The Shoulder-width Press-up primarily strengthens the biceps and triceps and also builds the chest, back and core muscles. Here’s how to do it:…

Get down on the floor in the press-up position. You can either have your legs stretched out, or on your hands and knees. The reason this called the shoulder width press-up is because your hands should be shoulder width apart and directly below your shoulders when performing this exercise (A).

Tighten your abdominal muscles and control your breathing. Bring your chest down to your hands, you should be inhaling when coming down and this should take 2-3 seconds (B). You should come back up whilst exhaling, again taking 2-3 seconds to rise.

Do as many press-ups as you can, count how many you can do in one set. Then take a minute rest and attempt to repeat a second set of the same number of push-ups.

Doing these press-ups will increase the strength in your biceps and chest muscles, as well as triceps and back muscles.

Inorder to feel the push-up also exercising the back muscles, you will need to complete a fuller motion between repititions. So when you rise, exhaling to the start position, push a bit further so you feel the stretch in your back. hold this for 2 seconds and continue doing this for all reps. This extra push makes you use the muscles and core muscles in your back.

See other press-up techniques which target other muscle groups.