Push-Ups The Ultimate Workout for Everyone

Push-ups are the ultimate workout for everyone out there. People including myself have reaped the benefits of performing push-ups with many variations. This workout has survived the test of time.

It will continue to outshine all the technological aspects that are being introduced in fitness and strength training. It

What is the reason behind this? Why are push-ups the legendary routine for everyone out there? The answer to these questions is quite simple. Push-ups are extremely convenient to do without the need for any special equipment or the need to go to the gym every day.

They are incredibly effective workouts for every age, shape, size, and gender. It is the most effective exercise that has still kept the top spot throughout the decades. Every beginner, Intermediate or Advanced trainer uses it as a part of their workout plan.

This is just the opening statement for the ultimate workout(Push-ups). More good stuff to follow after this brief introduction.

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How to Perform the Perfect Push-up?

The basic position from which a perfect push-up in terms of technique can be performed.

To perform a perfect push-up do the following necessary steps.

• Begin by lying face down on the floor with your feet between two and six inches apart.
• Stretch your arms forming a 90-degree angle with your body
• Bend your elbows to form a 90 Degree as well
• Rotate your arms at the shoulder joint to make sure your hands are in the very same place where you placed your elbows before the rotation happened
• Keep your glutes and abdomen tightened.
• Keep your back straightened and lift off from the ground all the way up
• Use 2 seconds to press yourself up and 2 seconds to lower yourself down.

Tips

Keep your back straight throughout the movement. Imagine a straight rod resting on your back, touching the back of your head, upper back, butt, and ankles at all times.

Your head must be facing the floor. Do not turn your head in any direction as this can risk a muscle spasm.

Rest your legs on the balls of your feet and not the toes.

Rising up on your toes can damage your joints.

You can place a folded towel under your chest and touch it when you lower yourself to the floor. It’s not necessary to touch your chest to the floor.

In case of pain or discomfort in your wrists, try making a fist with the knuckles on the ground.

Why do Push-ups hurt the Wrist?

So this is one of the reasons that people let go of one of the best workouts for the core. This pain in the wrists may be caused due to a lack of mobility in the joints.

If you perform your push-ups using the above tips, you won’t ever get into a bad form for performing push-ups

You must have done a general warm-up before your exercise session, but if you plan on doing push-ups, you should warm up your wrists and hands, particularly your wrists if they hurt during push-ups.

Place your hand at an optimum position, neither too wide nor too close. This will prevent additional stress on your wrists. Keep your wrists steady don’t try to bend your arms inward or outward too much.

Don’t flare your elbows out to the sides of your body rather keeping them tucked to the side of the body. Bending them back against your body.

People consider push-ups as an upper-body exercise. If you engage your upper body strength without engaging your core, you automatically draw more tension towards your wrists. Causing wrist pain.

You can perform pushups against a wall to relieve pressure on your wrists. Minor wrist pain, doing your pushups on an incline will relieve some pressure without making the pushups too easy.

Will Push-ups Build Muscle?

One of the most common questions that come to mind is If this workout is as good as everyone describes it. Will it help me build muscles? The answer is definitely Yes, it helps build muscles.

The idea of developing your muscles evenly is an important aspect of building real
strength and endurance while avoiding injury.

Push-ups consider your body as a unit. By this I mean they make your muscles sync
together and to become stronger as one unit that performs a better job.

Let’s say your one muscle is relatively weaker as compared to your other muscles say(chest, deltoids, and back). When you perform a push-up workout your weak muscle will take a toll and will get stronger until it reaches the same level as your other muscles.

From this point onwards your entire body will be in harmony and you will feel a greater balance of strength in all your muscles.

An important question to ask would be, Do you want to look stronger or Do you really want to be strong?

How Many Push-Ups are good?

Well, this question is quite hard to answer because of the different mindsets, goals, and satisfaction involved. I would prefer to be able to perform a hundred push-ups in a row is a tremendous accomplishment.

The reasons for wanting to get to the 100 push-up level are many. Some people need to perform a certain number of push-ups as a requirement for e.g(a specific belt for Martial Arts).

