Push-ups

Push-ups provide a lot of room for imagination to invent new variations of this exercise. You can place your arms a little wider or narrower, shift your body weight forward or back, add dynamic footwork, and much more! This allows you not only to “reach” any area of the pecs and triceps, but also to wake up many other muscles!

There is a very widespread opinion that push-ups are a fairly simple exercise that cannot bring any particular strength or mass, except that it will improve endurance and relief. However, this is a misconception, and although I don’t know where it came from, in my article I will try to convince you that push-ups are really great exercise, if you do it with your head!

What does it mean? This means that you should not mindlessly monotonously do repetition after repetition, thinking about something of your own and dreaming of when it will end. Vice versa! You need to fully concentrate on the work of the muscles and feel how they tense during each repetition! Do the repetitions consciously and slowly - this will not only make the exercise much more difficult, but will also give an explosive effect to strength and mass!

As I wrote earlier, there is a huge variety of push-ups that allow you to use the most different muscles. Below, I present a rating of push-ups (they are ranked by level of difficulty), which (if my memory serves me correctly) was first published in Men's Health several years ago.

Pushups

Difficulty level: Below average

Advantages: This push-up variation primarily stimulates the mid-chest area. At the same time, the upper and lower pecs, deltoids, and triceps work to a lesser extent. The entire back muscles are statically tense.

Performance: Take a support position with your arms straight. Don't lift your head up or down. Keep it strictly in line with your spine. Place your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. First, lower yourself to the bottom position, and then with a powerful effort push yourself up to straight arms. In the upper position, statically tighten your chest muscles for a one-two count. Only then lower yourself to the floor. Do not straighten your elbows all the way! Leave them slightly bent. Keep your abs tense. Don't let your belly sag!

Elevated push-ups

Difficulty level: Low

Advantages: When the body assumes a tilted position and your head is much higher than your feet, the emphasis shifts to the lower area pectoral muscles. Because this variation takes more of your weight from your legs than a regular push-up, it feels less challenging.

Performance: Place a bench in front of you and rest your hands on its edge, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Bend your arms and lower yourself down until your chest lightly touches the edge of the seat. Push yourself up powerfully.

Elevated Leg Push-Ups

Difficulty: medium

Advantages: This option shifts the emphasis to the upper area of the pectoral muscles. The exercise is difficult because the arms bear most of the weight of the body.

Performance: This is exactly the same movement as regular push-ups, with the difference that your toes do not rest on the floor, but on the surface of the bench. The hands should be placed slightly in front of the shoulder line. This will not affect efficiency in any way, but will help balance in the starting position.

Knee push-ups

Difficulty level: Low

Advantages: This option is for the case when you no longer have the strength, but there are still dozens of push-ups in the plan. You can use push-ups from your knees for a full “push-up” of the chest, after you reach “failure” in regular push-ups.

Performance: Take a support position with your arms straight. Place something soft under your knees, like a gymnastics mat. Keep your back extremely straight. Do not lift your pelvis up - the torso together with the hips forms a straight line.

Diamond push-ups

Difficulty: medium

Advantages: This movement is similar to the bench press. narrow grip, puts emphasis on inner area pectoral muscles.

Performance: Take a position with straight arms, placing your hands so that your thumbs and index fingers touch each other (as in the photo). First, slowly lower yourself to the bottom position, and then with a powerful effort push yourself up. At the top point, statically tighten your triceps for a one-two count and only then lower to the bottom position. This technique will increase the beneficial load on the triceps.

Push-ups with broad setting hands

Difficulty: medium

Advantages: By spreading your arms wider, as in a wide-grip bench press, you take some of the load off your triceps and increase the load on your pecs.

Performance: Turn your hands outward at a 45-degree angle to avoid overloading your rotator cuff muscles, and spread them as wide as possible. The lower you go, the better. The same movement can be performed on supports, as well as head up and head down. These options are for experienced athletes who are concerned about the nuances of form.

Plyometric push-ups

Difficulty level: Above average

Advantages: The goal of any plyometric exercise is not so much to increase muscle mass or endurance, but to develop their explosive power; a quick and powerful reaction mobilizes the nervous system and involves more work muscle fibers. This is very useful for bodybuilders. This load stimulates nerve innervation. Simply put, the nervous network becomes denser and denser. This is reflected in an increase in mass when performing basic exercises with weight.

Performance: The starting position is the same as for regular push-ups. Quickly lower yourself lower, then with a powerful jerk, throw yourself up so that your hands come off the floor. “Land” on your hands and repeat the movement at the same pace. “Advanced” option: clap your hands at the top point.

Jumping push-ups

Difficulty level: High

Advantages: Variant of plyometric push-ups, develops explosive force and coordination.

Performance: To avoid damaging your hands or wrists, perform this movement on a soft, springy surface. In the starting position, rest your palms on two supports 15-20 cm high. Push up, push off the supports and “land” on the floor between them. The hands should be at the width characteristic of regular push-ups. Immediately bend your elbows and gently lower your chest toward the floor. From the bottom position, explosively push yourself up and “jump” onto the supports again. The secret is not to divide the movement into phases and perform it in one breath.

