Knee Push Up
A push-up done from your knees instead of your toes, which cuts the load on your arms while you keep a straight line from knees to shoulders.
- Primary muscles
- Upper chest, Middle chest, Lower chest
- Secondary
- Front delts, Triceps
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
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Why do it
Knee push-ups are a common first step for building pressing strength without equipment. They train the same chest, shoulder and triceps pattern as a full push-up with less of your weight to lift. Compared with incline push-ups, you stay on the floor and can do them anywhere, but it's easier to let your hips bend, so watch that line. Make them harder by moving your knees further back, and start mixing in full push-ups once clean sets feel easy.
How to do it
Kneel with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width on the floor and your feet lifted or crossed behind you.
Keep a straight line from your knees to your shoulders with your core tight.
Lower your chest toward the floor with your elbows at roughly 45 degrees to your body.
Press back up to straight arms. Move your knees further back to make it harder, closer in to make it easier.
Common mistakes
Bending at the hips
Sticking your butt up turns it into a half pike with less chest work. Keep a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
Only going halfway down
Short reps feel productive but skip the hardest part. Lower until your chest nearly touches the floor.
Knees right under your hips
Kneeling too close to your hands makes it very easy and shortens your body line. Move your knees back until you form a long, straight line.
Elbows pointing straight out
Flaring your elbows to the sides puts the strain on your shoulders and weakens the press. Keep them partway tucked toward your body.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
