Knee push-up: how Upfit checks your form

The knee push-up is the push-up variation Upfit tracks with its own detector. Upfit also has other push-up moves, such as the leg lift push-up. This page covers the knee version.

How do I do a knee push-up?

Kneel on a mat with your hands under your shoulders. Make a straight line from your head to your knees. Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor, then press back up. Take it slowly. Stop if your wrists or shoulders hurt.

How do I set up my phone for knee push-ups?

This move is tracked front-on. Put the phone on the floor and face it on your hands and knees, so the camera sees your head and shoulders coming toward it. Your feet and ankles do not matter here, because they are tucked behind you and hard for the camera to read.

What does Upfit check on a knee push-up?

Upfit uses one signal: how far your shoulders sit above your hips in the picture. At the top, your shoulders are well above your hips. As your chest lowers, that gap shrinks. Upfit checks:

• Depth. The gap has to close far enough that your chest has really come down. The cue describes this as about a hand-width from the mat.
• Tiny dips. A small nod that never becomes a real descent still gets a shallow cue, but at most once every few seconds.
• Tempo. A rep under about three quarters of a second is flagged fast. One over about three seconds is flagged slow. Both still count.

When does a knee push-up count?

A rep counts when you lower to the depth gate and return to the top. A rep that does not go low enough is not counted, and the coach may ask for a deeper bend.

What does the coach say?

These are real lines from the app's voice set:

• "Drop the chest lower on the knee push-up — bend those elbows deep!"
• "Get the chest closer to the floor on the knee push-up — almost a hand-width away."
• "Pick up the knee push-up pace — drive back up off the mat!"

Watch: how Upfit checks a knee push-up

A short walkthrough of how to do it, the phone set-up, what the camera checks and what the coach says.

What can't Upfit check on a knee push-up?

Upfit does not measure your elbow angle, your hand position or your head. It also does not check whether your hips sag or rise on the way down, because it only compares shoulder height with hip height. A rep could pass the depth check with a bent line from head to knees.

Where can I read more?

• What Upfit can't check, including how the form score works
• How Upfit works
• All exercise pages

Upfit is an iPhone app, out now on the App Store. It is a fitness app, not medical advice. Stop if you feel pain or dizziness.