One-arm push-ups

Difficulty level: High

Advantages: This circus option is great for increasing strength. shoulder girdle. It acts on the pectoral muscle, as they say, from top to bottom. At the same time, the triceps are extremely heavily loaded.

Performance: First, take a normal push-up position, then move one leg to the side. Shift your body weight to your opposite hand and place your other hand behind your belt. When you can confidently maintain your balance, start doing push-ups. You may not get them right away. Then start small - go down 10-15 cm, not deeper. As soon as you confidently master this “depth”, try to go lower - another 5-10 cm.

And these are just the most basic push-ups, which are known to many. In Workout training, along with these, there are a couple dozen more various types, however, I will write about them in another article!

Olya Likhacheva

Beauty is like a precious stone: the simpler it is, the more precious it is:)

Content

There is a whole range of exercises that do not require going to the gym to maintain beautiful figure and strong muscles. Classic push-ups, known from school physical education lessons, with a well-chosen program (number of approaches, types of presses) can be an excellent daily workout.

What do push-ups do?

These exercises are a great way to build a strong and beautiful muscle frame. The training block is selected for any age and gender. Many people believe that this type of exercise trains only a small number of muscles, but when the emphasis shifts (supporting positions of the arms and legs), the whole body is involved in the work. Active press own body from the floor makes it work:

large chest muscles;
triceps muscles (triceps);
biceps muscles(biceps);
deltoids;
Serratus anterior muscles (muscles of the lateral chest and upper ribs).

In addition to forming and strengthening the muscular frame, push-ups, like any properly constructed physical activity, develop correct breathing, lung function, improves blood flow in all parts of the body, strengthens ligaments and joints, saturates body tissues with oxygen. There is no age limit: even children can do push-ups under adult supervision.

For men

Standard push-ups from the floor with a properly designed program will allow you to build a strong attractive body any man. In combination with a diet, you can achieve the classic advertised body contour, which is actively promoted by modern mass culture. It is also worth noting the enormous benefits of these exercises for those who engage in martial arts: the joints of the hands, back muscles and abdominal muscles are strengthened, some push-ups qualitatively develop endurance.

For women

Although many people consider this type of training to be purely masculine, it is ideal for shaping an attractive female body. Naturally, the number of approaches and types of exercises will differ from men's set, but with a properly designed program you can achieve quick and noticeable results. In addition to general physical benefits, exercise will help in the following aspects:

the load on the forearms prevents sagging and sagging skin;
reset excess weight due to active burning of calories;
is being formed correct posture;
the pectoral muscles are strengthened, which improves the shape and tone of the female breast;
muscles upper press form an attractive flat stomach.

Types of push-ups

There are many varieties of push-ups depending on which muscle groups are emphasized. We must remember that you cannot thinklessly approach training and immediately try to perform exercises with weights or on weak muscles. The easiest consequence will be severe soreness a few hours after the approaches, but an unprepared person can also get serious injuries. It is better to start with classic push-ups, and after gradually strengthening the body, complicate the exercises and the load on the body.

Classic

The exercise technique is familiar from school physical education (the natural position of the body when a person wants to rise from such a position). The lying position is supported on the toes (feet together or slightly apart) and open palms. Place your palms slightly wider than your shoulders. The ideal execution is to touch the floor with your chest and chin, look in front of you. The deltoid muscles, triceps, deltoids are worked out. After a few weeks you can already increase the level of difficulty.

With weights

Such push-ups are used by those who exercise by force sports Their focus is designed for the deep development of muscle tissue more than for the formation of relief. It is important to remember that weights cannot be done instantly, that is, on some day, add 10 kilos of additional weight to yourself in the approach. Ideally, when the load is increased, special vests are used, the weights of which can be changed (they are tailored to distribute the load throughout the body as comfortably as possible).

IN gym You can use a barbell plate, which a partner will place on the trainee’s back and make sure that the load does not fall. A bench press with a girl lying on the athlete's back is often a simple show. Such an extra the load (40-50 kg) is actually beyond the strength of the average person. To reach this level, you need to train long and professionally.

Deep push-ups

This technique is designed for maximum efficiency in working out muscles with a large vertical amplitude. To do this, the level of the floor (the lowest point during the press) is lowered. In the gyms you can often find athletes who perform exercises using chairs or dumbbells with wide weights. This can cause injury because the supports are unstable. The ideal solution would be to purchase special handles from a sports store to increase the amplitude.

Slow push-ups

From the name it is clear that the exercise (of any type) is done at a slow pace. Its meaning is that endurance is trained without weights, and strength is trained with additional weight. The key to slow presses is continuity. This means that you do not need to stop at the bottom and peak points of the arm curl, but immediately begin the reverse movement. Each person chooses a speed different from standard push-ups, based on the fact that 8-10 repetitions should be done.

