Fitness Tutorial: Push Up

WHY SHOULD YOU DO IT?
Push up is both a compound exercise, which trains more than one muscle group at once, and calisthenic exercise, which does not require any equipment and use your own body weight as the resistance. It trains your body as a whole, with a primary focus on your chest area.
 




THE BENEFIT OF PUSH UP
#1 BUILDS STRENGTH
Push up build your strength on your upper body muscles, especially on your chest (pectoralis major) and triceps (triceps brachii).
 
#2 EASY AND CHEAP WAY TO TRAIN
You can do push up practically anywhere, as all you need is your body and an open space to do the exercise. It’s considered one of the most basic moves in training, but you won’t be bored with it since there are a lot of variations to amp up your push ups.
 
#3 TRACKS YOUR PROGRESS EASILY
It’s also quantifiable, so you can easily monitor your progress. Assume you perform the exercise properly, you can see how strong you’re getting by the number of push up repetitions you can perform. You might start out with only withstanding to do 10 repetitions in the beginning, but as your strength is improving you’ll notice that you can do much more in one set.
 
#4 SUPPORTS YOUR DAILY ACTIVITY
Push up gives you the strength you need to support your day-to-day activity, particularly any movements involving pushing, since the muscles trained are the muscles we constantly use every day.
 

Assuming the correct form is important in performing a push up to get its full benefits. Here is the step-by-step on how to perform one repetition of push up.



THE SET UP
The initial position of a push up is similar to a planking position with straight hands.
 
#1 Hands directly below shoulder or slightly wider than shoulder length, with fingers pointing forward or slightly inward.
 
#2 Feet should be straight without locking the knee joints. The wider the distance between each foot, the more stable the push up.
 
#3 Body has to be properly aligned from head to toe, with head and neck aligned with the spine. Eyes should gaze slightly ahead and not straight down.
 
#4 Hips and buttock should not stick up or sag down throughout the movement.



PERFORMING THE PUSH UP
With your arms straight, bottom clenched, and abs braced, steadily lower yourself down until your elbows are close toa 90 degree angle or smaller or your chest touches the floor. Your elbows should be close to your body, and inhale as you go down. Pause in that position for a second and then explode back up to your initial planking position as you exhale.

You should do as many as you can until you start to feel like you can’t maintain the proper form even slightly. Try to do 3 sets of push ups with 5 repetitions each and then you can build up your strength from there.

 



SAFETY MEASURES
#1 Don’t overarch your lower back as it can lead to strain or even injury.
 
#2 Avoid locking the joints while performing the movement.
 
#3 Make sure your head and neck are aligned with your spine.
 


SOURCE:
ACE Fit | Exercise: Push-up. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.acefitness.org/acefit/fitness_programs_exercise_library_details.aspx?exerciseid=41