Others may need it to pass a certain minimum requirement to get into the Army, Navy, Marines, police, or special forces unit.

For some, the desire to perform push-ups comes from the inner satisfaction of completing a goal and accomplishing it — to be able to achieve that very few can.

Can Push-ups be Performed During Pregnancy?

Push-ups are the best way to work that upper body during pregnancy. Make your arms stronger ready to hold that little one with this strength training.

Don’t try to overburden yourself with a tough regime while you’re pregnant is not a good idea. Engaging yourself in some moderate exercise is a very good idea.

Pregnant women should definitely keep themselves active in exercises, but they should be careful about choosing easy modifications for some moves while they are pregnant.

Women should aim to switch up their workouts every trimester. They are not only great for building the chest but also work wonders for your core, abs, triceps, and biceps.

Push-Ups for Building an Armoured Chest

The most common question that you come across in relation to Push-Ups are:
Are Push-ups good for the chest? Which push-ups are best for the chest? Which push-ups are for the lower chest? I will answer all of them over here.

The push-up is one of the most engaging bodyweight exercises. It not only builds your chest muscles but also your triceps, biceps and helps you to build balance and strengthen muscles. It even works your glutes, quads, and stabilizing muscles in your upper back.

For the very first question, yes they are an amazing workout for chest muscle and even more effective the bench press itself. With the right form and better range of motion, you can achieve a greater, wider, and more defined chest.

Setting a press-up station is rather cheaper than buying gym equipment required to do bench presses for home.

Different Variations are available for building a better chest. Here are some of the push-ups that work best for the chest.

• Standard Push-up
• Isometric Push-ups
• Wide Push-up
• Squeeze Push-up
• Plyometric

Standard Push-Ups

• Start in a plank position with your pelvis tucked in, your neck neutral, and your palms just under your shoulders.
• Your shoulders are rotated back and down, too.
• Tighten your core and keep your back flat, lower your body by bending your elbows while keeping them pointed slightly back.
• Lower down until your chest grazes the floor.
• Immediately extend your elbows and push your body back up to the starting position.
• Repeat for as many reps as possible, for 3 sets.

Isometric Push-Ups

• Begin in the “Up” position of the push-up.
• Inhale through your nose by lowering yourself to the floor.
• Hold this position for at least 7 seconds while you exhale through your clenched teeth.
• Keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth making an “Ssssss” sound as you do this.
• Inhale again through your nose as you move back up again.

Wide Push-Ups

• Lie down with your stomach on the floor and your legs straight behind you.
• Move your hands further outward so that they are beyond your elbows.
• Take a deep breath through your nose and exhale as you press yourself up off the floor.
• Inhale through your nose when you lower yourself to the floor.

Squeeze Push-up

• Lie down on a mat with your stomach flat on the floor and your legs straight behind you.
• For this push-up, you must have your fists in the knuckle position.
• Take a deep breath through your nose and then start to exhale as you press yourself up off the floor.
• As you press up you should simultaneously squeeze your chest muscles together.
• Do not move your fists but tense your chest muscles in such a way as if you are bringing your fists together.
• Inhale through your nose as you lower yourself to the floor.
• When pressing up, you should simultaneously squeeze your chest muscles together.

Plyometric

• Get in a plank position with your pelvis tucked in, and your palms directly under your shoulders.
• Lower your body by bending your elbows, pointed slightly back, tighten your core and your back flat, while your chest grazes the floor.
• Immediately extend your elbows while pushing your body back up, but instead of stopping at the top, apply force to launch your upper body up through your hands and your palms come off the ground.
• Don’t land hard on the ground and lower your chest again for another rep. Clap at the top for added difficulty.
• Perform as many reps as possible for 3 sets.

Push-Ups for Lower Chest

As mentioned earlier, you will get your desired results if you apply the correct form. Unfortunately, it is pretty easy to mess up pushup variation and be a lost cause. Here are some push-ups for lower chest development to help you achieve a toned and strengthened chest.