From my knees

A simplified form of classic push-ups, which is designed for beginners, older people and those who have contraindications to standard exercises. They differ from basic exercises in that the emphasis is not on the toes, but on the knees, while the feet need to be crossed. Studies have shown that the useful load on the spine is reduced by approximately 15%. The press itself is no different from regular push-ups.

Wide grip

To emphasize the load on the pectoral muscles, it is used wide grip: hands rest on the floor at a distance twice as wide as the shoulders, elbows diverge to the sides when lowering down. Weightening of this exercise occurs by raising your legs on a bench or stand. Raising the fulcrum of the feet 60 cm from the floor will increase the load to 75% of the athlete’s weight. It is important to constantly keep your back straight and not allow your stomach to sag, otherwise the meaning of the press is completely lost.

With a medium grip

This grip will help pump up your triceps if done correctly. The palms are positioned exactly shoulder-width apart, and when lowering the body, the elbows move parallel to the body, pressing as close to it as possible. Weightening or simplifying the exercise follows the same pattern as for classic push-ups (adding weights, raising the fulcrum of the legs or kneeling).

With a narrow grip

One of the most difficult push-up variations. The emphasis is on the palms (slightly turned outward), which are located at the point corresponding to the middle of the chest. Feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. At the lowest point, the sternum should touch the fingers. In this position, the exercise gives maximum load to the triceps and the front part of the deltoid muscle.

On one hand

Another difficult exercise designed for trained athletes. For those who are just starting training, it is better not to even try to do such a press, because there is a high probability of breaking the supporting arm. In this case, the person will simply hit his face on the floor from a height of half a meter. Correct execution: the supporting hand is in line with the body, the second is placed behind the back; legs spread wide to provide balance. At the lowest point, the chest touches the floor; in the reverse movement, the shoulders are kept parallel to the floor.

On fingers

This emphasis strengthens the hand and all its joints. The type of push-up in this case is not important (the only exception is a narrow grip, since it is extremely difficult to position your fingers comfortably). In order to understand whether you can do a push-up, you should stand for a while in the starting position. If your fingers are tired and start to hurt in the first seconds, then it is better to abandon the exercise and work with an expander to strengthen the hand.

How to do push-ups correctly

The main mistake of all beginners is their neglect of the technique. At best, incorrect body position will lead to the absence of a clear result even after many months of training. At worst, it can lead to muscle strain, ligament and joint injuries, and accidents. Correct push-up from the floor means:

mandatory warm-up of the whole body before starting exercises, special attention is paid to the hands and shoulder joints;
correct placement of the palms, feet and neck (chin at chest level);
It is recommended to use special wrist bands;
with any type of push-ups, the back remains straight, the entire body forms a single straight line: neck, back, hips, heels;
correct breathing: the downward movement occurs while inhaling, returning to straight arms – while exhaling;
regularity of training: one approach per month, even a hundred presses, will not give any effect;
correct selection frequency of load: there is no point in working hard in one approach when you can break the workout into several stages.

How to do push-ups better

For beginners and people with problematic health (lower back, joint diseases), it is better to start with classic push-ups, from the knees, without weights and with average speed. You can and should make adjustments to the descriptions of positions when performing an exercise based on your own anatomy. The bench press should not cause discomfort or pain. Over time, if a person feels confident in his strength, he can move on to more complex types of push-ups. Separately worth mentioning proper nutrition: A complete diet is required for normal muscle function.

How many times

The most common problem of those who decide to start doing push-ups is to immediately do the maximum number of push-ups and fall to the floor, suffocating from fatigue. The number of sets and repetitions is determined solely individually. Ideally, find a coach and ask him to create a program. The table of push-ups from the floor is independently formed based on the actual limit. For example, if the repetition ceiling is 10 presses, then you need to include 8 in the set, decreasing to 5 in the last approach, so that the muscles have a reserve of strength during the rest period.

How often

Experts agree that an untrained person should begin a course of push-ups every other day in order to understand the state of the muscle frame and avoid overstrain, i.e. 3-4 lessons per week. After a month, a daily training plan is formed. It is important to remember that if there are minimal injuries, you need to stop and wait for healing, so as not to provoke the development of pathologies.

The most effective push-ups

The effectiveness of the body press for a specific muscle or target is directly dependent on the types of exercises and their combinations. The main thing to remember is that intense rocking of a particular part of the body will weaken the rest. During training, you need to alternate types of push-ups and other exercises for a holistic effect on the body. Push-up technique for muscle growth and relief formation:

