Alright, gang. I heard you. I’ll stick to one blog and write about whatever frosts my cookies, and I’ll let you discerning people choose what to read and what to yawn about. Fair? Let’s talk about pushups.
I just read a great article about pushups being a much better exercise than bench pressing. Why? Because it does more things. It moves your bodyweight up and down (up to 70% of your bodyweight), but it also strengthens your core muscles. Remember, it’s just like doing a plank, only you’re moving yourself up and down, too. But why do pushups at all? We do lots of things in fitness that we’re not exactly sure why we’re doing it. Here are some thoughts about why pushups matter.
First, pushups work your pectoral muscles, which are fairly big muscles. For those of you doing exercises to lose weight and burn fat, the bigger your muscles, the more tuned your fat-burning machine is. Second, pushups tone and shape your chest. For guys, this means no unsightly man boobs. For ladies, this means helping raise the twins to a somewhat more firm and ensconced position. Third, pushups give one strength for pushing. Pushing what? A ball, if you like any of the ball sports. A jogging stroller. Whatever.
So, if you’re all jazzed about doing pushups, let’s talk about a few variations on the theme.
Standard Pushups
The classic. Get down on the ground with your feet together, and your hands about shoulder width apart. Keep your body straight and stiff, and push your body off the ground. When you are coming down, look up and forward (as if you’re Superman flying) and try to touch your chest to the floor. This is a proper, deep push-up. Try for 10. When you can do 15 or 20, don’t bother. Add these others to the mix after rest periods.
Wide Grip Pushups
Put your hands further than shoulder width apart and do the same push-up. This will strengthen your chest a little more and your arms a little less. Getting another 10 of these after a set of standard pushups is great.
Stability Ball Pushups
This can go two ways. Try doing a pushup with your hands resting on a swiss ball. These work your core like mad. Do 10 of these and you’re doing good. Then, turn around and put your legs up on the ball and your hands on the ground and do 10 decline pushups. Oof.
Triceps Pushup
And while I’m beating you up anyhow… Pushups work your triceps anyhow. These KILL your triceps, in the good sense. Try putting your hands much closer together underneath you, and doing the same push-up. If you can’t do even one of these (and these are killers), at least do the “from up to down” part of these pushups a dozen times, to give yourself some extra burn on your triceps.
I’ll write a few more posts about good old fashioned fitness. I just canceled my gym membership (in the near term), and that’s because I think I can mix it up a lot more without focusing on the metal going up and down. I’ll share what I’m doing, and hopefully, you can get something out of it, too.
What do you think?
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