When it comes to sports, one exercise stands out above the rest. We are talking about push-ups, which are responsible for framing the story, and which have become one of the main strength exercises. If we see any portrait of the athletes of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire preparing their participation in the Olympic Games, we usually see athletes doing push-ups. It is an effective exercise that affects different muscle groups, especially the arms and everything that surrounds the pecks, and that can also be done anywhere and at any time of the day. This flexibility makes it the perfect addition to any fitness routine regardless of your fitness level and goal.
What are push-ups?
Push-ups, in general terms, are a movement that consists of taking advantage of the weight of our body to convert it into a load for our pectorals and joints. In this way, taking advantage of the tension generated by our body, we manage to break fibers and create a movement of force in the biceps, triceps, deltoids and, mainly, in all the muscles that surround the pectoral. It is a type of exercise in progression since, as we improve our physical shape, our body will be able to perform a greater number of repetitions. In addition, the use of any type of external material is not required, so it is possible to do push-ups at home, the office or even in a park if we feel comfortable. In fact, it is one of the favorite exercises to lose weight at home.
For the most part, performing push-ups allows you to strengthen the upper body and, more specifically, everything that surrounds the pectoral, the anterior deltoid, the triceps and even the biceps. However, there are other muscle groups that must be taken into account when performing this type of movement. The dorsal and the entire scapular area are of enormous importance when we perform push-ups. Basically, it is responsible for keeping the entire trunk straight and if we do not have enough mobility, all this part can end up giving way and cause push-ups to be poorly done. From here, we will have a negative effect on our body, running the risk of suffering any type of injury that will not allow us to continue training for a while. Breathing is another factor to take into account when we perform any type of exercise such as push-ups. We breathe in when we make the downward movement and we breathe out when we return to our initial position.
Benefits of doing push-ups
All in all, doing push-ups has numerous benefits for all those people who choose to do this type of exercise in their physical preparation. The most prominent are the following:
- Increased muscle mass. It may seem silly but this exercise, along with pull-ups, is one of the most demanding. We train with the weight of our body and, therefore, as we increase the number of repetitions we will also be able to increase our strength and physical condition.
- Stabilization of the body. One of the secondary muscle groups that are worked by doing push-ups is the abdominals. We must stabilize our back to perform them correctly and, therefore, performing this exercise will also benefit our core.
- Exercise flexibility. We can perform push-ups wherever and whenever we want. If we do not want to do them in the gym or sports center, we can do them in our own home or even in the office. This great possibility of places also opens the range at the time of day to carry them out.
- Reduces the risk of injury. For its part, another of the consequences of training with our own weight is to reduce the risk of an injury that leaves us in dry dock as well as the possible discomfort that we may suffer. Therefore, it is highly recommended for beginners.
- Raises morale. It is a type of exercise that can be very explosive if we wish. Thus, to burn negative energy or recover a possible emptiness, push-ups can be our great friend. Carry out multiple repetitions of this type and you will begin to notice the enormous improvement.
Main types of push-ups
Once you know a general approach to push-ups, you should know the different types that are available to know which ones are best suited to your routine and can serve as a complement to your goal. The main type of push-up that we can carry out is none other than the push-up. It is the classic, and the best known. Placing the arms and legs as a point of support with the ground, the objective is to place our body forming a parallel line with the ground and, from here, start a downward movement until our chest touches the ground. Finally, we will return to the initial position and start the movement again. This type of push-up also has some variants for beginners. If we wish, we can perform the same movement with our knees on the ground since by adding a third point of support, the load we receive is much less. On the other hand, if we are looking for a much more demanding type of exercise, among push-ups there are many ways. The first one is to take a record of the kilos that we think we can support and put it on our back and from there, start the classic exercise. In this case, it is very important to be careful since the back is an extremely important part of the body for our daily life and, therefore, if we carry too much weight we run the risk of injuring ourselves and slowing down our progress.
Another of the types of push-ups is the so-called diamond push-ups, where the triceps is worked much more than the pectoral. The position of the hands is in the shape of a diamond with the dead fingers making a kind of lever. This is the origin of the name. In addition, the movement of diamond push-ups is opposite to the usual one starting from the chest on the ground as the starting position, and using the strength of the triceps to raise the entire weight of the body until reaching the starting position of traditional push-ups. Let’s be attentive to the wrists and fingers, since in the event of any type of discomfort that we may suffer during the performance of the movement, we must stop it immediately so that it could worsen and become an injury that prevents us from doing sports during an indeterminate time and slow down our progression. If we want to raise the difficulty of the push-ups one more point, we can opt for the archer type. The fulcrum is the legs, but only one of the extremities will remain bent. The other will be fully extended. In this sense, the opening angle of the legs will mark the level of stability and difficulty that our body will have... On the other hand, we also have the possibility of taking two separate wooden boxes (one at chest height and the other to support our feet. It is a type of exercise that combines many muscles. With a light dumbbell in one arm, the idea is to perform the typical rowing exercise in a flexed position, while we have a single point of support, and we work the muscles of the back, in addition to the core with a really high intensity. In the blink of an eye we are working up to three different muscles: the dorsal, due to its involvement in the rowing exercise, the arms with tension to support the body, and finally the abdominal, which is responsible for keeping the body straight. Within the same exercise we can find different types and, therefore, vary the intensity and position of the muscle that we affect. Everything depends on the objectives that we can have and the moment in which we can find ourselves.
The supports are one of the great keys to mark the level of difficulty of push-ups, as is also the case when we perform shoulder push-ups. In this sense, there is a type of push-up that is very similar to the classic exercise but with the particularity that in this case, our point of support will be the tips of the fingers. Therefore, the level of tension that our body can withstand is very high, causing enormous wear and tear on the pectoral area. You have to have a really strong previous preparation because if the fingers give way we can end up hurting ourselves. The previous exercises will mark the future of successful push-ups and, therefore, we must be careful before setting any type of objective. The different types of push-ups allow us to add a fantastic complement to all our fitness routines and combine it with other types of exercises with external load, which should be the main ones to increase our muscle mass, strength level and reflect it in our RM (maximum repetition). Push-ups are a type of exercise that is really recommended due to its flexibility, ease of carrying it out both in the office and at home, and the explosiveness it can generate. Without a doubt, the perfect ally to achieve excellent muscle growth.