		Types of exercises
	Strengthening the triceps	WITH narrow setting hands The main thing is the correct technical execution: the palms are as close as possible (fingers lie on top of each other), at the lowest point of the lowering amplitude, the chest touches the hands, the elbows are spread to the sides. Press with a medium grip, when the elbows move as close to the body as possible. Weighting or switching to fists in support is added only after it becomes clear how well the triceps work.
	Obtaining high-quality relief	One thing needs to be mentioned right away - the relief will not form if there is a large amount of subcutaneous fat. The picture will be formed only if the athlete has enough muscle mass. Effective exercises will help you do embossed hands, if carried out with gradual, consistent weighting. Otherwise, the muscles will get used to the weight and will only maintain their own condition (even increasing the repetitions will not help). The pattern of the abdominal muscles will help to form reverse push-ups. The correct execution technique is similar to the parallel bars press: hands rest behind your back on a bench or other elevation, buttocks above the floor, legs on your heels as far as possible from the point of support of your palms; the arms are bent to a position where the elbows form a right angle (a sharper position suggests good physical fitness).
	Mass gain	The first thing you need to understand if you want to gain weight is that the execution technique completely changes. Regular exercises with a person weighing up to 80 kilos will not give any results. Important: a dense, balanced diet for gaining weight, strict regularity of training, and proper proper rest. A classic push-up is used, which is performed extremely slowly with a forceful, explosive finish. That is, the body lowers slowly and smoothly to the lowest point of amplitude (2-3 seconds), fixes for a moment and powerfully forceful movement comes back. The ideal number is 8-12, 4-5 approaches per set. The push-up pattern for muscle growth involves gradually increasing repetitions over 15 weeks.

Push-up program

A correctly designed system of push-ups is the number of approaches, alternating loads and rest, and frequency of execution. It will not only protect you from injuries during execution, but will also give maximum result. Ideal to training program compiled by a professional trainer based on the results of a test workout, but you can write it yourself. It is important to adhere to the program and avoid omissions, incorrect loads, alternate with strength exercises, otherwise the benefit will tend to zero.

Discuss

How to do push-ups correctly - technique and types, training program for muscle growth with video

Pushups- this is very effective exercise which develops the chest muscles and triceps muscle(triceps). Also, since this is a complex exercise that involves a huge number of muscle groups, it allows a person to maintain his body in fairly good condition. physical fitness if you do physical activity regularly.

Today, there are a large number of types of push-ups that involve stress on completely different muscle groups. For example, if you put your hands wide, you will take an active part in the work. BREAST, if you put your hands closer to each other, they will be involved in the work TRICEPS, and most of the load will fall on them.

In addition, there are other types of push-ups that can specifically target top part chest, shoulders and other areas of the body. If you take this exercise seriously, you can get your body into fairly good physical shape.

Push-ups have always and everywhere been very popular, so we should take a closer look at this exercise. In this article we will take a closer look at this exercise, which you can use to effectively design your workouts and know what's what.

How many push-ups should you do?

If the goal of the training is to increase muscle mass, you need to concentrate NOT on the number of repetitions, but on the technique of performing push-ups, as well as on the strength load. That is, if you first perform 20 repetitions, then 40, 60, the effect on muscle mass gain will be very small. The point is that training with own weight does not give the same results as training with iron, since the muscles very quickly get used to the load. A high number of repetitions will only allow you to increase your endurance, but hypertrophy muscle tissue this approach will not work.

To work on building muscle mass you need a completely different approach. If you want to gain muscle with push-ups, you need to increase the load with additional weights. This could be a briefcase filled to the brim with bottles of water, you can put dumbbells there, a bag of sand, in general, anything to increase the weight. Remember, to grow muscles you need to tear them, to do this you need to constantly increase the load. In training with your own body, the work is mainly included, but the quick ones remain unaffected. This is why endurance increases.

Effective muscle work requires a maximum of 20 push-ups and 4 sets. It is much better to monitor the execution technique, complicate the program, and not do more repetitions each time. You can complicate the task in every possible way, but if you have little experience to begin with, you can simply do push-ups according to the classical scheme. Once you can perform 12-15 repetitions without problems, additional weight can be applied. As you gain experience, you can add more challenging movements to the challenge, such as trying to tuck one arm behind your back while doing a push-up with one arm.

Push-ups - ANATOMY OF EXERCISE

Thirdly, such exercises will help keep your body in excellent shape. The muscles of people who do not exercise regularly become clogged. Subsequently, such people need to make much more effort to ensure that their physical fitness and body parameters remain at the proper level. But thanks to push-ups, your body will always be in good shape.

Even those people who do not go to the gym for at least a week will feel discomfort in the body. Push-ups will help you avoid discomfort when you don’t have time to exercise.

How NOT to do push-ups on the floor? (TOP 7 MOST COMMON MISTAKES)

At first glance, the Floor Push-Up is a fairly simple exercise that any novice athlete can understand. However, there are many pitfalls that you need to know in order to perform push-ups correctly and with maximum effect for you. Let's look at the most common mistakes made by beginners.

Push up from the floor using the full range of motion.
Do not place your arms too wide from your body, as shirring your arm position can irritate the rotator cuff muscles or even injure your shoulder.
Never arch or raise your lower back. Keep your body straight. There should be a clear line from your heels to the top of your head. This will help avoid injuries and lower back pain.
Keep your upper back straight. Don't hunch or arch your back.
Do not bend your neck or look forward or upward. Keep your cervical vertebrae in a straight position relative to your torso.
Do not retract your shoulder blades on a constant basis. Your shoulder blades should have a free range of motion, contracting when moving down and retracting when moving up.
When moving down and up, the body should move synchronously. Under no circumstances should you lift your upper body first, then your lumbar region, creating a bend in the latter.

