K Starr on the push up

What I also like is Kelly's effortless squat

John Sifferman on pushups

After the post yesterday on pushups I noticed that John Sifferman had posted this video on proper technique

The Pushup

The more I think about it, the more I get to like the pushup (as I've said before).  It is the fundamental exercise that everyone should be doing, not just for the upper body, but for everything - posture, core, the lot.  You need solid hips / glutes and upper back/traps.  You need to be able to hold the plank position before you can do the exercise. 

Yet rarely do you see a decent pushup.   People move too fast, but don't move enough.  They rarely hold the plank. 

I sometimes think that in terms of basic strength, a pushup and a proper squat (or a wall sit) would be enough for most people.

Anyway, Greg Everett has a superb post today on the pushup and the need to develop it as a basic exercise:

The Push-up: Why Is This So Hard?

Pushups as a skill......

Gus Diamantopoulos has a fascinating post at Renaissance Exercise.   He touches on a lot of things but manly at the end he is talking about how you there is a great skill element even in basic bodyweight exercises: the pushup, squat and chin.  As such high skill moves, the need for skill can often get in the way of the exercise and the "inroad" of the muscles - i.e., form breaks down befor the muscles reach failure.

When you ask an instructor to show you how to push-up or squat, you’re asking him to show you how to perform upper level martial arts, or how to play music on a new  instrument, or how to ride a motorcycle. These are not activities that one can learn quickly.

They require study, theory, practice, and ongoing, repeated practice. This will be sobering and perhaps even disheartening to some but to suggest otherwise is not only overly optimistic, it’s downright irresponsible.

Having said this, I do believe that the burden of such skills is not insurmountable, especially for the truly motivated and disciplined subject.

 My suggestion for anyone who wishes to apply our most general principles to basic and conventional movements is to practice a small number of basic exercises well and often.  Research proper performance of these basics in books and online.  Make every effort to execute your movements with focused precision and intent.  Record your performances using video and watch for every possible discrepancy and continue to practice. Practice in the early stages should trump ambitions for intensity (i.e., muscular failure and deep inroad).

Only when you’ve practiced sufficiently and over-learned these activities can a program of free squats, push-ups and chin-ups be productive and effective. 

It is worth reading through and ties in to some of my recent thought in recent posts, where I have been musing on the development of strength and the separate development of skill.  The video from Doug here and the  work of Erwan Le Corre  have also contributed. 



(Obviosuly you should go slower than this....and the guys neck should not be extended like that....)

Impressive pushups

Three things impress me here:

1. The pushup form. Note the full extension at the top as described in Zach's article (which Rusty found on this blog)
2. The ease with which she gets the plate onto her back.
3. Those legs!
   

The humble pushup

Talking of bodyweight training, Keith pointed to this excellent article:

What You Don’t Know about the Push-up

The push-up is quite possibly one of the best exercises athletes can do. Most athletes and coaches only associate push-ups with the chest and triceps, but they’re a great exercise for upper back strength and shoulder proprioception as well as for ingraining proper torso stability patterns.

Reaping the benefits of the push-up means focusing on correct technique first and foremost. I believe throwing athletes should have push-ups in every phase of their program. At TCU, our baseball athletes and quarterbacks incorporate some form of the push-up year round in their training. At various times, we even eliminate all forms of pressing in lieu of the push-up and its many variations.

So why is the push-up so good?

Nice Progression for one arm pushups

The evolution of pushups

Some good ideas from Craig Ballantyne (there is a free programme from Craig here Right click and choose Save As to download)

Interesting pushup variations

From Scott Sonnon

The One Arm Pushup

The One Arm Pushup is a fantastic exercise. It gives balance, strength and well to be honest it looks good!

Pavel's Naked Warrior book devotes virtually the whole volume to this exercise and the pistol (one leg squat).

Anyway, Jim at Lean and Hungry Fitness pointed to this great tutorial from Beast Skills on how to do a one arm pushup.

Beast Skills has some fine material and it is worth spending some time there; for example there are tutorials on the one leg squat, the handstand and even the Clapping Handstand Pushup!

Spiderman pushups

At Monday's Combat Ready Class, we were doing these as part of a pushup circuit. (Although Marcus called them mountain climbers..which I think are something different.)

Here they are demonstrated by Craig Ballantyne. They are tough, especially after Burpee ladders.....

Triple Clap Pushups

I will have to try these.....

