What muscles do push-ups work?

Mainly the chest, with the triceps and the front of the shoulders helping to press and the core keeping your body straight.

Can push-ups build muscle?

Yes. When the effort was matched, studies found push-ups grew the chest and triceps and raised strength about as much as the bench press. Keep them hard enough: once sets of 20 or more feel easy, use a harder version.

How many push-ups should I do a day?

There is no magic daily number. For muscle, 3 to 4 hard sets two or three times a week works better than a fixed daily count done far from your limit.

Are knee push-ups worth doing?

Yes, as a step up to full push-ups. Push-ups with your hands on a bench work just as well, and keep the straight body line you will need later.

Push-Up: Muscles Worked and How to Do It

How to do a push-up

Place your hands on the floor a little wider than your shoulders, fingers pointing forward.
Step your feet back until your body is straight from head to heels. Squeeze your glutes and brace your stomach.
Lower your chest towards the floor, with your elbows angled back at about 45 degrees from your body, not flared straight out.
Go down until your chest is a fist’s width from the floor, or touches it lightly.
Push the floor away until your arms are straight, keeping your body in one straight line the whole time.

Cues that help

"Move as one plank": your hips rise and fall with your shoulders, never before or after them.
"Elbows back, not out": an arrow shape from above, not a T.
"Screw your hands into the floor": it sets your shoulders and keeps your elbows in.
"Chest to the floor, not your chin": lead with the chest so you don’t poke your head forward.

Common mistakes

Sagging hips. Your lower back takes the strain and your core stops working. Squeeze your glutes.
Hips piked up, which shortens the range and takes the chest out of it.
Half reps. Stopping a few centimetres down is the main reason push-ups stop getting easier to progress.
Elbows flared out to 90 degrees, which is harder on the front of the shoulders.

Push-ups or bench press?

Both build the chest, and when the effort is matched the results are similar. In a 5-week study of trained students, push-ups made heavy with elastic bands and bench press, done at the same level of muscle activity, gave similar strength gains (Calatayud et al., 2015). In an 8-week study of 18 young men, push-ups made harder (or easier, by kneeling) to match 40% of each man’s bench press maximum grew the chest and triceps about as much as benching that weight, and raised the bench press maximum about as much too (Kikuchi and Nakazato, 2017).

The catch is load. Body weight is fixed, so once you can do 30 or more good push-ups, you need a harder version (feet raised, a weight vest, a plate on your back, a band) to keep growing, or a bench press where you can simply add weight.

Sets, reps and how to progress

For muscle: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 20 reps, stopping 1 to 2 reps before your form breaks.
Rest 1 to 2 minutes between sets.
Can’t do one yet? Start with your hands on a wall, then a table, then a bench, and lower the surface as you get stronger.
Easy for 20 or more? Raise your feet, slow the lowering to 3 seconds, or add weight.

Variations and alternatives

Incline push-up: hands on a bench or box. Easier, and the best way to work up to the floor.
Decline push-up: feet on a bench. Harder, with more work for the shoulders.
Diamond or close-grip push-up: hands close together, for more triceps.
Bench press or dumbbell bench press: the same muscles with a weight you can keep adding to.

Tracking your push-ups

PushBeyond logs the reps of each set, and any added weight, and charts the history of the exercise. Its muscle map counts the push-up for your chest, with your triceps, shoulders and core as helpers.

Push-up: muscles worked and how to do it

At a glance