Let us remind you that the muscles receive the necessary load only when you feel them. So learning to “hear” each of your muscles is the main task for you. This is especially important in relation to the muscles of the chest and arms.

During the lesson, your actions must comply with the recommended technique. Control your back - it should be straight. Make sure your buttocks do not rise high.

Doing the exercise on outstretched arms. Let's start with push-ups. Bend your elbows and lower your body down. The chest should not touch the floor, but it should be at a minimum distance from it. Watch your breathing. When you go down, inhale, when you go up, exhale.

The position of the hands affects the distribution of weight and load. The outer part of the chest muscles and deltoid muscles are included in the work if the arms are placed wide. The close location promotes the active participation of the internal elements of the pectoral muscles and triceps. The load changes with changes in body position.

WORKING Push-Up Program (+Training Schemes)

Do not forget that restrictions and rules also apply to performing such exercises. There is no need to organize classes according to several schemes at once. This will reduce their beneficial effect. If you are working out in order to get an impressive result, follow the steps, use one training program. If it does not give the desired result, change the program.

If you want to avoid muscle relaxation, reinforce your push-ups with other exercises. There is no need to perform the complex every day. Muscles recover within almost three days, and their active growth is observed during rest breaks.

Many methods have been proposed today. Beginners need to choose a gentle, but at the same time effective program. This, for example, can be called a technique that provides solid muscle mass in six weeks. Such a schedule provides for a gradual increase in the number of exercises, starting from the fourth week of classes. While doing the exercises, you also perform more lowering and raising with each approach.

It is necessary to consider such a question as types of push-ups from the floor with special attention. All of them are divided into groups of different complexity. However, remember that exercise with a huge load may not be effective. Types of activities that are noticeably difficult are suitable only for “seasoned” athletes.

The easiest types of exercises with lowering and raising the body are push-ups from the knees, head up, etc. More difficult are push-ups with your hands spread out, head down, medium grip, and narrow palms. The “winners” in terms of load in this line are push-ups with a jump or on one arm.

No matter what type of push-ups you use, remember: “you can’t jump above your head.” It is better to put stress on the muscles gradually, without skipping classes.

Now about how to practice. There is a rumor among athletes that push-ups must be performed not only in the gym, but also at home. This scheme will supposedly simplify “core training.” Approach this task carefully and responsibly. Let's say you currently train your pectoral muscles one day a week. To begin with, you can add only one workout at home to this activity. Monitor your feelings. If you feel that you can handle such a load afterward, start doing the exercise gradually on other days of the week. You can train in this mode for a maximum of four weeks. After this period, it is best to return to one lesson in the gym and one complex at home.

That's very good program for weight using push-ups (this should be used if you do not go to the gym):

A week	Number of repetitions and approaches (recommendations)
1	Daily perform 3 sets of 10-20 repetitions with a regular hand stop (slightly wider than shoulder width) and 3 sets of 10-20 repetitions with a narrow stop. The number of push-ups depends on physical training athlete. You can perform the exercise 2 times a day. The exercise must be performed slowly and smoothly.
2	Daily performance of 3-4 sets of 12-15 repetitions with normal hand position and 3-4 sets of 12-15 repetitions with narrow hand position. It is necessary to do push-ups using additional weights. For example, first put 5 kg of additional weight in your briefcase, then increase the weight by 5 kg every week.
3	Everything is the same, only the additional weight will no longer be 5, but 10 kg.
4	+ 5 kilograms of additional weight to the total. That is already 15 kg.
Additional tip	To make push-ups even more effective, you should use not only different angles of inclination, width of hand positions, but also additional equipment in the form.

Remember, as was said earlier, you should not limit yourself to one exercise; you should perform a whole complex for different muscle groups. However, you get the point. Gradually start with the smallest and gradually increase the load, as was actually shown in the program for a slightly higher weight. Also, if you want to increase the number of repetitions, up to 100-200 push-ups at a time, I advise you to familiarize yourself with the really working one.

Types of Push-ups

As mentioned earlier, there are a large number of types of push-ups that load one or another muscle group. Let's look at the most popular variations, the technique of which must be followed when performing them.

Each type of exercise is intended for athletes of a certain level of training. That is, the classic version, which we discussed above, is intended for both beginners and advanced athletes. However, there are variations that are suitable for a certain level of training; in fact, we will now examine this and much more.

The first option that you should pay attention to after the classic one is push-ups with a narrow hand position. This variation is intended for more experienced athletes. If you can easily perform 12-15 repetitions, you can undoubtedly add this type of push-ups to your routine.

This variation is the antagonist, that is, the opposite of the close grip bench press. Push-ups themselves are analogous to barbell presses, the only difference being that instead of a barbell, you press your own weight.

