If you are looking for an exercise that you can do anytime and anywhere and that also gives you an increase in building muscle and strength? Then push ups are the ideal (compound) exercise. In this article I will explain you how to do push ups properly, the best push up variations, the benefits they have and much more about this awesome body-weight exercise.
Push ups are one of the most basic body-weight exercises out there. They are good if you just started exercising as well as advanced athletes. You don’t need any equipment and you can easily make them easier or more difficult. Push ups are for sure one of the best upper-body exercises you can do. So finally you can develop your chest you always wanted! (
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What Muscles Do Push Ups Work
Push-ups are one of the few exercises which activate every major muscle of your body, including biceps, core muscles, triceps, anterior deltoids and lower body muscle groups. A push up uses your own body weight as resistance. So what muscles do push ups exactly work? These muscles are:
- Pectoralis (chest muscle)
- Deltoid (shoulder muscle )
- Serratus Anterior
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Abdominal (core muscles)
- Gluteus
Benefits Of Push Ups
Burns Calories
Push ups belong to the compound exercises. These (strength training) exercises can achieve weight loss by building muscle. When we exercise, our muscles need more energy. This energy comes from our muscles ability to break down fat and carbohydrate. When you do high reps or intense weight training it boosts your metabolism, which remains elevated even after you stop working out. According to research the effects last for as long as 38 hours after your workout ends.
Improve Upper-Body Strength
Push ups are a great exercise for strengthening your arms and upper-body muscles. But studies have shown that push ups can also help strengthen back muscles as well as core muscles. This will not only make you look good, but it will also make you feel more confident.
Improving Cardiovascular Health
Push-ups strengthen muscles and the heart needs to work harder to deliver more blood to various parts of the body. Better blood circulation will help your heart and lungs to function properly and efficiently. According to research push ups can be an objective clinical assessment tool for helping you prevent potential diseases and illnesses.
Protecting The Shoulder Joints
One of the most common injuries for older individuals is a rotator cuff injury. Doing push ups ensures that you get strong muscles and joints. They also help to make the shoulder more flexible so that you won’t feel the pain of lifting at an older age.
Improve Your Posture
Many of us sit behind a computer everyday with the risk of hunched shoulders and a rounded spine. This posture puts a long-term strain on the back that can damages the spine and muscles that support the spine. In order to properly hold your shoulders and back, your entire core must be strong enough to support its vertical positions. Push ups exercises can help counteract this by teaching our bodies good positioning.
What If You Can’t Do A Push Up Jet
The push up is a difficult exercise that requires a lot of upper-body muscle strength. Because of this, you may find this exercise difficult to perform. But if you just started exercising what is the best way to learn how to do push ups properly? Well the best and easiest way to start with push ups, is on the knees. The only difference compared to the regular push up, is that you now sit on your knees rather than on your toes. This means less weight on your arms and you don’t have to press as much weight up, making things a lot easier to learn the proper form and increasing your chances for building muscle.
How To Do Push Ups Properly
As mentioned before the push up is a great upper body exercise, but if you do them incorrectly it can lead injuries. Also you won’t maximize your progression in strength, and that would be a shame. Here are the steps how to do push ups properly.
- Start in a high plank position
- Hands should be flat and slightly outside shoulder-width apart at chest level.
- Rotate your shoulders outward to engage your lats. Tuck your elbows in towards your body rather than flaring them out. Preferably right around 45 degrees.
- Legs should be straight and hip-width apart, parallel to each other.
- Tilt your pelvis backward and keep your butts squeezed tight. This is to avoid you from creating an arch.
- Engage your core (belly button to spine and tighten abdominals).
- Keep your energy focused on your core
- When you are performing the push up make sure you go all the way down and up. Don’t cheat in the range of motion.
- Pause for a second at the bottom of the movement.
- Keep your body straight. Your chin should remain tucked throughout the movement.
- While maintaining your alignment, initiate the upward movement by squeezing your chest and straightening your elbows.
10 Best Push Up Variations
Now that you know how to do push ups properly, you can make them more challenging by doing the following variations. Always pay attention to your form and go for quality reps instead of quantity!
1. Dead Stop Push Up
This variation is really awesome for building muscle because, in addition to the chest, shoulders, and triceps, it also targets your upper back every time you lift your hands off the floor and pull your elbows back.
2. Wide grip push up
This variation can be done by widening the distance between your arms compared with the regular pushup. Place your hands just wider than your shoulder width. The focus will now be more on the chest muscles.
3. Diamond push up
This one might take a bit longer to master but once you do, you’ll realize that they are very good for building muscle. You will target the triceps and the chest muscles. Form a triangle with both hands placed in the center of your chest.
4. One arm push up
One arm push ups are one of the most advanced variants out there. You’re using every ounce of your upper-body strength as you perform the exercise with one arm behind your back. Your core muscles are engaged throughout the workout to stabilize your body.
5. Hindu push up
Also known as dand. The Hindu push up is not only good for building muscle. It also improves body flexibility, builds muscle, and has fantastic benefits for the entire upper body.
6. Spiderman crawl push up
This push up is also known as the spiderman walk. When done properly, it will do wonders for your chest as well as your entire core. It also targets your obliques, triceps, shoulders and glutes. It can also help with your love handles by building muscle.
7. One leg push up
A single leg push up is one of the most challenging variations for the basic push up. Make sure to alternate legs in between sets and/ or repetitions to create a symmetrical body.
8. Archer push up
Archer push-ups are a high-intensity upper-body workout. If you aren’t using them in your training, you’re missing out.
9. Pike push up
The pike pushup (or Jackknife push up) is one of the best exercises to increase shoulder and tricep strength. Muscles targeted: shoulder, serratus anterior, upper back, and triceps. It is a progression exercise to successfully executing a handstand push-up.
10. Clap push up
Clap push ups are not much more difficult to perform than standard push ups. Train with this advanced plyometric variation of the classic upper-body exercise to improve your punching abilities. The clap push up can help increase muscle strength, power, and body awareness.
How Many Reps And Sets
According to research it is recommended that with strength training you should do 8 to 12 repetitions in 1 to 3 sets for optimal muscle growth. This is no different with push-ups. But you can quickly increase push-ups reps because your muscles remember the exercise and can perform it more easily. Once that number of reps starts to feel comfortable, you can slowly increase your reps to a number that makes you feel challenged. You can also introduce different variations to make it heavier, for example with weights.
Safety Considerations For Push Ups
Always remember that exercising comes with some risk of injury. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort. If you have any concerns, talk to your doctor before adding push-ups to your exercise regimen. Always incorporate proper warm-ups and rest, this will also help reduce muscle soreness and lessen your risk of injury.
“The Only Bad Workout Is The One That Didn’t happen“
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