Seven Push-up Mistakes You're Probably Making

There's a lot more to push-ups than getting on all fours and moving up and down. And knowing the proper technique is important: It'll reduce your risk of injury, improve core strength, and burn more calories. Make note of these common mistakes, then visit pushupsforcharity.com to see how doing push-ups can also help veterans nationwide. 

1). Your butt rises
Push-ups are a great ab exercise, but if you
are bent at the hips and your butt is in the air, this is a clear indication that you're not engaging your core.
 
The fix: Engage your glute muscles by squeezing the cheeks together and keep your torso parallel to the floor. This will help lower your butt, work target muscles, and engage your core.

2). Or, your back looks more like a hammock and less like a board.

The opposite problem of #1, your middle sags towards the floor.  If you feel pressure or pain in your lower back while doing push-ups, there's a good chance this is the issue. Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your booty, to your heels (like a plank).

 
The fix: Again, engage your glute muscles by squeezing those cheeks together, pull your abs in, and keep your torso parallel to the floor.
 

3). Improper arm placement
Lots of people place their hands too far forward (higher than your shoulder joint) , which puts extra strain on the shoulder joints, making it difficult to properly engage the glutes, low back, legs and ab area.

 
The fix: Your arms need to be straight up and down (right under your shoulder joints) like pillars holding up a building, allowing the bones in both arms to better support the weight of your body.



4). Poor head alignment
For a visual on this,the chin and jaw are too close to your chest during the exercise.

 
The fix: Try to imagine a grapefruit-size space between your chin and upper chest, which will align your spine and relieve pressure from your neck muscles.

5). Dead legs
Most people think that their legs are just along for the ride thus not considered in this exercise. Not true!

 
The fix: To achieve more muscle recruitment and better alignment during a push-up, it's important to brace or tighten your leg muscles along with your core (and glutes).

6). You're holding your breath
This one is obvious, but quite often the most overlooked. It's difficult to do anything effectively while holding your breath.

 
The fix: Don't force it—just make sure you're exhaling on the way up and inhaling on the way down like you would breathe naturally. No yoga-style exhales needed here!

7). You're attempting a full-on military style push-up, but only doing part of a push-up in the process
Far too often people don't go low enough or come back up high enough, but you can't improve or get stronger doing a only a portion of a push-up.  
The fix: Try to at the top of every push-up and be conscious that your upper arms/triceps go at least parallel to the floor at the bottom, creating a 90-degree angle with your elbows.