Exercise technique:

Take your starting position. Lie on the floor with your stomach down, rise up with your arms straight. The torso and legs should seem to create one straight line. Do not bend the spine, do not lift the buttocks up. Place your hands so that thumbs could touch each other. However, you don’t have to place your hands too narrow to include the triceps in the load; it’s enough to place them approximately shoulder-width apart. The most important thing is the elbows, they cannot be spread to the sides during execution, they must be pressed to the body.
Once everything is ready, slowly lower yourself down as you inhale, and rise to the starting position as you exhale. The body should always be straight, you cannot make any bends, deflections, raise your buttocks, and so on.

This type of exercise involves the use of additional equipment in the form of a stable bench. If you are training at home, you can use a chair, but you need to secure it with something so that when doing push-ups, the chair does not “go” forward and the person does not get injured.

This is a fairly easy option that can be used by both men and women. The main advantage of this variety is that while lifting the body to the peak point, the load “falls” to bottom part pectoral muscles.

Exercise technique:

The technique of performing the exercise is quite simple and does not require any additional knowledge regarding this exercise. Everything is exactly identical to classic push-ups. Hands are slightly wider than shoulder width, back straight. Place your hands on the bench, keeping your back motionless, and begin to do push-ups.
During the descent we take a deep breath, during the ascent we exhale. Remember, you don't just need to move up and down, you need to feel your muscles. It will be very useful to perform this variation on the horizontal bars, since there you can grab the pipe and, using a concentrated grip, increase the tension in the target muscles. Grip strength plays a very important role in performing any exercise.

The level of difficulty when using this variation increases, since the load falls on the upper chest, and you perform the exercise at a significant angle, which actually affects the increase in load. The movements also become more difficult, since most of the body weight falls on the arms.

Just like in the previous exercise, this variation must be performed with the same technique as the classic version, the only difference being that you use a bench to complicate the work.

Exercise technique:

Place a bench behind you, place your feet on the bench and rest your hands on the floor. The width of the arms is slightly wider than the width of the shoulders. The hands themselves need to be placed a little further than shoulder level, that is, a little forward.
Take a deep breath and lower yourself until your chest almost touches the floor, then return to the starting position.

This option is perfect for beginners. If a person has no experience and cannot do 1-3 push-ups, he should start with the easiest one, namely push-ups from the knees.

Exercise technique:

Take a lying position, rest your knees on the floor. It will be very convenient to cross your legs so that they do not dangle and interfere with you while working. Hands are slightly wider than shoulder width.
As you inhale deeply, lower yourself down, and as you exhale, rise to the starting position.

The level of difficulty of push-ups using one hand is very high, so this type should only be performed by advanced athletes who have been training for several years.

What would you like to say about this variation? It perfectly develops the strength of the athlete's shoulder girdle. Also, in addition to the shoulders, the triceps and pectoral muscles are actively involved in the movement.

Exercise technique:

The starting position is almost no different from the classic version, except for the width of the legs. In this variation, the feet need to be placed much wider to provide support during push-ups. Take the starting position, place your feet wider (as shown in the picture). Place the weight of your upper body on one arm and tuck the other behind your back. When you can maintain your balance without problems, you can start doing push-ups.
If you are trying to perform the exercise for the first time, it is possible that at first you will not be able to completely lower and rise, thereby completing the movement through its full amplitude. In order to master this type of push-up perfectly, you do not need to perform the exercise at full amplitude in the beginning. Go no deeper than 10-15 centimeters, after which every week go lower and lower.

This type is quite difficult to perform and requires some experience, so it is best for beginners to perform classic push-ups.

The advantage of this subtype is that by spreading your arms wider than usual, you thereby remove most of the load from the triceps and transfer it to the pectoral muscles. In this option, the chest muscles are better stretched.

Exercise technique:

As in most of the options that we examined in this article, the starting position in this option is practically no different from the original. The only thing you need to do is spread your arms wider and turn your hands outward, that is, so that they look in different directions, at an angle of approximately 45 degrees.

The main feature of push-ups is their fantastic efficiency. Increasing endurance and strength is not so difficult if you know about all types of push-ups.

Push-ups with hands shoulder-width apart

These are classic, well-known push-ups. In this case, the middle pectoral muscles, triceps and deltas work.

Technique: Take a lying position, placing your hands strictly shoulder-width apart. The body should be parallel to the floor, legs together. The head does not bend, it is held straight, like an extension of the spine. Then we bend our arms, smoothly, without jerking, and return to the starting position. At the lowest point you need to linger for a few seconds. When bending, we inhale, when straightening, we exhale.

Push-ups with wide arms

When performing push-ups with arms wide apart, the main load is placed on the chest muscles. Triceps and deltoids only receive additional stress.

Technique: take an emphasis lying on the floor. Place your arms one and a half times shoulder width apart and bend to the lowest point, after a pause return to the starting position. When performed correctly, increased tension in the pectoral muscles is felt.

Narrow push-ups

The exercise is aimed at working the triceps. To a lesser extent, it affects the development of the pectoral muscles and shoulders.

Technique: lying position. The hands must be brought closer so that the thumb and index fingers of both hands touch. After smoothly lowering to the bottom point, you need to push yourself to the top position.

One-arm push-ups

One-arm push-ups are a physically challenging exercise that require special training. You should not immediately include it in the training complex. When working, the load is transferred to the triceps and chest muscles.

