What the arms actually carry when you raise the hands or the feet
Enter your body weight and the page converts six push-up variations into pounds of load: two with the hands raised, the knee version, the standard push-up, and two with the feet raised. The percentages are peak vertical ground reaction force measured on a force plate by Ebben and colleagues: 41% with the hands on a 61.0 cm box, 49% on the knees, 55% with the hands on a 30.5 cm box, 64% standard, 70% with the feet raised 30.5 cm and 74% at 61.0 cm. Raising the hands lowers the load and raising the feet increases it, in that measured order.
Those numbers belong to that measurement method. One study reported the same standard push-up at 66.4%, a biomechanics review described 69% at the top and 75% at the bottom, and a systematic review put the load through the arms anywhere from 6 to 60%. Published sources disagree once you drop the force-plate framing, so treat the table as relative spacing between variations. Values current as of October 2026.
The 30.5 cm and 61.0 cm box heights are the figures the original study reported, so they stay in centimetres with inches alongside. This page does not prescribe reps or sets and does not offer a progression chart for the variations.
Frequently Asked Questions
They are peak vertical ground reaction force on a force plate, expressed as a share of body weight. A different measurement method reports different values for the same movement.
That figure exists too, alongside a review describing 69% and 75% and a systematic review spanning 6 to 60%. Published sources disagree, so read the table as relative spacing.
No. It converts load only, and offers no rep or set prescription and no progression chart for the variations.