The push-up is the closest thing there is to a perfect exercise. One of the reasons the push-up has endured so long is its cheap and easy, it doesn’t require any equipment, it can work multiple parts of the body at the same time and pretty much everyone from beginners to athletes can deprive benefits from it. Push-ups uses your own body weight along with gravity to tone and condition your muscles. Most people think that a push-up only works the upper body, but that’s incorrect. The primary muscle groups that produce motion of a push-up are the chest and triceps, but if you do the push-ups the proper and perfect way, you’re typically suspended from your toes all the way to your neck. So, in reality you are engaging all muscles between your shoulders down to your toes. A push-up is considered a resistance exercise that is muscle strengthening, you also get bone-building effects. Mastering the perfect push-up: the basic principal remains the same, engage your upper back, shoulder, and arms to lift your body weight off the floor, then slowly lower it back down. The biggest mistake people make when doing the push-up is to try and take some of the stress off their arms by using other muscle groups to help lift their body, so they don’t get the full benefits or the push-up. The proper way is to lift with your arms and don’t use you stomach, butt, or lower half of your body to pull you up. The important part is to keep a straight line from your head to your ankles when you’re in the lifted position. Another tip is to not let your chest touch the floor; keep it 2-3 inches off the floor. If you are having problems with the full body push-up then try doing the push-up the same but do it on your knees, but keep a straight line from neck to torso, by doing the push-up on your knees you are reducing the lifting load by about half. If you have wrist problems or are looking to minimize tension on the wrist, you can do the knuckle push-up. Instead of pushing up with you palms open on the ground, put your knuckle on the ground and push up. for a more advanced workout use handles that can rotate, so when you push up your arms rotate for a more range of motion, which in turn increases benefits.
4 comments:
This is a great article. A lot of people think they know how to do push-ups but really they don't. A bunch of people on my xc team can't do a push-up at all which completely defeats the purpose. I think its important for people to understand how to do a proper push-up because your right, its so cheap and it works so many muscle groups anyone should be able to do one.
I have been lifting for a few years now and even with lifting I never leave out push ups. They are a true test of muscular strength to overall bodyweight. It is the safest exercise you can do too.
Dont know if this published before..Great topic. Many people would never even think of a push-up working more than the arms. But I find, that if done correctly like you said, it can be quit a difficult exercise. Many people think it is easy then you correct their form and its not so easy any more. The other thing I love about push-ups is that there are many degrees of difficulty. Just when you think it's getting easy..change it up!
very informative!
Good article. Lots of people dont do push up's correctly. With proper form push ups works almost the whole body and you can get a great workout from it. I do them almost everynight.
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