Technique: lying position. The legs are spread wide for additional support. One leg is pointed to the side - provides balance to the body. Support on one hand, the other behind your back. The push-up is performed smoothly, without delay in the lower position.

Push-ups on your fingertips

This method helps strengthen the phalanges of the fingers. This type of load is especially useful for strengthening tendons and ligaments. Popular with rock climbers. Particular stress falls on the chest, hands and forearms.

https://youtu.be/s7CVpV5U-94

Technique: Lying emphasis. Hands slightly wider than shoulders. Reliance on the fingers - palms do not touch the floor. Bend your arms to an angle of 90 degrees, pause a little, and straighten. Repeat a small number of times.

Knee push-ups

The best option for beginners. Fully consistent with classic push-ups. Just need to lean not on your feet, but on your knees. Works the upper pectoral muscles, triceps and deltoids.

Technique: Stand upright, lying down with support on your knees. The feet should be crossed. Push up smoothly and hold in the lower position. Softening material should be placed under the knees to avoid overexertion and microtrauma.

Plyometric push-ups

Push-ups with a lift off the surface. Promote the development of explosive muscle strength, fast response and work. The load occurs on the muscles of the shoulders and chest.

https://youtu.be/yf2lYCnW3aU

Technique: lying position. Classic placement of hands shoulder-width apart. After a few regular push-ups, quickly lower yourself down and with a sharp push lift your hands off the surface. Land carefully and continue the exercise.

Diamond push-ups

A method of push-ups that is extremely close to push-ups with a narrow position of the hands. The internal muscles of the chest and, to a greater extent, the triceps are loaded.

Technique: take a lying position. Attention is paid to the position of the hands: they should be side by side and the index fingers and thumbs should touch. The result is a figure similar to a diamond (hence the name). Watch your breath! As you take a deep breath, bend your arms so that your chest touches your hands. As you exhale, smoothly return to the starting position.

A popular push-up technique that avoids spraining wrist ligaments. For comfort and to prevent injury, place a soft cloth under your fists. This exercise works the chest and triceps muscles. Light load on the deltoids.

https://youtu.be/otBq1Sgx1TU

Technique: lying position. Feet together, hands shoulder-width apart. Stand on your fists, which are placed vertically and parallel to each other. Bend your arms to a right angle elbow joint, hold for a couple of seconds and return to the starting position.

One-legged push-ups

Performing this type of push-up allows you to increase the load on your legs. The muscles of the chest, triceps and deltoids work.

https://youtu.be/L8k1gXO_NTI

Technique: stand upright lying down. Hands shoulder-width apart, one leg raised. For comfort in the first stages, you can place your foot on the supporting leg. When performing push-ups, maintain balance and avoid falling.

Head up push-ups

A simplified method of push-ups. Available for beginners and experienced athletes. Choose a reliable support - determine the height yourself, depending on your own feelings. During work, the lower pectoral muscles develop.

Depending on the chosen support, they differ slightly.

Fitball: All muscle groups of the upper and middle parts of the body are involved in the work. When performing the exercise, the hands are far enough apart and the task of maintaining balance is simplified.

Medball: except power load, allows you to improve body control and muscle stability. When working, it is recommended to spread your feet to the side to maintain balance.

BOSU: When working, your hands should be placed on opposite sides of the bosu. Helps develop balance.

Bench: When performing the exercise, watch the bend of your wrist so as not to provoke injury and sprain.

Chair: allows you to increase the angle of inclination and regulate the degree of load on the muscles. The muscles of the upper chest work.

: Push-ups are popular due to the practicality of the machine. When performing the exercise, maximum load on the arms occurs, which contributes to the development of the triceps.

Technique: Lean on the emphasis. Feet together. Push-ups are performed as standard, with a delay in the lower position.

Push-ups with your head down (with your feet resting on a fitball, medicine ball, BOSU, bench, chair, TPX loops)

When performing push-ups, in which the head is directed down and the legs are placed on a support, the upper part of the pectoral muscles is worked out. A fitball, medicine ball, bench and other objects that provide solid support are used as support.

Fitball: the load allows you to develop the muscles of the chest, back and triceps. The abdominal muscles are also loaded. After bending your arms to a 90-degree angle at the elbow, you should hold for 2-3 seconds and return to the starting position.

Medball: placing your feet on a medicine ball requires a lot of muscle tension in your mid and lower body. When working, you should carefully monitor your balance.

BOSU: put your feet on the dome and do push-ups. It is not difficult to maintain balance, but the load goes to the upper body.

Bench: allows you to intensively train your arms and upper muscles breasts

Chair: The tilt height is large, so a large load falls on the hands.

: It is convenient to adjust the height, so when performing the exercise you can set the optimal inclination. Balance should be carefully monitored.

Technique: completely corresponds to the standard one, with the difference that the legs are higher than the head.

Circular push-ups

The circular push-up technique allows you to shift the load to the triceps. deltoids and abdominal muscles. In addition, this method develops balance and body control.

