A knee push-up is a push-up with your knees on the floor instead of your toes, which shortens the lever and takes a good share of your bodyweight off your hands. It is the simplest way to get real pressing volume with no equipment at all — as a starting point before full push-ups, or to keep a set going once your full push-ups have run out.
How to do it
- Knees on the floor, hands just outside shoulder width, and a straight line from knees to head.
- Lower your chest to just above the floor with your elbows around 45°, then press back up.
- Squeeze your glutes so your hips move with your chest, not after it.
Common mistakes
- Piking the hips up so only the shoulders move, which makes each rep shorter and easier.
- Only going halfway down, which throws away the part of the rep that does the work.
What it trains
- Chest
- presses the body away from the floor — the prime mover, against less load than in a full push-up
- Triceps
- extend the elbows through the top half of each rep
- Front delts
- assist the chest out of the bottom and keep the shoulder steady there
- Core
- holds a straight line from knees to head — a shorter plank, but the same job
Variations and alternatives
Common questions
Are knee push-ups worth doing?
Yes, as long as you treat them as a real push-up and not a rest. They train the same chest, shoulders and triceps against a lighter load, and they are the easiest way to add sets after your full push-ups give out. If the goal is your first push-up from the floor, incline push-ups carry over more directly, because they keep the full body line.
How many knee push-ups before I switch to full push-ups?
Several sets of around 15 clean reps is a good sign you are ready. Test the full version at the start of the session with one set, however few reps it turns out to be, then get your volume from knee push-ups. The switch rarely happens overnight — most people do both for a few weeks.
Should my hips bend on knee push-ups?
No — keep a straight line from your knees through your hips to your head. Bending at the hips with your backside up shortens the rep and moves the load off your chest, which is the most common way knee push-ups lose their point. A folded towel under the knees makes the position comfortable enough to hold.
How do I track progress on knee push-ups?
By reps per set. StackUp tracks knee push-ups by reps and raises your target reps once you reach the top of your range, so the number you are chasing is always in front of you. Keep them apart from full push-ups: they are different loads, and logging both as one exercise makes neither number mean anything.
In StackUp. Logged as reps per set. Add weight if you use a belt or a dumbbell and StackUp progresses it like any other lift. Get the app.
Chest
