A wide push-up is a push-up with your hands set further apart than your shoulders, so your elbows bend out to the sides as you lower. You hold your body straight on your hands and toes, lower your chest toward the floor and press back up. It works the chest, the fronts of the shoulders and the backs of the upper arms, while your stomach keeps your body in line. It uses your full body weight, so most people build up to it through easier versions.

How to do the wide push-ups

Kneel on a mat and place your hands flat on the floor, wider than your shoulders (about one and a half times shoulder width), with your fingers pointing forward or turned out a little.
Step your feet back one at a time and come up onto your toes with your arms straight, so your body forms a straight line from your head to your heels. Gently tighten your stomach muscles.
Breathe in and slowly bend your elbows out to the sides, lowering your chest toward the floor between your hands. Keep your elbows roughly above your wrists.
Go down until your chest is a little lower than your elbows, or as far as you can while your body stays straight. Pause briefly.
Breathe out and push the floor away to straighten your arms and return to the top.

What you should feel

Mostly across your chest and the fronts of your shoulders, with the backs of your upper arms helping. Your stomach, buttocks and thighs work to stop your body sagging.

Common mistakes

Setting the hands so wide that you cannot lower with control, or your shoulders pinch.
Letting your hips drop or pushing your bottom up, so your body is no longer in a straight line.
Dropping fast and bouncing off the bottom instead of lowering slowly.
Bending the elbows only a little, so each rep is very short.
Letting your head hang down toward the floor.

How often

A common starting point is 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 12, two or three times a week, stopping a set as soon as your hips begin to sag or your lowering speeds up. Your physio will adjust this, including whether you start on your knees or with your hands raised.

Stop and check with your physio if

Chest pain or pressure, dizziness or feeling faint, a racing or irregular heartbeat, or being far more out of breath than the effort should cause.
Sharp pain in your wrist, elbow or shoulder, or a feeling that your shoulder might slip out.
Numbness, tingling or pain that spreads down your arm.
Pins and needles in your arm or hand that do not go away after you stop, or part of your arm or hand goes numb. Get medical advice the same day. If one side of your face or body suddenly goes numb or weak, or your speech becomes slurred or muddled, call emergency services, even if it goes away.
The shoulder feels as if it has slipped out of place, looks a different shape or suddenly locks so you cannot move the arm, or your hand turns cold, pale or blue. Go to an emergency department straight away, without driving yourself, and do not try to put the shoulder back in yourself.

From the clinic

If a full wide push-up is too hard, keep the same wide hand position with your hands on a kitchen counter or a sturdy bench, or come down onto your knees. The incline push-ups and knee push-ups pages show both. A standard push-up, with the hands closer together, is the other option if the wide position bothers your shoulders.

Your wrists bend right back under your full weight here. If they ache, try push-up handles or a pair of sturdy dumbbells to keep them straight, or turn your fingers out slightly. With the elbows out to the sides, the front of the shoulder works hard at the bottom of each rep, so bring your hands in a little or go less deep if it pinches. If you have dislocated your shoulder, had shoulder surgery or live with shoulder pain that keeps coming back, ask your physio before you try the wide version.

With a heart condition or high blood pressure, check with your doctor before you start, and breathe out as you push up rather than holding your breath. If chest pain, pressure or tightness does not ease quickly when you rest, spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, feeling light-headed or being short of breath, call emergency services straight away, as this can be a heart attack. If it eases quickly and none of these happen, get medical advice the same day, and do not exercise again until you have been checked. If you faint while exercising, call emergency services, even if you feel fine again quickly.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Wide push-ups