It’s true that, when it comes up to upper body exercises, not much can beat a press-up. But don’t be disheartened if you can’t bash out three rounds of 10: there’s a simple way to get all the benefits of press-ups while you’re still building your way up to a full rep.

The best way to do that is with eccentric training - the method that puts the emphasis on the downward motion of the movement. Focusing on the lowering phase can help you strengthen your chest so you can build up to eventually pressing yourself off the floor. If you can already manage a full rep, eccentric press-ups are still hugely useful to your progression: slow down the lowering phase before pressing yourself off the floor for an extra challenge.

Move of the week: eccentric press-ups help you add more reps to your set