The push-up is one of those exercises that's enjoying a boom in popularity these days for one simple reason: it works. And it's for this reason that I do push-ups regularly. Or at least I try to--sometimes it's harder than it looks. But I recently discovered something about my push-ups that's helped me get a handle on them.

For months, out of fear of hurting my wrists, I insisted on spreading my hands only as wide as the short end of my fitness mat was in order to cushion them properly. But my fitness teacher recently alerted me to the fact that my hands were too close together -- they should be as wide as your elbows, and I had mine at shoulder width. Since I figured this out, push-ups have been much easier on me.

Yeah, I know. You probably already know that your hands should be wide. My point is this: We all get used to doing certain exercises a certain way, and sometimes we forget to check what the proper way to do them is. So if you're struggling with the push-up, I would recommend checking out eHow's instructions on the proper push-up technique.