While fitness fads come and go, some exercises will outlive any trend. One of those exercises is the push-up, which uses your own body weight and gravity to tone and condition muscles. Some fitness experts have called the push-up the closest thing there is to a perfect exercise. And with good reason.

They don’t require any equipment, can be done anywhere, use multiple muscle groups in the body, and everyone-from beginner to advanced fitness levels-can do them and benefit from them. Don’t be intimidated by them, they are not just for the military!

The primary muscles that are worked are the chest and tricep. However, if you look at the form needed to do a perfect push-up, you muscles from your neck all the way to your toes are engaged in some way. This includes the all important core muscles, back, shoulders, legs and hips.

They are an all-around great exercise. Most people don’t love doing them, and many people don’t do them at all. Many people claim that they can’t do push-ups, even though they have never really tried (or they are just unwilling to push through because they are difficult). But the benefits are well worth the hard work.  You have to start somewhere to train your body to do them! Start with the modification on your knees, and slowly build up to being able to do full-body, on your feet, push-ups. You will love seeing yourself get stronger as you are able to do more reps on your feet. It’s a great way to measure your progress! Also, once you master the basic movement, there are many modifications to change it up and to increase the level of difficulty.

To Perform:

With feet together and with hands placed (fingers pointing forward) as wide or slightly wider than shoulder width. Keeping the body straight, lower body to the ground by bending arms at the elbows. Raise body up off the ground by extending the arms. Repeat.

Body weight should be lifted by the arms; don’t be tempted to use your butt, stomach or the lower half of your body to pull yourself up. To maintain correct body alignment, imagine a straight line running from your head down to your ankles.

Modification: “Knee” push ups – to reduce the lifting load, you can do the same exercise, but do it on your knees. Keeping a straight line from neck to torso is still important, so please pay attention to correct body alignment as you do them.

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