Power Of The Press Up
The effectiveness of the press up shouldn’t be underestimated. It is one of the most effective exercises for developing the deltoids, pectorals, triceps, as well as the core. It’s brilliant for building strength and toning.
If you can’t do them, I’m about to tell you how you can develop your strength and technique to execute the perfect press up. If you’re already confident in your press up ability then fast forward to the end of this article where you’ll find a variety of press ups bound to offer you a challenge.
First for those of you that feel you simply can’t do a proper press up. Trust me I’ve trained people who were scared to do press ups because they thought they’d fall on their face, to being able to do several full press ups. You can do it!
The most important thing in all press ups is to maintain form. Always engage your core muscles and squeeze your glutes to protect your lower back as well as hold a nice straight back.
Where to place your hands? There is no right answer to this as there are so many variations of the press up. Where you place your hands simply changes the emphasis on different muscles.
Here is a very good video demonstrating the perfect form for a press up. Click HERE In the video the demonstrator has his hands relatively close to his body, this places more of an emphasis on the triceps; bringing the arms slightly wider will feel a little easier to begin with.
If you are unable to lift your body off the floor try these steps:
1) Plank Position – Hold this position for 30 seconds and work your way up to a minute. If this is too difficult start first with bent knees and then work towards the full plank. Once you can confidently hold the position for a minute move on to the next step.
2) Knee Press Ups – On your knees lying on the floor in a prone position with elbows bent push yourself away from the floor and straighten your arms. Once at the top position lower yourself slowly as close to the floor as you can. Repeat if you’re feeling strong and confident, if not take a little break and try again. Do as many as you can, each time adding one or two repetitions. Once you can comfortably do 3 sets of 15 then you’re ready to move on.
YES MOVE ON! Too many women in particular always do knee press ups, there’s no reason women shouldn’t do full press ups.
3) Eccentric Press Ups – Starting in the plank position with arms fully extended (no more knees on the floor!) Lower yourself towards the floor as slowly as possible. Once you can perform 8-10 repetitions lowering yourself for a count of 10 then move on. Some of you might find that you can skip this step and move on to the full press up.
4) Press Ups – If you are almost there however can’t quite get as low to the ground as you’d like lower yourself to the lowest possible position and hold yourself there for 5-10 seconds. As you build strength and are able to do a full press up lowering your chest right to the floor then work your way up to doing 3 sets of 15 with a one minute rest between each set
YOU CAN PRESS UP! BRILLIANT!
Once you’re there then it’s time to have some fun and challenge yourself. Here are 11 Killer Push Up Variations by Arnel Ricafranca. Click HERE to view the video. These are bound to keep you strong and challenged for several training sessions.
Consistency is key. Work on your press ups at least 3 times a week.
Note: Your body doesn’t care about the number that you’re on but it does care that you are maintaining perfect form to stay injury free as well as achieve the best results. In other words never sacrifice form and proper technique for quantity.
Be strong and healthy!
