The best way to do push ups, according to most exercise experts and physicians, is to do them in a manner that will help you build shoulder and triceps muscles, but that won’t hurt your body. There are several ways to do correct push ups based on fitness level. If you can’t do a single floor push up, you may not even want to begin by lying on the floor, but instead might try knee, vertical or incline push ups instead to build strength.

The standard ground push up is done in the following manner:

1. Lie on the floor on an exercise mat or towel.
2. Flex the feet so the toes are on the floor, pointing toward your upper body.
3. Place hands, palms down, with palms at chest level, and fingertips at shoulder level.
4. Keep hands close into the body; you can spread hands out further later to work different muscles or place them under your chest later, but start with the basic push up.
5. Have your head in an upright position so you are looking forward, not down at the floor.
6. Slowly push up with the strength of the arms, keeping the body straight.
7. Hold the upright position for a few seconds.
8. Slowly lower yourself to the ground.

One important thing to note is the straight position of the body as you do push ups. Don’t come up rear first. In yoga this position may be called plank, and if you keep your body straight you’ll understand why. Keeping straight helps to minimized risk of injury to the back and keeps the exercise focused on the working the shoulder and triceps muscles.

Don’t do push ups that crash back down to the ground. Working your way slowly back down to ground level enhances the workout for your muscles. If you just drop from the up position to the down, you’ll risk some bruising and can be said to only have done half a push up.

When you find you can’t do a single push up, you can try two alternatives. The first of these is bent knee push ups. Instead of lying flat on the floor, get on a hands and knees position, with your hands positioned as mentioned above. Your first action will be to lower yourself down instead slowly — it's okay if the toes and calves raise with this front lowering, and then to push up. Again, hold the push up position in the lowered and raised state for a few seconds. Bent knee push ups can be hard on the knees, and standard push ups may be difficult on the lower back. If you have back or knee problems, try the vertical or incline push up.

Instead of lying down or kneeling you will be standing, with your hands on a wall. Your feet should be about a foot (30.48 cm) or more from the wall, so that you are leaning forward onto the wall. Use the hands to push the body away from the wall, hold the position, and slowly lower yourself back toward the wall. Don’t crash your head into the wall, but keep the body completely off the wall as you are dipping forward. Hold the position and then proceed with the next push away movement. Try for 10 repetitions, take a break and do 10 more. This is a great way to gradually build strength for floor push ups, or may be the only type of push up you can do if you have lower back problems.