Knee Push Up

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The knee push up is one of the best exercises for building up to standard push ups. It works the same muscles, is virtually the same movement, and has all the same health benefits. The only thing that's different is that it's a bit easier.

The Basics

Like the push up, the knee push up is an upper body push that primarily targets the chest, front delts, and triceps. It is a horizontal push because the hands are pushed away towards in front of the torso. It is a compound exercise because it targets multiple muscle groups and uses several joints.

The Basics

The knee push up is primarily used as a strength exercise. It is classified as a horizontal upper push movement. It is more generally classified as a upper push movement. Since it involves significant activation of multiple muscle groups, it is considered a compound exercise.

Form

Set Up

• Place your hands on the ground about shoulder width apart
• Extend your legs behind you to rest your knees on the ground
• Adjust as needed so that your body is in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders
• Brace your core, keeping a neutral spine
• Position your shoulders directly above your hands

Execution

• Lower yourself under controlby bending your arms at the elbows
• Lower your body as a straight line, keeping your core engaged
• Keep your arms about 45 degrees out from your body
• Go as low as comfortable, allowing the chest to open up and the shoulder blades to come together
• Push back up by pushing the ground away
• Allow the shoulder blades to come apart as you rise
• End with your arms straight but not locked

Common Mistakes

Arms Flaring Out

Many people do knee push ups with their hands out too wide. While this can make the exercise easier, it puts undue pressure on the shoulders and can lead to issues down the line. Place your hands shoulder width or slightly wider apart and keep your elbows about 45 degrees out from your body as you do your push ups.

Hips Too High or Low

While the knee push up is a upper body pushing exercise, keeping a braced neutral core is important. Allowing the hips to sag is not good for your lower back and is a sign that you should work on your core strength. Holding the hips too high, while not as dangerous, makes the knee push up more difficult by shifting emphasis from the larger chest muscles to the smaller front delts.

Shoulder Blades Together at the Top

While it's good form to have your shoulder blades come together at the bottom of the rep, it's not as stable of a position at the top of the rep. So, as you lower yourself down and your elbows come more in line with your torso, you can let your shoulder blades come together. As you come up though, focus on protracting them as your arms straighten out.

Additional Info

How much of my bodyweight am I moving?

When doing a knee push up, you're pushing about 49% of your bodyweight. You can increase this to about 64% by advancing to push ups, or even all the way up to 70% by then elevating your feet about 30cm. This would be with your body parallel to the ground at the top position of the push up.

Incline Push Ups

Incline push ups are another great exercise for building up to doing standard push ups. Simply find an elevated, stable surface or object (stairs or a bench are great) and do push ups with your on that rather than the floor.

Related Exercises

Reviews

Performance Standard Ranks

The ranks assume that you are generally healthy, with no underlying health conditions or injuries and have the mobility to perform the exercise correctly. You can determine your rank by comparing your numbers to the tables below. Your rank is also tracked automatically when using our Workout Log feature.

Strength Standards

The tables show the one rep max* in pounds needed to reach each rank at different body weights (also in lbs). The 1RMs on the table are based on world records, balanced ratios, and the average time needed to attain each rank. To see personalized strength standards for every exercise, check out the Strength Standards page. You can also find your Strength Score to see how you rank as part of our Fitness Score System.

*Added weight if positive, assistance if negative. The planche and levers are also notable exceptions as they show the moment at the shoulder, not weight. For more info, check out the Moment Calculator page.