench allows you to fully eliminate any extra movement or assistance from any other area of your body so you are forced to be fully stabilized and engage that lat to power the pull down into your side.
It truly helps you isolate the lat and may force you to have to go lighter than you’d think to start.

And because you are only pulling on each side independently, your stronger side can’t compensate for your weaker side.

The stretch to reach up overhead, elongates the muscle under load and makes you work the pull through a bigger range of motion, which has been shown to be amazing for improving those strength and muscle gains.

You’ll also find you can really work on that shoulder blade, or scapular, movement, which not only works your back incredibly well to build strength but will even help you improve your pull ups while avoiding neck, shoulder and even elbow pain.

To do this lat pull down, let your shoulder rise as you reach up overhead and stretch your lats, elevating your shoulder blade then drive your elbow down into your side as you pull to feel your shoulder blade move down and back toward your spine.

This stretch and the lateral lat pull that prevents your elbows from flaring targets the lats even better than the traditional wide grip overhand lat pulldown.

You’ll be amazed at how much you really feel it down the sides of your back even while going lighter than you would usually for the two handed lat pulldown!

It’s a killer accessory exercise even for the pull ups if you’re working to improve them while building strength and tone in your back!

Now there are a few variations of this exercise you can do if you are limited on equipment.

The great part is, even this basic variation I’ve gone over already can really be adjusted to any fitness level based on the weight you start with.

And as I mentioned, you can swap a cable for a band or even use the traditional lat pulldown machine with a single handle.

To use the machine, you’ll just sit sideways on the seat.

This version or even a cable or resistance band variation done without the incline bench are all still amazing, but they just don’t create the same stability or isolation that leaning against the incline bench does.

So be conscious that you may want to move your torso more.

While this can allow you to exaggerate the stretch, it can also allow you to compensate and use other muscles, such as even using your obliques more to crunch down or even seeking out mobility from lateral movement of your pelvis.

And while a bonus side crunch for a bit of extra oblique work isn’t bad, and can help you get that full tuck of your elbow in, you want to be careful you don’t turn this into ONLY an oblique exercise.

If you don’t have a bench and are using a band even at home, you can sit on the ground or even perform the move half kneeling.

Half kneeling will again give you more room to move around and may allow you to go heavier than fully seated on the ground will allow you to do. Neither is better or worse, just different.

And while we have to go lighter the more we isolate, the more every ounce of work is being done by the muscles we want to target! And seated on the ground, you’ll be surprised by how much your core is firing to keep you balanced!

I also want to mention a version of this movement pattern you can do at home with just a towel if you don’t really have access to equipment.

It’s called Lying Side Slides.

You can use a slider or towel on hardwood floors or a paper plate on carpet. But you’ll lie on your side with your knees bent and hand on the slider overhead.

You will then pull down on the slider to sit up, feeling your lat power the pull.

This version really cuts out any potential bicep engagement because it is a straight arm pull down, but you do have to be careful not to turn it into an oblique crunch.

But using any of these variations, you can really target each side of your back independently to work those lats.

Just remember that it isn’t just about creating progression in your workouts in just one way! Postures and different positions for movements can really help us target different aspects of muscles to our advantage.

This diversity is so key and helps us strengthen weak links through really isolating the muscles we want to work in different ways!

Want some fun and killer workouts you can do ANYWHERE to help you rock those results?

Check out my Dynamic Strength program!

–> LEARN MORE

Underrated Bodyweight Back Exercise

Underrated Bodyweight Back Exercise

by | Sep 8, 2024 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises

We get stronger and moves get easier.

We advance and earn harder, more complicated, more challenging moves.

But too often we write off the basics and think we are above them…when we’re not.

And those basic, bodyweight moves, we often think we are too strong or advanced for, we need to return to more often and even perfect.

They are a key component of us maintaining a strong mind-body connection and recruitment patterns.

Not to mention, we need to recognize how many ways there are often to progress those moves that we haven’t used in favor of just add weight to exercises.

Because often when we just add weight, we start to let ego get in the way.

And this leads with us compensating during exercises to try to not have to step back in our training.

It’s why on exercises like bent over rows we can start to feel our elbows or shoulders or lower back or even neck hurt as we cheat to keep progressing the weights.

It’s even why we can end up with injury or our biceps doing all the work.

It’s why we have to take time at points to go perfect those movement patterns with bodyweight moves like the Inverted Row!

That’s why in this video I want to talk about the importance of this fundamental movement as well as ways to progress it so you can even use this accessory exercise to lift more in your heavy back exercises or even deadlifts.