Technique: lying position. Lower yourself down and transfer your body weight to one hand. After this, without rising, move to the other hand and return to the starting position.

T-push-ups

A complex exercise that works the entire core. The muscles of the abs, chest, and arms are involved in the work. When performed regularly, it significantly strengthens all the muscles of the core.

Technique: take a standard lying position. Hands shoulder-width apart, feet together. Bend your arms to a right angle and return to the starting position. After this, extend one arm forward, then straighten it up and turn the body towards this arm. This way you will create something like the letter T.

Jackknife push-ups

Exercise develops flexibility and lateral muscles press. The triceps, deltoids and pectoral muscles also work actively. When performed correctly, it develops all the core muscles, putting stress on the hips.

Technique: Take a lying position, but move your legs closer to your hands, so that your body forms a right angle. After this, bend your arms until your chin touches the floor. Next, raise your head and lower your hips to the floor. Bend over and return to the starting position.

Spiderman push-ups

A useful and challenging exercise. It combines physical activity and flexibility. During work, the muscles of the deltas, chest and arms, as well as the lateral abdominal muscles, develop.

Technique: take a lying position. Hands shoulder width apart. Legs are brought together. Bend your arms to an angle of 90 degrees. Hold in the lower position and bend your leg until your knee touches your elbow. On extension, return the leg to its original position. Do the same with the other leg. Perform the exercise with alternating legs.

Dips

A popular exercise that gives excellent results for the development of the pectoral muscles and triceps. Simple to perform, push-ups develop the entire chest muscles. Requires a gradual transition and an increase in the number of approaches.

Technique: Stand between the bars, leaning on your hands. Hang on the uneven bars and, while inhaling, lower vertically down. After reaching a position where your elbows are bent at a right angle, hold for a couple of seconds and return to the starting position. The depth of the lowering and the speed of execution contribute to the development of various muscles. Therefore, the standard exercise can be modified for individual purposes.

Handstand push-ups

A challenging exercise for advanced athletes. Requires special training and special attention to technique. When working, the deltoid muscles and triceps are loaded.

Technique: Stand on your hands against the wall. Place your feet on the wall and control your balance. Then slowly lower yourself vertically on your hands. The bend angle of the arms is determined depending on physical capabilities. Carefully monitor the condition of the body.

Conclusion

Push-ups are included in the training program of all athletes, from bodybuilders to track and field athletes. This kind physical activity attracts attention due to its obvious advantages:

Simple technique.
The ability to practice in any conditions, without special equipment.
Achieve excellent results quickly.
A variety of ways to load different muscle groups.

Development correct execution push-ups guarantee an improvement in the general condition of the body and physical strength individual muscle groups. To start training, you do not need to consult a trainer - you start training on your own, and during the training process you adjust the work to suit your case.

Push-ups are perhaps one of the most effective and common functional exercises among athletes. It has gained well-deserved popularity in fitness, bodybuilding, martial arts and, of course, crossfit. What can I say - in absolutely every sports discipline there is more than one effective program push-ups, thanks to which you can quickly and without extreme effort achieve serious progress in the development of your own body. Considering what muscles work when pushing up from the floor, it is fair to note that this exercise not only strengthens the elbow ligaments, tendons, loads the chest and triceps, but also has a positive effect on the development of strength and speed of punching and elbowing.

Push-up program for a month

Once you have mastered correct technique push-ups, you should begin to gradually try to increase your result. Not a single athlete in the world is able to perform a hundred push-ups in one approach in the first training session. The program presented below is designed for 30 days, with one day of rest between workouts. This training method will help beginning athletes quickly achieve decent results.

You can also download this program from .

GTO standards for push-ups

Push-ups are a mandatory part of the state GTO program. For men and women, the number of push-ups is, of course, different. The difference in the number of repetitions also varies depending on age group athlete. Each badge has different standards. The lower table contains the current GTO standards for push-ups.

Men

Women

Age	Number of repetitions per:
Age	Bronze badge	Silver badge	Gold badge
6-8	4	5	11
9-10	5	7	12
11-12	7	8	14
13-15	7	9	15
16-17	9	10	16
18-24	10	12	14
25-29	10	12	14
30-34	6	8	12
35-39	6	8	12
Valid for women over 40 years old unified standard, there is no differentiation by level of training.
40-44	12
45-49	10
50-54	8
55-59	6
60-69	6 (with emphasis on the gymnastic bench)
70+	5 (with emphasis on the chair seat)

Crossfit complexes with push-ups

Push-ups are the basis of many functional complexes aimed at developing the speed and strength qualities of the muscles of the shoulder girdle. CrossFit was originally closely associated with push-ups, as many basic movements and elements, such as burpees, are built on the basis of this exercise.

The table below shows 4 functional training programs containing push-ups, with which you can work large muscle groups in your body and improve skills such as endurance and explosiveness.

If you liked working in this mode, you can independently develop several more similar programs for yourself. For example, you can combine push-ups with and other exercises. Such a complex load will help to work out all muscle groups at once. a short time, which makes the training program extremely intense and effective.