What's the most efficient way to do pushups

[ar312]

I just wanted to start working out and was wondering what the most efficient way to do a pushup is. I can only do five pushups with 2 second holds between them, is holding down helping any or is it just wasting energy? I have been doing 5 pushups every 3 minutes for about the past 10 minutes, is there a better way?

 

[stangelj]

My advice is try different things, there is no one right way. Your body gets used to one exercise done over and over again and pretty soon you won't see any more gains. For push-ups try varying how wide you place your hands, how quickly or slowly you do the push-ups, how many reps you do, if you do a hold or not, and how much time you rest in between sets.