So why is the Inverted Row an important fundamental move?

The back row requires not only back and bicep strength but proper scapular control or shoulder blade movement if we don’t want to end up with neck, shoulder, elbow or upper or lower back pain.

Too often if we aren’t able to properly move our shoulder blades toward our spine or retract them without shrugging, we will feel ourselves only pulling with our biceps or other areas like our shoulders or neck becoming overworked.

And if we don’t have proper core control and thoracic or upper back spinal mobility, we will often also feel our lower back engaging when we add heavier loads to our rows.

The Inverted Row is a great way to change those rowing movement patterns and really train proper scapular movement and core control.

It provides a safe and easy way to do this because we can change the resistance and start from a very solid plank position with our shoulders stabilize and our back already engaged

When you set up for the Inverted Row, focus on engaging your glutes, flexing your feet to engage up your legs and even brace your abs as if being punched in the gut.

Then unshrug your shoulders and press your chest out.

If you run through all of these things you will feel your body lock in as one unit and you will feel your back engage to already support your shoulders.

This set up is key to having tension so you can already feel the correct muscles engaged while making sure you aren’t compensating.

It can help you make sure that you are truly extending your thoracic spine as well and not just arching your lower back, which is why we so often can feel bent over rows in our lumbar spine.

Then because you are pulling your chest up toward the handles of a suspension trainer or a bar, you can really focus on leading with your chest, opening it up more as you row.

This can help you focus on pulling with your back, drawing your shoulder blades toward your spine.

With this, focus on driving those elbows down and back and STOP the movement when you want to round forward over just pulling those shoulder blades toward your spine.

This focus on driving your elbows down and stopping the move can help you avoid shrugging so you are truly using your back to pull.

This will teach you that proper back engagement and scapular control that will lead to a more powerful pull.

You can then lower back down and avoid sagging at the bottom to keep that core engaged and working and even shoulders protected.

As you feel the correct muscles working and fully in control, then you can progress this move from here.

But still don’t write this basic version off as you progress. Focus even on this move on how you can mentally engage things hard to even challenge yourself through activation.

Now…How can you progress the Inverted Row?

While you can do the inverted row off of a bar set up in a rig or smith machine, I personally love the suspension trainer version most as you can use a variety of grips more easily.

With either though, you can adjust the height of the handles or bar to help you change the incline.

The closer to parallel your body is, the harder the move will be.

And if you’ve hit about parallel, you can continue to advance the move by lifting your feet up on a bench.

We so often don’t see opportunity in these small changes and instead just jump to adding weights. But different forms of progression are key to helping us really create strong recruitment patterns, which ultimately lead to better muscle gains.

And changing your body angle isn’t the only way to use this move to your advantage.

You can also include a unilateral or one sided row and make it rotational or anti-rotational.

By making this move unilateral, you can help yourself work on imbalances and even challenge your core in different ways. If you have a weaker side, this is a great way to correct that and strengthen both sides independently so your stronger side doesn’t take over.

Often when we try to keep lifting more and more, we can end up with injury if we do have an imbalance.

This happens as either our weaker side tries to keep up and becomes overloaded or our stronger side tries to carry more of the load and ends up overworked.

So unilateral moves are a great way to create balance as much as we can…we are human!

But with the anti-rotational row variation, you’re going to work on that core stability and challenge those obliques.

You will fight the urge to rotate open with the row which will improve your core stability and allow you to avoid overloading your lower back especially.

You may be surprised by how much rowing on one side ONLY makes this move more challenging.

And with the rotational row, you are going to work on that rotational core strength while also targeting those obliques more.

Being able to power rotation properly is so important to our spinal and even hip health.

Not to mention this move is also amazing for your shoulder health, but very challenging.

You may want to regress it a bit to make sure you don’t shrug as you row but feel your back and even the muscles around your ribs, your serratus anterior, work to help you control the move even as you open back up.

Both are more challenging than they seem and great moves to complement even your heavier lifts earlier on in your workout.

And both can be progressed by moving closer to parallel. Just remember though rowing with one side is harder than the basic two handed row, so start back a bit as you control the move before lowering the incline.

Never let ego get in the way of you always returning to the fundamentals.

These basics help keep us strong and using the correct muscles to lift more and build that lean muscle!

Looking for amazing workouts to help you rock those results?

Check out my Dynamic Strength Program!

