Fitness tests often use a modified push-up to assess women’s upper-body strength, but most healthy women are capable of performing full push-ups. (Video: Alexa Juliana Ard / The Washington Post) What ...

The push-up is a basic exercise that almost everyone has done—or at least tried to. Push-ups can be done with minimal space and zero equipment, making it a popular and effective bodyweight move.

What you are about to read is a call to arms — and shoulders and pecs and abs, a guide to why almost all of us should be doing more pushups and how to do them well. Pushups are a fundamental human ...