The Lost Art of The Push Up

If you ask most people if they do push-ups in their work out routine they will tell you “No”. But if you’re into core training then the push up is one of the best ways to start a good core workout. Now I’m not just talking about your basic ‘Hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart” push-up. You can do a variety of push ups just by changing your hand positions, shifting weight and adjusting the speed of the set you’re performing.

Before we go any further I’m going to stress on the main factor in any successful exercise. FORM, FORM, FORM! Form is the key to making any exercise beneficial.

In a push-up you need to keep the body straight and rigid like a 2X4. You just lower yourself to the ground until your arms for a 90 degree angle from your shoulder to your wrist. Whether you do the push-up on your knuckles or the flat of your hand is up to you. I prefer knuckles because I feel it strengthens the wrist and build wrist and fore arm muscle. Now I don’t care if you are doing wide arm PU’s or close hand, you need to bring the arms to a 90 degree angle at the minimum!

If push ups are your week point then start yourself off at a reasonable set of reps. Start with 20 good push-ups with your hands slightly shoulder width apart. If you can complete 5 sets of 20 GOOD push ups with about 2 minutes rest between sets then you’re off to a good start. Once you can complete these 5 sets with ease then you should increase your reps by at least 10.

If you’re already a strong pusher then you should try different angles such as close hand push ups. Close hands work your triceps and upper pectoral. These are a difficult form of push ups but quite effective.

The next variation is a reverse hand, knuckle push up. Similar to a reverse hand bench press, this will work the pec’s triceps and traps. They may be a little uncomfortable at first but once you get the hang of them you can feel the benefit.

Swiss ball push-ups are a great way to tone and build upper arm muscle because you have to work harder to stabilize yourself when pushing against the ball. You can either do these with your feet on the ground (which is a good way to start to get used to this exercise) or you can elevate your feet to increase the resistance.

The last push up I’m going to cover is alternating push up. You start out in the push up position but with one hand on a small medicine ball or a push up bar. Lower yourself to the ground and when you return to the up position place the empty hand on the ball and move the other off of the ball and resume the push up alternating hands every time you come back up. You can do them this way or by doing s set of 20 or so before switching hands.

There are a couple different push up tools out there that you can also utilize. You can find push up bars at just about any Wal-mart or fitness store. These are just simple two bars that elevate your hands about 4 inches off of the ground. They help you build forearm strength and give you the option to go deeper into a push-up. Another product is “The perfect Push-up. Similar to the push up bars, these pivot and you will naturally pivot with them as you go up and down. To add a little more challenge to your average push-up you can use resistance cords. Simply put the cord in one hands and around your back at about your shoulder blades. This offers resistance when pushing up and while going into the down position.

Picture source: Wikihow.com

No, the goofy looking guy in the picture is not me.