4 Tips To Increase Your Push Ups (In 30 Days)

4 Tips To Increase Your Push Ups (In 30 Days)

by | Jul 28, 2024 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Push Ups

If your push ups are…well…fuglier than you’d like, then it may be time to check your ego, break things down and focus on regressing to progress.

Sometimes little form deviations creep in and we don’t even realize it.

At times like this, it isn’t just about doing more push ups.

Because practicing improper form or recruitment patterns only further ingrains the movements we want to correct.

The question is….how do you change your form, get the correct muscles working and build up to those picture perfect push ups from your toes?

It isn’t just about simply modifying the push up.

There are actually 4 main forms of skill work that I’ve seen dramatically improve clients’ push up results when combined over the week.

I call it their “skill work” because we are working on specific push up variations or training techniques to improve their push ups skills.

And in this video I want to go over each of these 4 skills and how you can implement them into your weekly training routine, as well as one of the most unsexy secrets to improving your push ups, so you can see great improvements over the next 30 days!

Just remember with each of these techniques, you may need to check your ego and modify further than you’d like to make sure you’re feeling the correct muscles working and keeping that picture perfect form.

And FILM yourself with your push up practice!

By filming, you allow yourself to see your movements to change your cues and movement patterns while staying super intentional and focused on what you feel working as you do the actual work.

You’ll also have a great way to track your progress as your form improves and you advance those push up variations and the skill work you’re doing.

Now diving into the skill work…

I’ve mentioned multiple times you may have to modify moves.

That being said, so often we modify our push ups off our knees or an incline and find ourselves never really progressing.

It feels like we’re just getting stronger at the modification.

And that’s why I like to include Eccentric focused push up skill work first in one workout each and every week.

Once you’re warmed up, you will want to perform a few rounds of eccentric only, or eccentric focused, push ups before then going into whatever other workout you have planned.

Putting the skill work first allows you to do it when you’re freshest and focused so you can be very intentional and controlled with the moves. This also allows you to often do a harder variation than you could if fatigued.

And specifically want to use eccentric push ups because we are strongest in that eccentric portion of movements.

This means we’re able to often do a HARDER variation, even if for the eccentric part of the exercise only, than we maybe even can for the full exercise.

In push ups, the eccentric portion of the move is the lower down.

Eccentric means the elongation or stretch of the prime mover muscle. In the push ups that’s your pecs.

So in the lower down of your push up, you may find you do feel strongest.

You may find you can lower down in a full push up from your toes…but you just can’t seem to get back up!

And we want to use this to our advantage to help us PRACTICE and spend time under tension with a harder variation of the move than we can yet fully control.

Because if we do only work on that modified variation, we will never help ourselves truly progress forward.

So if you can, choose a variation harder than you can perform for the full push up movement, and simply do the lower down only with proper form. Spend about 5 seconds on that slow and controlled decent.

Then simply reset at the top.

This fully eccentric only option is great if you are really in between levels and can’t maintain proper form on the way back up.

If you are instead trying to build up your strength endurance a bit more to increase your rep number, or even in between variations where you can’t yet do the next level with control but your current incline or modification is just a bit too easy, you may find you use an eccentric focused push up instead.

With the eccentric focused variation, you WILL press back up but you’ll still use that slow 5 count lower down to really spend time under tension with the hardest variation you can control.

Just make sure that push back to the top allows you to maintain proper form.

This is great to even help you build up the number of reps you can do once you’ve got picture perfect push ups off the ground.

To use eccentric push up work, try this reps and sets layout…

Choose a variation you can do no more than 6 reps with. If you hit 8 reps, you need to advance the variation. Complete 2-4 sets, resting 90 seconds between sets. On your last set, do a drop set. Right after you finish your 6-8 reps, modify just enough that you can complete 6-8 reps more…but with those making you hit failure.

The next skill I like to include is Bottoms Up Push Up work because it addresses one of the hardest parts of a push up and complements the Eccentric work so well.

This push up variation helps you build the strength to push back up while maintaining that straight line from your head to your heels.

Because in that transition from lowering down to pushing back up is where we often see the most deviations in form pop up and tension being lost.

This skill though is the HARDEST to perform.

Seems simple but truly is deceptively challenging so to help yourself truly perform it well, modify more than you think to start.

You want to set up at the bottom of a push up, really focus on engaging everything even running through a set up checklist to make sure everything is engaged because you’re then going to push up off the ground with everything moving TOGETHER.

You can’t allow yourself to worm. Or your butt to go up in the air.

