Chest exercise
Push-Up to Side Plank (T Push-Up)How to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Front delts, Triceps
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Push-Up to Side Plank?
- Start in a high plank, hands under your shoulders and feet hip-width apart.
- Do one push-up.
- At the top, turn your whole body to the side onto one hand and reach the other arm to the ceiling.
- Pause in the "T", then turn back to the plank; alternate sides.
Cues
- Turn hips and chest together
- Stack your shoulder over your hand
- Reach tall to the ceiling
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips sag as you turn: keep them high and in line.
- Twisting only the chest: turn your whole body as one.
- Rushing the turn: move slowly enough to control the side plank.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
High plank. Hands flat under the shoulders, fingers forward. Feet on the balls about
The movement
Push-up: chest to about a fist above the floor, elbows about 45° from the body seen from above, press back up. 2. Turn: at the top, the whole body turns as one piece onto the left hand, about 90°, until the chest faces the side. The right arm sweeps up until it points at the ceiling: the two arms make a "T" (about 180° between them), the support arm straight with its shoulder stacked over the hand. The feet pivot on their balls; the heels drop to the side and the feet end stacked or staggered (right foot in front of the left). 3. Hold the T briefly, then turn back the same way to the plank. The hips stay up, in line with the shoulders and heels, through the whole turn: no sag, no pike, and the pelvis turns with the chest (little twist between them).
Tempo
Push-up about 1.2 s down, 0.8 s up; turn 1.3 s, hold 0.8 s, back 1.3 s.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chest above the floor at the bottom | about a fist | 10–20 cm | |
| Body roll in the side plank | 90° | 80–95° | |
| Angle between the arms in the T | 180° | 170–180° | |
| Top arm from vertical | 0° | under 10° | |
| Support shoulder over the hand | stacked | within 3 cm | |
| Support elbow (flexion) | straight | under 15° | |
| Bend in the head-hip-heel line | 0° | under 10° |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Push-Up to Side Plank is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- [ACE: Push-up](
- ACE exercise library, Side Plank
- ExRx.net, Push-up and Side Bridge
- NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed.
