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Exercise of the Month - December 2007: “Push Ups ”
As I continue to tell my clients and those I speak to in my travels, bodyweight exercises are extremely underrated and underappreciated.
Exercise enthusiasts are far too quick to grab a pair of dumbbells or plant their butts on a machine to get the job done. Instead, they should begin by utilizing their own body as resistance before placing “external loads” on their joints.
For example, instead of getting under a bar to bang out a set of squats, begin by using your own body weight and perfecting your form. If your range of motion [think thighs parallel to the ground with chest up and torso extended] stinks, you should be doing mobility drills such as leg swings (http://www.pcconditioning.com/archive_exercise/exercises_jan07.php) amongst others featured here:
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=mArbJbKKCQw&feature=related). A classic example of an upper-body pushing exercise is the bench press. While the bench press is a decent choice to improve upper body strength and endurance, consider push-ups as an alternative, particularly if getting to the gym is not an option. Push-ups help strengthen the serratus anterior, pecs, anterior delts, triceps, and core musculature.
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Figure 1 |
Push-ups are incredibly diverse because they can be performed anywhere and have multiple progressions from simple to advanced. For absolute beginners, consider wall push-ups (Fig. 1). When they become too easy, advance to either modified or traditional push-ups (Fig. 2). The next progression would be push-ups with feet elevated (Fig. 3). Other advanced progressions include adding external weight by using a weighted vest (Fig. 4) or introducing upper body instability by way of a BOSU ball. With respect to exercise prescription, 1-3 sets of 8-12 push-ups are a fine starting point. Gradually increase repetitions until moving onto the respective progressions.
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Figure 2 |
Figure 3 |
Figure 4 |