You want to have everything flexed and be pushing the ground away so you’re almost feeling like your body is hovering off the ground before you officially lift.

But this helps you learn to create and maintain tension throughout the movement and maintain full control while bracing your core.

Even think about that exhale as you push up.

And unlike the eccentric work, for this, you will need to start with a modified variation and even more of one than you usually use.

To include Bottoms Up push up work, you’ll again want to do your skill practice at the start of your workout after your warm up.

You will focus on a variation you can only do 5 reps of. And you’ll perform 4-6 rounds, resting 1-2 minutes between rounds. Do not skip the rest so you can keep working at the hardest variation possible. Do not be afraid to even add in 15-20 seconds rest between reps at points to complete the 5 each round.

Do fewer rounds if you find you’ll have to modify further to complete more than 4. Better to just do the most advanced variation you can for a few quality rounds.

The 3rd skill work I include for clients uses Cluster Sets to help them improve their strength and endurance and create a great training volume but also while using a harder variation of the push up than they usually would be able to for the same number of reps.

Think about the variation of a push up you can right now do for 10 reps.

Now think about what variation you may be able to perform if you could only do 2 reps.

It’s probably a bit more advanced, right?

Cluster sets allow you to do 10 reps but with that variation you normally would only use for 2.

With Cluster Sets, you’ll set your total rep count for the set and divide those reps into mini sets of just 2-3 reps at a time with about 20 seconds between mini sets before you rest longer between rounds after all reps are complete.

You want to choose a variation that really challenges you for just those 2-3 reps.

This helps you keep progressing the variation you can do while getting in more training volume (more reps) at that harder level.

This works because it helps your body adapt to the harder variation, not just get better at the modification, and builds strength to control that movement.

The short rest periods, in the most unscientific terms possible, basically trick your body into believing it can do 10 reps with a version you can really only do for 2 reps.

But this helps you build strength and control fast!

To include this skill work, you want to set a rep count of 8 for each set and perform 3-5 sets.

You should be able to do only 2-3 reps in a row of the push up variation you use for the 8 total reps. And even at the end may find you have to do some singles to get all 8. Rest 10-20 seconds between mini sets and then 90 seconds between full sets.

Better to rest longer though between sets over modifying as the whole point is using that harder variation!

Now the final skill work I like to include with clients is Push Up Holds.

Ever notice you sort of “stick” or fail at specific points in the push up?

Like you can’t lower all the way down without flopping?

Or you get stuck at the bottom or half way up?

That’s where push up holds can help.

You can hold right at your stick point to help you strengthen that position and learn to engage everything correctly where you usually stall.

When we eliminate the movement, we can often focus better on what we feel working and even work on that mind-body connection to recruit muscles harder.

This helps us really perfect and tweak our form and build that stability.

And holds are deceptively hard, building core and upper body strength.

But you may find that by setting up at specific spots in your push up, you can even use a harder or more advanced variation than you can do to complete a full push up.

This can really help you keep progressing toward that first full one from your toes. It can also help you increase your reps by strengthening where you normally fail.

So find the points you struggle with the most in your push up, and include timed holds at those spots really focusing on what you feel working and engaging those muscles harder.

I’ll often include push up holds for 20-30 seconds and 2-3 rounds for clients even as part of their activation work or in an isometric recovery workout for the week. Pairing them even with pull up holds can be killer for the core and upper body!

Now the final tip I want to give is the most unsexy of secrets, and something you probably don’t want to hear…but truly is often the missing component of all of our push up work…

It’s that PREHAB work that we can and should be including in every warm up.

We often think, “I’m weak! That’s why I can’t do more push ups!”

And while improving our strength is key, I know a lot of people that are very strong, can bench press a lot that aren’t that good at push ups.

It isn’t just upper body, or even core strength, that is needed.

It’s good scapular control and activation of so many muscles to work together from your head to your heels.

This means doing that foam rolling, stretching and activation to get things working correctly so you can move efficiently for the push up.

This prehab work will also help you avoid wrist or elbow or shoulder injuries which are so common as people include more push up work in their routines.

So don’t ignore the importance of that 3-part prehab process in your warm up so you can get the correct muscles working and avoid injury to keep working on those skills and building up!

Make all of your focused skill work pay off by getting on that mobility and stability work.

And as you add in that prehab, make sure you’re including all 4 of these skill sessions (1 time each per week) at the start of your workouts for the next 4 weeks.

Want more amazing workouts to improve your push ups and rock those results? Join my Dynamic Strength Program!

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