Types of Push Ups & What They Do
Push-ups are an exercise that works the upper body and core. There are many ways to alter the traditional push-up in order to shift the work onto different muscle groups, and many ways to increase the intensity of this movement.
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What Is a Push-Up?
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A push-up is a simple exercise designed to work the muscles of the upper body and core (obliques, abdominals, lower back and hip flexors). Done properly, it can develop upper body muscularity and build upper body and core strength.
Traditional Movement
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To perform a traditional push-up, lay on the floor with your arms bent so that your hands are flat on the ground at the level of your chest. Use your chest, arms and shoulders to push off the ground until your arms are locked out, then lower your body until your chest is almost touching the floor. Keep your back straight (don't round it) and parallel to the ground throughout.
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Elevation
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Traditional push-ups require keeping your back straight and your body parallel to the floor. Altering the angle of your body can change the amount of work that each muscle must perform during the movement. To perform an incline push-up, put your hands on a bench, which will work the upper chest and shoulders more. To perform a decline push-up, place your feet up on a bench so that the movement works the lower chest more. During both, make sure to keep the back straight and flat.
Hand Position
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Altering the position of your hands changes the amount of work that each muscle group must perform. Doing a push-up with your hands closer together (placing them underneath your chest) will force the muscles of the upper arm (triceps) to do more work. Performing a push-up with your hands spread wider will make the shoulders and chest do more of the work.
Intensity
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Instead of pushing off the ground with the palm of your hand, make your hands into fists and then do push-ups off your knuckles. Knuckle push-ups reduce the surface area on which you can distribute your body weight, and thus makes you work harder.
You can make push-ups harder by attempting to clap your hands in between each repetition. You will have to exert more force on each repetition in order to explode your body high enough to bring your hands together before landing back on them.
Also, you can increase the difficulty by wearing a weighted vest or laying a circular weight across your back.
One-Handed
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One-handed push-ups are very difficult and will force your core muscles to do more of the work during the movement. Get into the traditional push-up position and elevate your body. If you are going to do a one-handed push-up on your right hand, spread your legs so that your left foot is farther away from your body than your right leg is. Then place your right hand directly below your chest and your left across the small of your back. Lower yourself down to the ground and then return to the upright position. Switch the position of your hands and feet to do a one-handed push-up on your left hand.
To make this movement more difficult, try alternating hands after each repetition by exploding off your right hand, then landing on your left (while also switching the position of your legs).
Vertical Push-Up
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Vertical push-ups will work your shoulders (deltoids and trapezius muscles), and are considered an advanced exercise. To perform a vertical push-up, get into a handstand position near a wall (at first, you may need to rest the tips of your toes against the wall). While looking down at the ground (with your neck bent slightly backward), slowly bend at the elbows, lowering your body until your nose almost touches the floor. Then push against the ground until you return to the starting position.
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