Wisdom of the Week- How to Scale the Push-Up

Alright cool cats, this Wisdom of the Week series we are using simple yet effective methods to scale push-ups. This week we go from the knees!

I'll be honest, this form of push-up has been widely mocked in the past, for absolutely no good reason. Properly performing the push-up on the knees is an excellent way to efficiently work up to a strict push-up (not to mention that this is the primary way the CrossFit Level 1 Training Course teaches us to scale it). This has everything to do with loading and core strength.

Often times you will see someone trying to do a push-up who just doesn't have the strength yet. The elbows flair to an unhealthy position, the butt sags, giving their lower back a big downward curve, and they typically get nowhere NEAR full depth. Having an athlete move to their knees significantly lessens the load of the push-up, but it also lessens the strain on the core to stay tight. This allows a person with less core strength to build stamina in the always-necessary plank position. And on top of that, the load being lessened will ensure the athlete goes all the way up and all the way down, chest to the floor, with the elbows tucked right in a strong pushing position.

Give this one a try, and make sure you film yourself or have a friend watch to make sure you are staying in a tight plank position. Still struggling to get full depth and maintain the plank position?? Don't worry- we have one more scale next week to help you out! For this and other scales, check out our YouTube page and look back in the blog archives! Have fun out there!

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