Push ups. In just about every boxing gym, fitness centre or MMA gym the coach, sensei, sifu or sergeant tells you to get down and try bench pressing the earth. For good reason too. The push up works so many muscle groups and is so easily modified to target other groups that it has remained a staple of sport science since before it was considered science (back when the world was flat).
I'm going to focus this article on the basic push up. It's the one people get wrong most and the one that is most effective.
The big problem is most people don't know the proper technique. Many people don't hold their core together, stick their bum up in the air, display poor range of motion, or have bad arm position (though this isn't as bad as the others). All these things interplay with each other and if one is out of whack then the others don't really matter.
So here are some tips and I'll start with core position.
Think of a plank hold and the muscles used for that: Glutes, abs (rectus and transverse), serratus anterior, erector spinae, posterior delts. When you let your hips sag or stick your bum up too high you miss out on working all those important core muscles. These muscles are what keep you upright and keep your whole body locked as one efficient machine when you are doing other fitness activities. For me, that's boxing, so throwing a punch. To correct this you must make sure that when you lay flat on the floor your chest and thighs are in contact with the floor.
The next thing is range of motion. When people tell me they can knock over 50 push ups at once I ask them to show me. 99% of the time they don't come into any contact with the floor (or their chest or thighs do but not both at the same time) and they don't extend their arms to full extension. If this is you then you can't do 50 push ups, you aren't even doing 1.
Range of motion is a product of arm position in the push up but it is essential that arms flex all the way and extend all the way. The correct arm position for the basic push up is to have the hands in contact with the floor at a point where the humerus (upper arm) and radius (forearm) make a 90 degree angle when the humerus is perpendicular to the trunk. A mouthful I know but it's useful to know.
The core must be locked so that the chest and thighs make and break contact with the floor at the same time, whilst the glutes and quads are flexed to help maintain this. Arms should extend to their fullest at the top of the push.
There you have it. One push up done perfectly. Next article on modifying arm positions is quite useful as well, so be sure to come back for the next exciting installment.
One last note. I'm sick of hearing "girl push ups" to refer to push ups on the knees instead of toes. It's disrespectful to the ladies who do real push ups and not nearly as humiliating as this exercises title needs to be. I'd like to see them renamed "I suck" push ups. Spread the word. See more at http://www.mmapersonaltraining.com.au.
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