How to Get the Most Out of Your Pushups

Get the Most Out of Your Pushups

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Most people view pushups as merely a warm up exercise to get blood rushing to the muscles, or something to bring your chest to failure after heavy benching. Unfortunately, those people are missing out.

You can still get a solid upper body workout using only pushups, which works the pectoral muscles, triceps, deltoids, forearms and abdominals. Furthermore, making pushups a staple in your routine will not only promote muscle growth, it will also increase your strength with exercises like the bench press and shoulder. Without a doubt, getting the most out of your pushup will separate the hardcore trainers from the casual lifters.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Step1

Decline pushups work the upper chest and are done by laying your feet on an elevated surface, like a flat bench or step box. Come down squeezing your pectorals, with your back straight and abdominals tightened. Incline pushups are similar, except your arms are elevated instead of your lower body.

If you would like to increase the difficulty, do decline or incline pushups with either a BOSU ball or a stability ball. This will increase your balance and stabilization and will activate more muscle fibers than a pushup on a flat surface.

Step2

Get into the pushup position on a smooth surface and place a t-shirt or towel under your feet. This will keep them locked in place and unable to help in the exercise. Raise up and squeeze your pectoral muscles. Now walk with your hands across the room. This will work on chest and shoulder stabilization, as well as developing the abdominals.

Step3

Place a pair of dumbbells on the floor and grip them tightly while in the pushup position. You are to come down as normal, but due to the elevation provided by the dumbbells, you will feel an extra stretch in your pectorals. Squeeze them on the way up for maximum contraction.

Step4

Get into the pushup position and place one hand on top of a medicine ball. Keep the other hand firmly on the ground. Come down and focus the tension on the side of the chest where the medicine ball is next to. Push up and complete desired amount of repetitions, then switch arms.

Tips & Warnings

Using a wider grip will place more emphasis on your pectoral muscles and is especially effective when working your chest after your triceps have burnt out.
Keep your back straight and abdominal tightened at all times.
Try using a superset with any of these pushup exercises while dropping the weight on your bench for each successive set.
Don’t be afraid to mix different types of pushups in your routine, since they work different parts of your chest. It is crucial to blast your chest from every angle to ensure a proportioned look.
If you are just beginning to try these pushups in your routine and become fatigued too quickly, try performing them on your knees. Over time, you can work toward doing them normally.