You’re staring at the floor. Your chest is burning, your heart is racing, and you’re pretty sure you’ve done about fifty reps. But if someone were looking down at you from a bird's-eye perspective, what would they actually see? Most people focus on how high they get off the ground. That’s a mistake. Honestly, the push up form top view is the only angle that reveals whether you’re actually building a chest or just grinding your rotator cuffs into sawdust.
It’s about geometry.
If you record yourself from above, you’ll likely see one of two things: an "arrow" or a "T." One of these is a fast track to a physical therapy appointment. Most beginners flare their elbows out wide, forming a capital T with their body. It feels powerful because you're using leverage, but you're actually just impinging your shoulder joints. We need to talk about why that happens and how to fix it before your joints start clicking like a typewriter.
The "Arrow" vs. The "T" Shape
When we look at push up form top view, the gold standard is the arrow shape. Your head is the tip of the arrow, and your elbows are the barbs. This means your elbows should be tucked at roughly a 45-degree angle relative to your torso. Some people go even tighter—the "I" shape—where elbows skim the ribs. That’s fine too, especially for triceps. But the 90-degree flare? That’s the danger zone.
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Why? Because of the subacromial space. When your arms are way out to the sides, you’re squishing the tendons in your shoulder every time you lower your weight. Over time, this leads to tendonitis or worse. Dr. Kelly Starrett, author of Becoming a Supple Leopard, often talks about "torque." By tucking those elbows in, you’re creating external rotation in the shoulder socket. It’s a stable, "locked-in" position. It feels harder because it is harder. You’re actually forcing your pec major to do the heavy lifting instead of relying on joint tension.
Where Do Your Hands Actually Go?
Looking down from the top, your hands shouldn’t be up by your ears. That’s a common "gym class" mistake. If your thumbs are level with your eyes, you're doing it wrong. In a perfect push up form top view, your hands should be roughly underneath your shoulders or slightly wider, but vertically, they should be in line with your lower chest or nipples.
Think about it this way.
If you were going to push a stalled car, would you put your hands way up by your forehead? No. You’d put them right in front of your chest. That’s where you have the most power. When you’re at the bottom of a push-up, your forearms should look vertical from the side, but from the top, they should stay tucked. If your hands are too far forward, you’re putting massive shear force on the anterior deltoid. It’s unnecessary stress.
The Core Is More Than Just "Tight"
From the top, a bad push-up looks like a wet noodle. You’ll see the hips sag toward the floor or the butt poke up like a mountain. We want a straight line. Total rigidity.
Stuart McGill, the world’s leading expert on back mechanics, emphasizes "abdominal bracing." This isn't just sucking your stomach in. It’s acting like someone is about to punch you in the gut. From the push up form top view, a braced core ensures that the shoulders and hips move as a single unit. If your shirt is wrinkling at the lower back during the move, you’ve lost tension. Your spine is leaking energy.
- Finger Spacing: Splay your fingers wide. Grab the floor.
- Neck Position: Don't be a "pecking chicken." Keep your gaze about six inches in front of your hands to keep the cervical spine neutral.
- Glute Activation: Squeeze your butt. Hard. It stabilizes the pelvis and prevents that painful lower back arch.
Scapular Movement: The Ghost in the Machine
One thing you can clearly see from a top-down angle is the movement of the shoulder blades (scapulae). In a "fake" push-up, the person keeps their shoulder blades pinned together the whole time. Or worse, they let them "wing" out like little fins.
A healthy push up form top view shows the shoulder blades moving freely. As you go down, they should come together (retraction). As you push up, they should spread apart (protraction). At the very top of the rep, you should actually feel like you’re pushing the floor away from you, spreading those blades as wide as possible. This engages the serratus anterior—that "boxer’s muscle" under your armpit. If you skip this, you’re missing out on shoulder stability that protects you during heavy bench presses or overhead work.
Common Errors Caught on Camera
Let's get real for a second. If you set up a tripod on a chair and film yourself from above, you're going to see things you don't like.
- Asymmetric Hips: One side of your pelvis might be dipping lower. This usually means a core imbalance or a tight hip flexor on one side.
- The "Shrug": Your shoulders shouldn't be touching your earlobes. From the top, you want a "long neck." If you look like a turtle retreating into its shell, your upper traps are taking over.
- Uneven Hand Placement: You’d be surprised how many people have one hand two inches further forward than the other. This creates a rotational strain on the spine.
It’s kinda funny how we think we’re symmetrical until we actually look. Most of us have a dominant side that wants to take over the world. The top-down view exposes that bully-side of your body.
High-Volume Pitfalls
When people try to hit those "100 push-ups a day" challenges, form is usually the first thing to die. By rep 70, that beautiful arrow shape starts turning into a shaky T. The hips start to lag. The head starts drooping to cheat the range of motion.
Stop doing that.
Ten perfect reps with an optimized push up form top view will build more muscle and more "real world" strength than fifty reps of garbage. If you can’t maintain the elbow tuck, drop to your knees or find an incline (like a bench or a table). There’s no shame in regression. There is, however, a lot of shame in a torn labrum because you wanted to look cool in the park.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Workout
Don't just read this and go back to your old habits. Try these specific tweaks during your next set:
- Record a "Top-Down" Clip: Use a tripod or have a friend stand on a bench. Check your elbow angle. If it's 90 degrees, pull them in.
- Screw Your Hands into the Floor: Imagine you’re trying to rip a piece of paper between your hands by rotating them outward. Your palms won't move, but your elbows will naturally tuck into that "arrow" position.
- The 3-Second Descent: Slow down. Gravity is a tool, not a shortcut. Spend three seconds going down to feel the shoulder blades retract.
- Reset Every Rep: Don't just bounce. At the top of every rep, re-engage your glutes and re-spread your shoulder blades.
Fixing your push up form top view isn't just about aesthetics or "doing it right." It's about longevity. If you want to be able to press weight when you're 60, you have to stop abusing your joints today. Proper mechanics are the difference between a lifelong athlete and someone who "used to work out until their shoulders gave out."