How many reps of the prone press-up should a beginner do?

Do 1 to 2 sets of 10 slow, rhythmic reps, once or twice a day if you are using it to manage a cranky low back, without holding at the top. Increase the press height gradually over days as it stays comfortable, rather than pushing for a bigger range in a single session.

How do you make the prone press-up easier or harder?

Make it easier by pressing up onto your forearms instead of straight arms, which gives a smaller range of extension. Make it harder by straightening the arms further as comfort allows, always stopping short of any pain or a symptom that spreads down a leg.

What is the prone press-up good for, and when should you not do it?

It is a McKenzie-style extension drill for people who sit and flex forward all day, used to move the low back through repeated extension and ease stiffness rather than to build strength. Do not do it if extending your back causes pain to spread down a leg or increases numbness or tingling, since that pattern calls for a different approach than repeated extension.

Beginner

Prone Press-Up

This is the cornerstone of the McKenzie extension approach and a go-to for people who sit and flex all day. Pressing the upper body up while the pelvis stays heavy on the floor moves the low back through repeated extension and gently stretches the front of the trunk. Keep it pain-free and rhythmic; it is a mobilization, not a strength lift.

Equipment: Body Weight
Body part: Abs, Back
Type: Functional, Stretching
Browse by muscle: Erector Spinae
Browse by movement: Mobility Drill

How to do it

1
Lie face down with hands flat under the shoulders as if to push up, legs relaxed.
2
Keep the hips, pelvis, and thighs pressed into the floor throughout.
3
Press the chest and shoulders up by straightening the arms as far as comfortable.
4
Let the low back sag naturally at the top and breathe out as you rise.
5
Lower the chest back to the floor with control and repeat smoothly.
6
Work within a comfortable, pain-free range and never force the end position.

Tips

Keep the glutes and legs relaxed so the extension comes from the spine, not from clenching.
If symptoms spread down a leg, reduce the height or stop.
Move in a slow, repeated rhythm rather than holding one long strained position.

Variations

Common mistakes

The hips lift slightly off the floor at the top of the press, turning a spinal extension into a small backward-bending push-up instead.
Pressing to the absolute end of elbow lockout every single rep, regardless of how the back feels that day, ignores that the comfortable range is supposed to change session to session.
The neck cranks back to look up at the ceiling, adding motion at the top of the spine that the low back extension does not need.
Holding the top position for several seconds instead of moving through it turns a repeated mobilization into a static stretch, which is not what this drill is built to be.
The elbows splay out wide instead of staying roughly under the shoulders, making the press less stable and harder to control on the way down.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the prone press-up should a beginner do?: Do 1 to 2 sets of 10 slow, rhythmic reps, once or twice a day if you are using it to manage a cranky low back, without holding at the top. Increase the press height gradually over days as it stays comfortable, rather than pushing for a bigger range in a single session.
How do you make the prone press-up easier or harder?: Make it easier by pressing up onto your forearms instead of straight arms, which gives a smaller range of extension. Make it harder by straightening the arms further as comfort allows, always stopping short of any pain or a symptom that spreads down a leg.
What is the prone press-up good for, and when should you not do it?: It is a McKenzie-style extension drill for people who sit and flex forward all day, used to move the low back through repeated extension and ease stiffness rather than to build strength. Do not do it if extending your back causes pain to spread down a leg or increases numbness or tingling, since that pattern calls for a different approach than repeated extension.

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