Men's Health Pushup Guide

8/12/2019 Men's Health Pushup Guide

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THE ULTIMATE PUSHUP GUIDE:

MASTER THIS CLASSIC MOVE

AND 25 NEW VARIATIONS

WHILEEXERCISESLIKETHEPUSHUPAND

the bench press both work your chest,

shoulders, and triceps, the pushup also

trains your abdominals, lower back,

upper back, and glutes. So it bestows a bevy of

total-body benefits. Whats more, unlike the bench

press, the pushup helps you sculpt healthy, stable

shoulders, by training

both your scapular

muscles and your rota-

tor cuff muscles. The

bottom line: Pushups

not only build up the

facade in front of your

physique, but also

develop the supportsystem behind those

muscles, too.

And if you like this

ultimate pushup guide,

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WHY THE PUSHUP

IS KING

WWW.MENSHE A L T H . C OM


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Your body shouldform a straight linefrom your headto yourknees.

VARIATION #1

Incline Pushup Place your hands on a box,

bench, or step insteadof the floor. This reducesthe amount of yourbody weight you haveto lift, making the

exercise easier.

VARIATION #2

Modified Pushup Instead of performing the exercise

with your legs straight, bend yourknees and cross your ankles behindyou. This is another way to make theclassic pushup easier.

VARIATION #4

Single-Leg Decline Pushup Place one foot on a box

or bench and holdthe other in the air.

VARIATION #3

Decline Pushup Place your feet on a box or bench as you perform a pushup.

This increases the amount of your body weight you have to lift,making the exercise harder.

The higher thesurface and themore upright yourbody, the easier theexercise is.

Dont let yourhips sag.

If you feel strain onyour lower back,youre not keepingyour core tight.

PUSH AWAY FATThe pushup is agood indicator ofwhether or notyoure exercisingenough nowto avoid fat later,

according to aCanadian study.The researchersfound that peoplewho perform poorlyin a pushup test are78 percent morelikely to gain 20pounds of flab overthe next twodecades.

You can do this exerciseon a staircase, moving toa lower step as yourstrength improves.

STRENGTHENYOUR SHOUL-DERSResearchersin Texas found thatthedecline pushup

works the musclesthat stabilize yourshoulders betterthan a traditionalpushup.


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ThePushupSpectrum

EASIEST

HARDEST

9. SWISS-BALLPUSHUP

8. BOSU PUSHUP

7. SINGLE-LEGDECLINEPUSHUP

6. PUSHUPWITH FEETON SWISSBALL

5. DECLINE

PUSHUP

4. STACKED-FEET PUSHUP

3. PUSHUP

2. INCLINEPUSHUP

1. MODIFIEDPUSHUP

The instability of the ballforces your core to workharder, increasing thedifficulty of the exercise.

VARIATION #7

Weighted Pushup Have a workout partner place a weight plate on your

back, at the level of your shoulder blades.

VARIATION #6

Stacked-Feet Pushup Place one foot on top of the other so that only the lower

one supports your body.

VARIATION #5

Pushup with Feeton Swiss Ball

A

Perform the movement with your feet placedon Swiss ball.

You can also increase the amount yourelifting by wearing a weighted vestor placing a heavy chain on your back.

B

Lower your body as far as you can, without allowingyour hips to sag.

65Percent of your

body weight

you lift when

you do a

modified pushup.


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Pause whenyour chest is

just off the floor.

Pause at the halfwaypoint on both your waydown and your way up.

As you push yourself back to thestarting position, pause just beforethe point you straighten your arms.

VARIATION #8

Triple-Stop PushupA

Do a standard pushup,but pause for 2 seconds

at the positions shown.

MAKE TIME FOR THIS MOVEPausing briefly at each point increases strength at that jointangle and 10 degrees in either direction. So this methodeliminates any weak point you might have. It also increasesthe time your muscles are under tension, stimulating growth.

B

C

D

VARIATION #9

Wide-Hands Pushup Place your hands about twice

shoulder-width apart.

VARIATION #10

Close-Hands Pushup Place your hands directly under

your shoulders.

Placing yourhands closertogetherworks yourtriceps harder.

Keep yourelbows tuckedclose to yoursides as youlower yourbody.

Settingyour handswide putsa greateremphasison yourchest. Thedownside:It alsoincreasesthe stresson yourshoulders


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VARIATION #11

Diamond Pushup Place your hands close enough together to

make a triangle with your thumbs andforefingers.

Placing your handscloser together worksyour triceps harder.

VARIATION #12

Staggered-Hands Pushup Place one hand in standard pushupposition and your other

hand a few inchesfarther forward.

Staggering your hands increas-es the challenge to your coreand shoulder muscles.

Alternate whichhand is placedforward each set.

VARIATION #13

Spiderman PushupA

Assume the standard pushup position.

B

As you lower your body toward the floor, lift your right footoff the floor, swing your right leg out sideways, and try totouch your knee to your elbow.

Reverse the movement, then push your body back to thestarting position. Repeat, but on your next repetition,touch your left knee to your left elbow. Continue toalternate back and forth.

75Percent of your body weight

you lift when you do a

standard pushup, according

to research by the

National Strength and

Conditioning Association.


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CHISEL YOUR ABSWhen you place your hands on aSwiss ball or a medicine ball,the instability causes your coremuscles to work 20 percentharder than when you do push-ups on the floor, report New Zea-land researchers.

