The best way to do press ups without wrecking your shoulders

You’ve probably been doing them since primary school gym class. Down, up, repeat until your arms shake. But honestly, most people are just ego-lifting their own body weight with terrible form. If your elbows are flared out like a startled bird and your lower back is sagging toward the floor, you aren't actually getting stronger. You're just waiting for a rotator cuff injury to happen. Finding the best way to do press ups isn't about hitting 100 reps; it’s about tension, torque, and not cheating yourself out of the gains.

Most guys think the press up is just a chest exercise. It’s not. It’s a moving plank. If your core isn't locked in, the whole kinetic chain breaks. Think of your body as a rigid steel bar from your ankles to your ears. If that bar bends in the middle, you’ve lost the rep.

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Why your elbow angle is killing your progress

The biggest mistake? The "T" shape. When people get tired, their elbows flare out at a 90-degree angle from their torso. This puts an incredible amount of sheer stress on the subacromial space in your shoulder. If you want the best way to do press ups for longevity, you need to tuck those elbows.

Aim for an "arrow" shape. Your elbows should be at roughly a 45-degree angle to your body. Some trainers, like Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean-X, even suggest a tighter tuck to maximize triceps engagement and protect the shoulder joint. When you flare out, you're essentially impingement-testing your own joints. Stop doing that.

Instead, think about "screwing" your hands into the floor. This is a concept often discussed by Dr. Kelly Starrett in Becoming a Supple Leopard. By trying to rotate your right hand clockwise and your left hand counter-clockwise (without actually moving them), you create external rotation in the shoulder. This "sets" the joint into a stable position. It feels harder because it is. You’re finally using the muscles you’re supposed to be using.

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The best way to do press ups starts with your feet

Seriously. It sounds weird. Why would your feet matter for a chest move? Because tension starts from the ground up. If your feet are just flopping around, your glutes are probably soft. If your glutes are soft, your pelvis tilts forward. This creates that "banana back" look that makes physical therapists cringe.

Squeeze your glutes. Hard. Like you're trying to hold a coin between your cheeks. This stabilizes the posterior tilt of your pelvis and keeps your spine neutral. When your glutes and quads are engaged, the press up becomes a full-body lift. You’ll find you can do fewer reps this way, but each one will be worth five of the sloppy ones you were doing before.

Range of motion: Are you half-repping?

We’ve all seen the person at the gym moving two inches down and two inches up, counting to fifty at lightning speed. It’s ego, plain and simple. Science says otherwise. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research highlighted that a full range of motion (ROM) leads to greater muscle hypertrophy compared to partial reps.

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You need to get your chest to the floor. Not your face—your chest. People often lead with their chin because it makes them feel closer to the ground than they actually are. Keep your neck neutral. Look at a spot about six inches in front of your fingertips. Lower yourself until your sternum lightly grazes the floor, then explode back up.

Locking out at the top is also controversial for some, but for a standard press up, you want that full protraction of the shoulder blades. Don't just stop when your arms are straight; push the floor away at the very top so your shoulder blades wrap around your rib cage. This engages the serratus anterior, the "boxer's muscle" that keeps your shoulders healthy.

Variations that actually matter

Once you've mastered the basic form, you'll plateau. It happens to everyone. The best way to do press ups for continuous growth is to manipulate the leverage.

• Incline Press Ups: Great for beginners or as a burnout set. Put your hands on a bench or a sturdy table. This shifts more weight to your legs and lets you focus on form.
• Decline Press Ups: Put your feet on the chair. Now you’re shifting the load to your upper pecs and anterior deltoids. It's much harder.
• Diamond Press Ups: Bring your hands together so your index fingers and thumbs form a triangle. This is the gold standard for triceps development. Just be careful with your wrists.
• Weighted Press Ups: Put a plate on your back or wear a weighted vest. If you can do 20 perfect reps, body weight isn't enough anymore. You need progressive overload.

The tempo secret

Stop rushing. If you want to build muscle, you need time under tension (TUT). Try a 3-1-1 tempo. That's three seconds on the way down, a one-second pause at the bottom (the hardest part), and one second to drive back up. The eccentric (lowering) phase causes the most muscle fiber micro-tears, which leads to growth. If you're just dropping like a stone, you're letting gravity do half the work. You're basically stealing from yourself.

Common myths about "the perfect way"

Some people swear by wide-grip press ups to "widen the chest." Honestly? It's mostly a myth that just increases shoulder strain. A shoulder-width grip, or slightly wider, allows for the greatest range of motion and the most natural movement of the scapula.

Another one: "Press ups are only for high reps." False. If you elevate your feet or use one arm (the "Spartan" or "Archer" styles), you can bring the rep range down to the 5-8 zone, which is the sweet spot for pure strength. You don't have to be a cardio king to enjoy press ups.

Putting it all together: Your actionable blueprint

Don't go do 50 reps right now. You'll fail and get frustrated. Instead, follow this protocol for the next 14 days to reset your mechanics.

1. The Hand Set: Place hands shoulder-width apart. Screw them into the floor to create that external rotation torque.
2. The Plank Check: Squeeze your glutes and quads. Pull your belly button toward your spine. Your body is now a plank of wood.
3. The Controlled Descent: Lower yourself over a 3-count. Keep your elbows tucked at 45 degrees.
4. The Chest Touch: Let your chest (not your hips or face) touch the floor.
5. The Power Drive: Push back up while maintaining that rigid core. Don't let your hips lag behind.
6. The Full Finish: At the top, push through the floor to feel your shoulder blades spread wide.

Stop your set the moment your form breaks. If your hips sag on rep 8, then you only did 7 reps. Quality over quantity is the only way to progress without ending up in a physical therapist's office. Focus on the tension in your chest and triceps, keep your neck neutral, and breathe out on the way up. That is the only way to turn a basic exercise into a powerhouse builder.