Wall push-ups, the first step to the floor

Stand an arm’s length from a wall, put your hands on it at shoulder height and a little wider than your shoulders, and bend your elbows until your chest is close to the wall. Keep your body in one straight line. It is the lightest push-up there is, and the place to start if a floor push-up is out of reach.

41% of body weight with hands on a 60 cm box, the lightest load measured. A wall puts your hands higher still, so it is lighter. Source: Ebben WP et al. J Strength Cond Res, 2011
Technique

Four steps, one clean rep

  1. 1Set up

    Stand facing a wall, about an arm’s length away. Hands on the wall at shoulder height, a little wider than your shoulders.

  2. 2Lean

    Rise onto the balls of your feet if you need to, so your body makes one line from head to heels.

  3. 3Lower

    Bend your elbows and bring your chest toward the wall. Keep your hips in line; do not let them drift back.

  4. 4Press

    Push the wall away until your arms are straight. That is one rep.

Mistakes and load

What goes wrong, and how much it weighs

Common mistakes

  • Standing too close turns the rep into a short elbow bend. Step back until your arms are straight with your body leaning.
  • Hips pushed back make a bend at the waist instead of a straight line. Squeeze your glutes.
  • Hands up near your face put the load on your shoulders. Keep them at shoulder height.

How much it weighs

In a force-plate study, a standard push-up loaded the hands with about 64% of body weight, and raising the hands onto a 60 cm box dropped that to about 41% (Ebben et al., 2011). The study did not measure a wall, but the trend is clear: the more upright your body, the less weight your arms carry. A wall puts your hands higher than any box in the study, so it is lighter still.

Easier

Stand closer to the wall, or do fewer reps with a pause at the top.

Harder

Step your feet further back, then move to a kitchen counter or a sturdy table, then to a box. See push-up variations for the loads of each step.

Moving on

When to move on

When you can do two or three sets of a dozen clean reps, lower the surface: a counter or a table, then a box. The push-ups for beginners plan lays out the steps week by week.

In Pushgard

The app counts push-ups on the floor, with the phone in front of you. Use wall and incline push-ups to build up to it; the beginners plan gets you there.

This page explains technique; it is not medical advice. If you have an injury, a heart condition or pain during the movement, check with a doctor or physiotherapist first, and stop a set that hurts.

Questions

Wall push-ups, answered

Strength, distance from the wall and how they compare with knee push-ups.

All questions

Do wall push-ups build strength?

They train the same movement with much less weight, which makes them a starting point rather than a finish line. Move to a lower surface as soon as a set of a dozen feels easy.

How far from the wall should I stand?

About an arm’s length. Closer is easier, further back is harder.

Are wall push-ups easier than knee push-ups?

Very likely. In the study, knee push-ups loaded about 49% of body weight and hands on a 60 cm box about 41%; a wall is more upright than either. The study did not measure a wall directly.

All questions

Related

Sources

  1. Ebben WP et al., 2011. Kinetic analysis of several variations of push-ups. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 25(10).
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