No Gym, No Problem: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Crushing Your First Push-Up

Road to Your First Push-Up

So, you’re starting your weight-loss journey and understand that incorporating resistance training is key to maximizing fat loss while maintaining—if not increasing—muscle mass during a calorie deficit. Great—you’re on the right track.

However, whether due to pandemic concerns, financial constraints, or intimidation, you find yourself without access to a gym. Feeling limited, you decide to stick with a calorie deficit and focus on cardio, like walking or running, to lose weight.

Does this sound like you? While incorporating resistance training is a fantastic idea, abandoning it solely due to gym inaccessibility is not!

I was once in your shoes—eating as little as possible, spending hours running, walking, and jump roping. I figured, “I’m exercising, so it’s good for my health, right?” Little did I know, I was also losing a considerable amount of muscle tissue, which took years to rebuild. Worse yet, I ended up with permanent loose skin because I failed to resistance train properly.

No Gym? No Problem!

Bodyweight exercises are a great way to resistance train without equipment. Push-ups, pull-ups, air squats, and burpees are all excellent options, especially for beginners. Even now, I do 100 push-ups every day.

Many people recognize the benefits of bodyweight exercises, but executing even a single push-up or pull-up can feel impossible if you’re overweight or have minimal resistance training experience. I remember I couldn’t do a push-up until I was 17, and that was after a full year of lifting weights in high school.

So, how do you get to your first push-up, so that you can start building strength effectively? That’s what I’m here to break down: the gradual but effective process I used to achieve my first push-up when I was overweight.

The Mistake of Repeating the Impossible

If you can’t do a push-up yet, simply attempting the movement over and over won’t magically make it happen. Trust me—I’ve been there. What we need is a structured, progressive approach that builds strength and familiarity with the push-up movement over time.

The Push-Up Progression Plan

The goal is to gradually move from easier push-up variations to a full, proper push-up. We’ll start with wall push-ups, then lower the angle to incline push-ups, move to modified push-ups with a support surface, and finally transition to a standard push-up.

Step 1: Wall Push-Ups

When I couldn’t do a push-up, I started with wall push-ups to get my body accustomed to the motion. Here’s how to do them:

• Stand about an arm’s length away from a wall.

• Step in slightly and place your hands on the wall.

• Keeping your elbows at a 45-degree angle relative to your body, lower yourself toward the wall.

• Push back up to the starting position.

General Form Tips for ALL Push-Ups:

• Retract your scapula (pull your shoulder blades back) to engage your back properly.

• Keep your core tight to avoid arching your lower back.

• Lower yourself until your arms make a 90-degree angle or about 3/4 of the way down.

• Avoid flaring your elbows excessively; they should remain at about a 45-degree angle to your body.

Wall push-ups might seem easy, but try doing 15-20 controlled reps—you’ll feel the burn! Once you can complete at least 30 solid reps with good form, move on to incline push-ups.

Step 2: Incline Push-Ups

Now we’re incorporating more body weight into the movement:

• Find a sturdy surface about half your height (e.g., a countertop, couch, or coffee table).

• Stand about 3-4 feet away and place your hands on the surface.

• Perform a push-up with the same form principles as before.

If the movement is too difficult, use a taller surface, closer to be about half your height; if too easy, use a lower one. Over time, gradually decrease the height of your incline—the closer you are to a ground pushup, the harder the movement will be.

Once you can do 25-30 incline push-ups in a row, you’re ready for the next step!

Step 3: Modified Push-Ups

Congratulations—you’re finally on the ground! This is the most difficult transition, and it can be frustrating. I remember being able to do 30-40 incline push-ups but barely managing a single real push-up!

To ease into it, we’ll use a stack of books to modify the movement. I used my old AP Biology textbooks from high school—ironically, this was their most useful purpose. 

The more books you stack, the shorter the range of motion and the easier the pushup. Fewer books increase the challenge. Adjust based on what feels difficult but not to the point of injury:

• Get into a push-up position with your hands and feet on the ground.

• Place a few books (or other elevated objects) under your chest.

• Lower yourself until your chest touches the books, then push back up. Avoid bouncing off the books or resting your weight on them

• As you get stronger, remove books to increase your range of motion.

If you're struggling with a pushup in this position, break it into two parts. If controlling the descent is the issue, focus on lowering yourself slowly, rest your chest on the books, and then reset. If the ascent is your challenge, start with your chest on the books and push up from there.

As you get stronger and more comfortable with the movement, gradually remove books to bring yourself closer to the full 90-degree descent required for a proper pushup. Once you are able to do 10-15 textbook pushups, with maybe one or two books (so you are at 75 percent range of motion of a real pushup), you are finally able to handle a real pushup. Congrats!

Final Thoughts

This process can take months, and that’s okay. If you’re overweight, completing your first push-up is a significant milestone. Progress won’t always be linear—some days you’ll do more reps, others, you’ll struggle. That’s normal. Stay consistent, dedicate 10 minutes a day to practice, and in a few months, you’ll be repping out 10 full push-ups with ease.

Around three years ago, I could barely do 20 wall push-ups. Now, I can do 100 standard push-ups in a row. Your efforts are NOT wasted—every modified push-up counts. Whether you’re deadlifting in a gym or doing wall push-ups at home, the goal is the same: to build strength and improve your health.

Got Any Thoughts?

Have you tried this push-up progression before? Where are you currently at in your journey? I’d love to hear your experiences, struggles, and victories! If you’re stuck at a particular stage, let’s troubleshoot together. Drop a comment below—let’s keep each other accountable and keep pushing forward!