Many assume that doing a pushup on the knees will help them gain strength and ability to excel in military, aka "Man" pushups, one day. But, undoubtedly, this position does not really affect the ability to go into a fully stable and correct pushup at all. The reason behind this is arm lever length and the force load application due to the angle difference, in respect to the military pushup.
You will see that in knee pushups there is little core stability and lower body stability needed, in comparison. As people enter into a simple plank (position to initiate the pushup on the hands and toes, the head begins to drop, hips sag, and the upper spine rounds (upper thoracic). To learn the mechanics of the TRUE pushup, the better idea is to get into a wall pushup position and progress from there. Once you have your spine, shoulder's, hips, and feet in alignment with your head, your ability to increase reps significantly optimizes. Your trunk (meaning rib cage area down to hip complex), your thoracic cage (meaning mid-spine, rib cage, and scapula, aka shoulder blades), and your LPHC (Lumbar spine, Pelvis, Hips) all begin to increase in stability and strength as you perform correct biomechanical form!
You start at one rep and end up at 20 within a few months, just by challenging your body to hold true form with true strength!
To initiate the advancement into the pushup follow this progression:
1) Weeks 1-2, start with the wall-pushup and complete 1 minute of constant pushups three times a week. Complete 1-2 sets with 2 minutes of rest between sets. Keep tension on the chest and anterior (front) core consistently. Keep the hip complex tight, as well as the quadraceps to maximize your stability and ability to progress.
2) Weeks 3-5, begin to go to lower positions, such as a bed or table. Do the same steps as Weeks 1-2.
3) Weeks 6-10, complete three sets of table pushups, three times a week. By week 8, start moving towards the ground for military pushups.
4) Weeks 12-18, be able to successfully complete 10 pushups on the ground for three sets with 2 minutes of rest between sets, AND at least 15 pushups for one maximal set with PROPER form!
Good luck and also remember to do two pulling exercises for each PUSH exercise to balance out the body.