The One Clap Pushup

It is more of a plyometric push-up and does challenge a person. The exercise is also effective for increasing strength, power, and body balance. However, it is more challenging and may take a toll on you if you do not have adequate upper body strength.

How to perform this push-up variation successfully? Let’s follow these tips for perfect execution.

• Begin in the high plank position. Your hands should be slightly wider than the shoulder width.
• Your legs should be fully stretched and should be resting on your toes.
• Keep your back straightened and face down.
• Breathe in and start to lower your body towards the floor. As you do this, try to utilize your core and abdominal muscles.
• Make sure that your elbows are bent to help lower your chest. You should not lie on the floor but should be resting a few inches above the ground.
• Hold this stance for one to two seconds.
• Exhale and straighten your arms to lift your body. Make sure the movement is smooth and controlled to avoid any injury.
• Lift your body off the floor, lift your hands off the floor and clap once. You might fall a couple of times, especially if it is your first time doing this.
• After the clap, land softly using your hands and perform another rep. Your elbows don’t have to be straight after the land. You can maintain a soft bend in the elbows.

The Incline Pushup

One of the very best pushups for the lower chest that fitness trainers recommend is the incline pushup. You will be expected to incline a certain angle to complete this move. The angle of inclination is what targets the lower chest muscles.

How to perform this push-up variation successfully? Let’s follow these tips to execute the best push-up variation for lower chest growth, endurance, and strength.

• Try facing down with your hands firmly pressed on the desk, bench, or on a sturdy object. Make sure that your hands are wider than shoulder-width distance and your palms are facing down. Position your feet at a hip-width distance and toes be firmly pressed on the ground.
• The back and spine should be kept straight and face down towards the floor.
• Start lowering your body towards the ground slowly. You can try to drop as much as you can, but do not rest on the desk. Aim at bringing your chest at least 4 to 8 inches away from the bench.
• Hold this position for two seconds or more.
• Push through your arms to return to your starting position. Maintain a slow bend in your elbows when lifting your body.

Push-Ups for Gaining Muscle Mass

Can musPush-up help in developing increased muscle mass, strength, and endurance. The push-up primarily works the triceps and chest but also activates other muscles in your arms, shoulders, core, and legs.

Will push-ups make you bigger? Gaining muscle mass is not an overnight concept. When you first start a new strength training regimen, your neural system needs to adapt to the new pressure and begins to utilize new motor units.

When you continue training, your body will begin to develop new muscle fibers, resulting in increased muscle mass. This can take three to six months, advises the American Council on Exercise.

How fast you can see results and how much muscle is gained varies greatly. Some people have a good genetic potential to gain muscle. Other factors include a balanced diet, Endocrine levels, and training intensity.

For the greatest muscle growth, the American Council on Exercise recommends doing three to six sets of six to twelve repetitions with only sixty to ninety seconds of rest between sets.

If the repetitions are too monotonous, your gains will slow or stagnate. Intensify your regimen by trying more challenging push-up variations.

Why Push-Ups are Good for You?

The reason push-ups are so effective is that they utilize the three types of muscle-building resistance in order to achieve muscle growth.

• These are concentric (muscle actually contract),
• eccentric (muscle enlarges due to the contraction of another muscle)
• isometric (When muscles try to contract but do not actually change their length

Utilizing all three at the same time results in great strength and endurance.

Push-up workouts also improve your reaction time by training your proprioceptive
muscle fibers. These fibers are microscopic nerves that ensure your body is balanced.

These nerves are firing constantly in an effort to keep your body from tipping over during a push-up. This trains them to respond more quickly to stimuli which will aid balance and speed.

High rep exercise encourages superior blood flow. When you work your muscles you will start to feel soreness and discomfort due to the accumulation of lactic acid.

Encouraging blood flow pushups actually help minimize this effect as they will flush out those areas.

The Bottom Line

All in all the conclusion is that every individual must include push-ups with their different variations in their workout sessions. Some things never get old and that is true about push-ups.

Try to be as considerate with regards to push-ups as you would do for any other exercise you do. You will be seeing better and faster results if you apply everything we just talked about over here.

Keep pushing yourself and never settle on the ease at any moment in your training.