physics

Push-up

Push-up is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Push-up rather than just read about it. In short: The push-up (press-up in British English) is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms while using the legs as support, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior deltoids, with ancillary benefits to the rest of the deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis, and the midsection as a whole.

Key takeaways

Push-up belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Push-up to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Push-up from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The push-up (press-up in British English) is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms while using the legs as support, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior deltoids, with ancillary benefits to the rest of the deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis, and the midsection as a whole. Push-ups are a repetitive basic exercise used in civilian athletic training or physical education and commonly in military physical training. It is also a common form of punishment used in the military, school sport, and some martial arts disciplines for its humiliating factor (when one fails to do a specified amount) and for its lack of equipment. Variations, such as wide-arm and diamond push-ups, target specific muscle groups and provide further challenges.

Etymology The American English term push-up was first used between 1905 and 1910, while the British press-up was first recorded in 1920.

Body mass supported during push-ups According to the study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the test subjects supported with their hands, on average, 69.16% of their body mass in the up position, and 75.04% in the down position during the traditional push-ups. In modified push-ups, where knees are used as the pivot point, subjects supported 53.56% and 61.80% of their body mass in up and down positions, respectively.

Muscles worked

The primary muscle groups targeted by push-ups include chest, front and medial deltoids, as well as triceps and forearm muscles. While the push-up primarily targets the muscles of the chest, arms, and shoulders, support required from other muscles results in a wider range of muscles integrated into the exercise.

Abdominals The rectus abdominis and transversus abdominis contract continually while performing push-ups to hold the body off the floor and keep the legs and torso aligned. The rectus abdominis spans the front of the abdomen and is the most prominent of the abdominal muscles. The transversus abdominis lies deep within the abdomen, wrapping around the entire abdominal area. Both muscles compress the abdomen, and the rectus abdominis also flexes the spine forward, although it does not execute this function when performing push-ups.

Deltoid The anterior portion of the deltoid muscle is one of the major shoulder-joint horizontal adductors, moving the upper arms toward the chest during the upward phase of a push-up. It also helps control the speed of movement during the downward phase. The deltoid attaches to parts of the clavicle and scapula, just above the shoulder joint on one end, and to the outside of the humerus bone on the other. Along with horizontal adduction, the anterior deltoid assists with flexion and internal rotation of the humerus within the shoulder socket.

Chest muscles The push-up requires the work of many muscle groups, with one of the primary muscle groups being the chest muscles, the pectoralis major and the minor. These are the two large chest muscles and the main pushing muscle group of the upper body. When pushing and lowering the body during a push-up, the pectoralis major is doing most of the work. As a result, these muscles become very strong and can become defined as lean muscle after doing push-ups regularly.

Stabilizers: back body The push-up depends on stabilizer muscles as the body is pushed and lowered. The erector spinae is the main stabilizer muscle in the back. Made up of three muscles including the spinal, longissimus, and iliocostalis. The spinal runs adjacent to the spine, the longissimus runs adjacent to the spinal and the iliocostalis runs adjacent to the longissimus and over the ribs. Two muscles called the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus stabilize the upper leg. The medius and minimus sit under the largest butt muscle, the gluteus maximus.

Triceps brachii While the anterior deltoids and pectoralis major muscles work to horizontally adduct the upper arms during the upward phase of a push-up, the triceps brachii muscles, or triceps for short, are also hard at work extending the elbow joints so the arms can be fully extended. The triceps also control the speed of elbow-joint flexion during the downward phase of the exercise. The closer together the hands are placed during a push-up, the harder the triceps work. The muscle is divided into three heads — the lateral head, long head, and medial head. The lateral and medial heads attach to the back of the humerus bone, and the long head attaches just behind the shoulder socket on one end; all three heads combine and attach to the back of the elbow on the other.

Forearms Stabilizers include wrist and forearm muscles, the knee extensors, and the hip/spine flexors, which all work isometrically to maintain a proper plank position in the standard prone push-up.

Biceps During the push-up exercise, the short head of the biceps brachii muscle acts as a dynamic stabilizer. This means the muscle activates at both ends—the elbow and the shoulder—to help stabilize the joints.

Joints and tendons Inner muscles that support the operation of the fingers, wrists, forearms, and elbows are also worked isometrically. Some push-up modifications that require to have the arms at different heights effectively engage the rotator cuff.

Variations In the "full push-up", the back and legs are straight and off the floor. There are several variations besides the common push-up. These include bringing the thumbs and index fingers of both hands together (a "diamond push-up") as well as having the elbows pointed towards the knees. These variations are intended to put greater emphasis on the triceps or shoulders, rather than the chest muscles. When both hands are unbalanced or on uneven surfaces, this exercise works the body core. Raising the feet or hands onto elevated surfaces during the exercise emphasizes the upper (minor) or lower (major) pectorals, respectively. Raising the hands with the aid of push-up bars or a dumbbell allows for a greater range of motion, providing further stress for the muscles.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Push-up

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Push-up claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Push-up before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Push-up ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Push-up

In research: Push-up appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Push-up in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Push-up is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bodyweight exercises, Physical exercise, Strength training, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Push-up outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Push-up in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Push-up means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Push-up out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Push-up in simple terms?

Why does Push-up matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Push-up?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Push-up.