push up proper form

[iggy]

I have researched the Army standards for proper form when doing a Push Up. I have read descriptions on this forum and looked up videos on youtube (hoping they were legitimate). Normally when I do push ups for working out or in school I'd have to touch my chest to the ground and then back up but it seems for the Army you stop when your arms make a 90 degree angle. I noticed a large improvement in the amount of push ups I could do after I started doing them in proper form and I assumed it was because I don't need to go down as far, however, I am slightly afraid I am doing them incorrectly which would be wasted effort so I was wondering if it was typical for numbers to improve from the change in form I used.

Common sense would tell me that, yes I improved because I am no longer hitting the ground. I don't want to assume anything though, so I was hoping you Rangers could let me know if this sounded abnormal or not.

And I apologize if this is a stupid question and wasted your time.

[AshCav]

I am not a Ranger, however, I have taken many APFT's. The standards are right there in FM 21-20 and you are indeed correct that the arms need to go 90 degrees:
"On the command GO, begin the push-up by bending your elbows and lowering your entire body until your upper arms are parallel to the ground. Then, return to the starting position by raising your entire body until your arms extend fully. Your body must remain in a generally straight line and move as a unit for the entire repetition. At the end of each repetition, the scorer will state how many push-ups of the repetition you have correctly completed.

If you fail to keep your body generally straight, to lower your entire body until the upper arms extend parallel to the ground, or to extend your arms completely, then that repetition will not count. The scorer will repeat the number of your last correct repetition."

Once in a while when I do push-ups, I will video tape myself to ensure that my form is perfect. An even better way to do this is to do push-ups in front of a mirror. However, when I do push-ups, I go chest to ground in order to ensure that my push-ups will count. It is harder, but it is better to do 65+ push-ups that even the most stringent grader will count than 80+ faulty ones.

[WhiskeyRiver]

Continue to do chest-to-grounds for training, but also practice the 90 degree 'standard' pushups, so you know what they feel like when you do an APFT. Keep in mind for RS that you are doing chest-to-grounds, no matter what the 21-20 standard says.

[REVN556]

Continue to do chest-to-grounds for training, but also practice the 90 degree 'standard' pushups, so you know what they feel like when you do an APFT. Keep in mind for RS that you are doing chest-to-grounds, no matter what the 21-20 standard says.

I would suggest as WhiskeyRiver says continue to do chest to grounds. I attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) class 9-11, the cadre there all had their own style of grading. Some expected the candidates to have their chests hit the ground and others' expectations were by regulation. If you train to do chest to ground no matter what, you will pass any push up event. No grader will penalize you for doing more than what you needed to do, so go the extra mile and do chest to ground.

"Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some."