Push ups are excellent exercise for whole body, they work chest, shoulders, triceps and core. No matter if a person is a beginner or an advance athlete he needs to do a push up. Push up being an open chain movement is lot better then Bench press. In push up you whole body moves compared to just arms in a bench press.
Correct way to do a Push up
Like every exercise there is a correct way to do push up. Following key things need to be remembered while doing a push up.
- Shoulder width: Hand should be placed at a width slightly greater then shoulder width.
- Tuck your elbows: Never flare your elbow, they should be at around 45° angle to the body. This is very important to maintain shoulder health.
- Tightness through out the body: Keep tightness throughout your body, brace your abs and squeeze your glutes. You should keep a straight line from head to toe. and your whole body should move as single unit.
- Full range of motion: Its very important to work through out the range of the motion. Touch your chest to ground at bottom position and lock your elbows at top position.
Push up progression for Beginners
Here is another nice video by Crossfit on push up progression for beginners.
- Push up on walls
- Push up on knees with hands elevated.
- Push up with hands elevated and a wide stance.
- Push up from knees with hands on ground.
- Push up from hands on ground and wide stance.
- Normal push up.
Here are some other variation of pushups.
- Push-up from Knees
- Wide Grip Push-ups
- Close Grip Push-ups
- Diamond Push-ups
- Fingertip Push-ups
- Knuckle Push-ups
- Chinese Push-ups (or Dive Bombers)
- Bench Push-ups
- Isometric Push-ups
- One-legged Push-ups
- Push-up with T Rotation
- One-arm Push-up
- Explosive (or Plyometric) Push-ups
- Clapping Push ups
- Staggered Push-ups
- Explosive Staggered Push-ups
- Elevated Feet Push-up
- Alligator Push-ups
- Circle Push-ups
- Walk Through Push-ups
- 90 Degree Push-ups