VARIATION #14

Swiss-Ball Pushup Place your hands on a Swiss ball

instead of the floor.

VARIATION #16

Single-Arm Medicine-Ball Pushup Place one hand on a medicine ball.

VARIATION #15

Medicine-Ball Pushup Place both hands on a medicine ball.

VARIATION #17

Two-Arm Medicine-Ball Pushup Place each hand on a medicine ball.

TARGETYOURTRICEPSThis exercisetrains your tri-ceps 30 per-cent harderthan a stan-dard pushup.The reason:The Swiss ballforces yourtriceps to sta-bilize your el-bow andshoulderjoints, whichresults in therecruitment of

moremuscle fibers.

Keep yourcore braced.

Your chestshould nearlytouch the ball.

Dont let yourhips sag.

Do an equal numberof sets with eachhand on the ball.

Squeeze the ball with yourhands, almost like youretrying to grab onto it.

If you dont havea medicine ball,you can use abasketball in itsplace.


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VARIATION #18

T-PushupA

Place a pair of hex dumbbells at the spot whereyou position your hands.

Grasp the dumbbell handles and set yourself inpushup position.

B

Lower your body to the floor.

Pump UpYourPushups

To boost thenumber of

pushups you

can do, try this

simple ladder

routine. Time

how long it

takes you to do

as many push-

ups (you can

use any varia-

tion) as you

can. Then rest

for the same

time period,

and repeat the

process two to

four times. So if

you do 20 push-

ups in 25 sec-

onds, youll rest

25 seconds, and

repeat. Lets

say on your

next round you

complete

12 pushups in

16 seconds.

Youd then rest

for 16 seconds

before your

third set.

Use this meth-

od two days

a week to

quickly raise

your score.

Your armsshould forma T withyour body.

The dumbbellsshould be setslightly widerthan shoulder-width apart.

As you rotate your body,pivot on your toes and

then lower your heelsto the floor.

Set your feethip-width apart.

Raise thedumbbell androtate yourbody in onefluid motion.

VARIATION #19

Judo PushupA

Begin in standard pushup position, but moveyour feet forward and raise your hips so your bodyalmost forms an upside-down V.

B

Keeping your hips elevated, lower your body untilyour chin nearly touches the floor.

C

Lower your hips until they almost touch the floor,as you simultaneously raise your head and shoulderstoward the ceiling. Reverse the movement back tothe starting position and repeat.

C

As you push yourself back up, rotate the right side ofyour body upward as you bend your right arm and pullthe right dumbbell to your torso. Then straighten yourarm so that thedumbbell is above

your right shoulder.

Lower the dumbbellback down, and repeat,this time performingthe move to your left.


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VARIATION #22

Explosive Crossover PushupA

Place your lefthand on the floorand your right

hand on thesmooth side ofa weight plate.

B

Lower yourbody to the floor.

C

Explosively push upand to the rightso your hands leavethe floor.

D

Land with yourleft hand onthe plate and

your right handon the floor.

E

Then lower andrepeat, alternatingback and fortheach repetition.

VARIATION #20

Explosive Pushup

Assume a pushup position.

Bend your elbows andlower your body.

Press yourself up so

forcefully that yourhands leave the floor.

The crossover portion of this movement forces your upperarms toward the center of your body, which is the mainfunction of the pectoralis major, your largest chest muscle.

Your chestshould nearlytouch the floor.

VARIATION #21

Iso-Explosive Pushup Do this movement just like the explosive pushup, but first pause

5 seconds in the down position. This pause technique eliminatesall the elasticity in your muscles, which allows you to activate amaximum number of fast-twitch muscle fibers. These are themuscle fibers with greatest potential for size and strength gains.

A

B

C


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Hang Onfor MoreMuscle

Performingpushups while

suspended from

straps

increases

muscle activa-

tion in your abs

and upper back,

according to a

study by Cana-

dian research-

ers. One cau-

tion: This

exercise can

also place more

stress

on your lower

back. To

protect your

spine, make

sure to keep

your core and

glutes tight,

as you should

when you do

any variation of

the pushup.

Simply brace

your abs

forcefully and

squeeze your

glutes, and hold

those contrac-

tions as you

lower and raise

your body.

VARIATION #24

SuspendedPushup Attach a pair of straps

with handles to asecure bar, so that thehandles are a foot orso off the floor.

Lower your body untilyour upper armsdip below your elbows.

VARIATION #25

Pushup and RowA

Place a pair of hex dumbbells at thespot where you position your hands.

Grasp the dumbbell handles and setyourself in pushup position.

B

Lower your body to the floor, pause,then push yourself back up.

C

Once youre back in the startingposition, row the dumbbell in your righthand to the side of your chest, by pullingit upward and bending your arm.

Pause, then lower the dumbbell backdown, and repeat the same movementwith your left arm. Thats one repetition.

VARIATION #23

Bosu Pushup Turn a Bosu ball over, so that the half-ball

portion is on floor, and position your handson the sides ofthe platform.

Your torso shouldnot rotate as you row.

THE ALL-IN-ONE UPPERBODY EXERCISEThe pushup and row works yourmiddle and upper back as hardas it does your chest.

Keep your body ina straight line fromyour ankles to yourhead.

The dumbbells should beset slightly wider thanshoulder-width apart.

Your chest should

nearly touch the sur-face of the Bosu.

Brace yourcore and glutes.

One option forsuspendedpushups: BlastStraps, whichcan be found atelitefts.com

Documents

Men's Health Pushup Guide