Push-up progression based on the actual load and 1RM

Push-ups are a great tool to gain strength and size to the chest if you do the right exercises in the proper rep range. But when talking about push-up workouts you mostly see high rep work done with submaximal load leading to disappointing results. It almost seems that no one actually understands the basic loading parameters of the push-ups.

What you should do instead is to work in a moderate rep range 6-12 progressing to more challenging exercises when you reach the top of that rep range. And keep the number of working sets somewhere between 8-12 sets per week. This ensures progressive overload, proper training stimulus and strength gains over time.

Here I’m going to introduce a push-up progression model based on the actual load of the push-ups and calculated 1 rep max. For those who have not read the push-ups compared to bench press post check it out here:

https://twoworkouts.blogspot.com/2020/09/push-ups-compared-to-bench-press-with.html

There is a calculator included that lets you calculate actual load on top and bottom position of different push-ups.

At the beginning of my one arm push-up journey my form was not so good. But if we are pressing around 70% of our bodyweight from the bottom position with one arm that is a lot of pressing strenght required. Think about how much 70% of your bodyweight is and imagine pressing a dumbbell that size from dead stop.

Push-up progression and pre-requirements

For anyone looking to progress in pressing strength they could do one of the following exercises and move to the next one when pre-requirement for the next exercise is met. The number of pre-required reps is calculated from the actual load in the bottom position and 1 rep max based on repetitions. As you can see I selected only the push-ups that work mainly the chest and leaving out the tricep dominant versions such as diamond push-ups etc. Triceps should be worked separately in my opinion. So for a complete push, upper or full body workout you should do a few additional sets of direct tricep work at the end of your workout after you’ve done chest and/or shoulders.

1. Kneeling push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HxtxoXRFG0&t=20s

Actual load ≈ 0.6x Bodyweight

2. Standard push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WXc4E-zcao

Pre-requirement:  12 Kneeling push-up to get 5 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.73x Bodyweight

3. Decline push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKPab2YC8BE

Pre-requirement:  12 Standard push-up to get 6 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.80x Bodyweight

4. Assisted One Arm Push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyDBGkJWgZE

Pre-requirement:  12 Decline push-up to get 6 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.96x  Bodyweight

5. Decline assisted One Arm Push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKL_5ExkoT8

Pre-requirement:  10 Assisted One Arm Push-up to get 6 reps

Actual load ≈ 1.1x  Bodyweight

6. Kneeling One Arm Push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn5MqJVsIYI

Pre-requirement:  10 Decline Assisted One Arm push-up to get 5 reps

Actual load ≈ 1.2  Bodyweight

7. One Arm Push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27nT550dXLc&t=510s

Pre-requirement:  12 Kneeling One Arm push-up to get 4 reps

Actual load ≈ 1.46x  Bodyweight

As you can see most of the progressions are straightforward except moving from Kneeling One Arm Push-up to One Arm Push-up. The reason is that the load increases by 0.26x Bodyweight which means you have to get fairly strong with the kneeling version. This transition still might be hard since the load difference is large. So patience is needed.

The reason why I prefer doing the kneeling one arm push-ups instead of the alternatives in other progression models is that with the kneeling one arm push-up you do the full range of motion and press to the same direction as with the One Arm Push-up. Doing the incline one arm push-up has you pushing to the wrong direction and the arm positioning is not the same. Some progressions will have you do half one arm push-ups, negatives or limit the range of motion in some other way. This is not good since the highest load is at the bottom position. And with half-reps you get only half-results.

Sometimes you can’t progress as described above. That's normal since the actual load and performance varies between individuals at least +/-5%. You can either work your way up to a higher rep range. For example to 12 reps instead of 10 and then try to progress to a harder variation. Another way would be to use some additional load about 10..20% of your bodyweight to your current exercise and then go for the described 10 reps before you switch exercises. Also not everyone wants to learn the one arm push-up but they want to progress in strength and size. Then a good option would be to progress to the assisted OAP and then start increasing the workload. If you use 20% added load to the Assisted OAP for 10reps you are in the advanced intermediate strength level. 

Training tempo

One thing I need to address before moving to the example workouts. When doing push-ups or any other exercise you generally want to use “2-1-2” tempo. Which means the rep should take about 2 seconds on the way down, 1 second hold at the bottom and 2 seconds on the way up. Usually this translates to something like “1-0.5-1” tempo in real life since we don’t really use a timer. This ensures that you don’t cheat in your repetitions and reach the proper depth at the bottom. If you just drop yourself to the bottom position and quickly bounce back up you will not get much training stimulus and the progression model presented above will not work. Cheated reps won’t get you real results. So keep that in mind.

Chest workouts with push-up progressions

Let’s take a look how you would structure push-up workouts around your training routine. For some general guidelines you should aim for 8-12 sets weekly with most of the work done in the 6-12 rep range.

Two workouts a week

4-6 sets per workout when training 2 times a week. With one workout done in 6-10rep range and another workout in higher rep range doing a pushup regression or chest dip progression

Example A One exercise per workout (8sets weekly)

Workout A

4x6-10reps Assisted One Arm Push-up

Workout B

4x8-12reps Decline Push-up

Or

4x6-10 Chest dips (weighted or bodyweight)

Example B Two exercises per workout (10 sets weekly)

Workout A

3x6-10reps Assisted One Arm Push-up

2x8-12reps Decline Push-up

Workout B

3x6-10reps Chest dips (weighted or bodyweight)

2x8-12reps Decline Push-up

One workout a week

8-12 sets when training chest once per week. First exercises being in a lower rep range 6-10 and second or third exercise in 8-12 rep range.

Example A Two exercises per workout (8 sets weekly)

4x6-10reps Assisted One Arm Push-up

4x8-12reps Decline Push-up or Chest Dip progression

Example B Three exercises per workout (10 sets weekly)

3x6-10reps Assisted One Arm Push-up

4x6-10reps Chest dips (weighted or bodyweight)

3x8-12reps Decline Push-up

Check out the chest workout planner here with exercise examples, videos and adjust the number of weekly sets.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15z8YPMm9zCLBuPjrFedJS_NZIEXtWBsEB3OWF2T-E8A/copy?usp=sharing

For a complete push workout you would also do few sets of overhead pressing (pike push-up, wall supported handstand pushup etc.) or lateral raises and additional direct tricep work (narrow grip push-ups, tricep extension etc.)

Have fun building strength with this push-up progression and example workouts!

Interested in Bodyweight Strength Training?

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I did my best to gather all the information between these covers so that you can make the best progress possible. It is a textbook with some math. But you can skip the math part and read the best parts. I don't mind!