Suspended Pushups

This study looked at the effect on the body of standard pushups compared to pushups on a labile (unstable) surface. Suspended pushups worked the abdominals and upper back (lats) a lot more. However, the researchers caution that this extra work could potentially overload the lower back. Maybe - if you already have a dodgy back - we are back to caution....do no harm

Great video too!

Muscular contribution to low-back loading and stiffness during standard and suspended push-ups.

Push-up exercises are normally performed to challenge muscles that span upper extremity joints. However, it is also recognized that push-ups provide an effective abdominal muscle challenge, especially when the hands are in contact with a labile support surface. The purpose of this study was to compare trunk muscle activation levels and resultant intervertebral joint (IVJ) loading when standard and suspended push-ups were performed, and to quantify and compare the contribution of trunk muscles to IVJ rotational stiffness in both exercises. Eleven recreationally trained male volunteers performed sets of standard and suspended push-ups. Upper body kinematic, kinetic, and EMG data were collected and input into a 3D biomechanical model of the lumbar torso to quantify lumbar IVJ loading and the contributions of trunk muscles to IVJ rotational stiffness. When performing suspended push-ups, muscles of the abdominal wall and the latissimus dorsi were activated to levels that were significantly greater than those elicited when performing standard push-ups (p<.05). As a direct result of these increased activation levels, model-predicted muscle forces increased and consequently led to significantly greater mean (p=.0008) and peak (p=.0012) lumbar IVJ compressive forces when performing suspended push-ups. Also directly resulting from the increased activation levels of the abdominal muscles and the latissimus dorsi during suspended push-ups was increased muscular contribution to lumbar IVJ rotational stiffness (p<.05). In comparison to the standard version of the exercise, suspended push-ups appear to provide a superior abdominal muscle challenge. However, for individuals unable to tolerate high lumbar IVJ compressive loads, potential benefits gained by incorporating suspended push-ups into their resistance training regimen may be outweighed by the risk of overloading low-back tissues.

Pushups - protection for the aged.....

There was an article in the NY Times today about pushups.

An Enduring Measure of Fitness: The Simple Push-Up

It was explaining that:

The push-up is the ultimate barometer of fitness. It tests the whole body, engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs. It requires the body to be taut like a plank with toes and palms on the floor. The act of lifting and lowering one’s entire weight is taxing even for the very fit.

“You are just using your own body and your body’s weight,” said Steven G. Estes, a physical education professor and dean of the college of professional studies at Missouri Western State University. “If you’re going to demonstrate any kind of physical strength and power, that’s the easiest, simplest, fastest way to do it.”

Now I wouldn't say that they are the ultimate measure of fitness - I think fitness is a bit more complex. However it was what the article went on to say that interested me.

Push-ups are important for older people, too. The ability to do them more than once and with proper form is an important indicator of the capacity to withstand the rigors of aging.

Researchers who study the biomechanics of aging, for instance, note that push-ups can provide the strength and muscle memory to reach out and break a fall. When people fall forward, they typically reach out to catch themselves, ending in a move that mimics the push-up. The hands hit the ground, the wrists and arms absorb much of the impact, and the elbows bend slightly to reduce the force.

In studies of falling, researchers have shown that the wrist alone is subjected to an impact force equal to about one body weight, says James Ashton-Miller, director of the biomechanics research laboratory at the University of Michigan.

“What so many people really need to do is develop enough strength so they can break a fall safely without hitting their head on the ground,” Dr. Ashton-Miller said. “If you can’t do a single push-up, it’s going to be difficult to resist that kind of loading on your wrists in a fall.”

And people who can’t do a push-up may not be able to help themselves up if they do fall.

“To get up, you’ve got to have upper-body strength,” said Peter M. McGinnis, professor of kinesiology at State University of New York College at Cortland who consults on pole-vaulting biomechanics for U.S.A. Track and Field, the national governing body for track.

Natural aging causes nerves to die off and muscles to weaken. People lose as much as 30 percent of their strength between 20 and 70. But regular exercise enlarges muscle fibers and can stave off the decline by increasing the strength of the muscle you have left.

It is this idea again of functional fitness. I've spoken about it before in terms of the importance of balance training as we get older in order to prevent falls. Here is another side to the coin - if you do fall you need to be able to break the fall and to get yourself up again. This is what training is really about - being fit for real life, being able to look after yourself.