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The push-up is one of those exercises that is more popularly known for being used in military physical training as a form of punishment for getting out of line. Dropping and giving 20 reps all the time actually does more good than harm. The push-up should be a part of everyone’s training routine when trying to improve one’s overall health.
It is good for more than just a warm-up exercise. Here are a few benefits of the push-up:
- Increases upper body strength
- Strengthens chest, triceps, & shoulders
- Great core exercise
- Beginners can do them (on their knees)
- Can be done anywhere
- Only requires your body weight
There are also so many variations of the push-up. As stated above, beginners can always start off on their knees until they build strength. There are also diamond push-ups, one-armed push-up, and clapper push-ups. One thing to keep in mind is having good form. You want your body to be straight and keep your rear-end from sticking up or slouching. It is also a good idea to perform them at a somewhat slow pace to actually make your muscles work. Sometimes you will see people cranking them out so fast that it is actually the momentum that is doing most of the work.
Below is an example of a regular push-up in action:
If you begin doing push-ups on a regular basis you will be amazed at just how fast you can build upper body strength.
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Great article. I’m a new reader to your blog and really enjoy reading about all these bodyweight exercises. I have got so used to exercising at the gym I often neglect exercises such as the pushup. However, they really are a great test of strength - no matter how much I can bench.
I have done more pushups in 2008 than I have in all of the 2000s. Since I joined a thai kickboxing class, I’ve never done so many push ups. Clap pushups, one arm pushups, staggered pushups, decline pushups, close grip pushups, pushups on a medicine ball, the list goes on and on. Anyway, pushups can make a great chest and tris workout if you vary the difficulty and angles.
Push-ups are still a foundational exercise for strength training upper body and mostly the chest. Functional training works the muscle and core strength and that is why I hope people don’t use just the bench press for a chest workout.
[...] found the video below which is an awesome twist on the push-up. I’ve written before about the power of the push-up which is one of the basic exercises that should be incorporated into any interval routine when [...]