Know what every guy in every gym does on every Monday?
He benches….
Monday is basically National Bench Press Day every week all year….
The funny thing is that all these 200lbs guys and their 225lbs benches, which they think is really good cause “they do it at the combine” can’t do 20 good pushups. Which is a shame because pushups, in a lot of respects, are actually a much better exercise.
Here’s some of the awesomeness of pushups:
- Core activation
- Serratus activation
- Safe on the rotator cuff
- The scapula get to move naturally (small upward rotation)
- Self limiting i.e. hard to get hurt
- Thoracic extension
Take note: all of the above only happen when a pushup is done correctly.
That means:
NOT THIS:
The Setup:
- Hands under shoulders and just outside shoulder width.
- Core “braced”/ tight.
- Chest up (thoracic spine extended), not rounded over. Think: lead with the nipples not the clavicles (collar bones).
- Straight line ears through ankles.
- Chin/ head in line, not dropped down or looking ahead keeps the cervical (neck portion) of the spine in line.
The Movement:
- Stay tight through the entire body.
- Think BIG Chest.
- Lead with the nipples.
- Keep the elbows “tucked” either next to the body or at a 45 degree angle…NOT FLARED at a 90 degree angle, PE class style.
- Lower the body maintaining the “line” until just before you have to break form.
- Drive the hands down and return to the top.
Sounds easy right?
Well it’s not. Even with only body weight an actual push-up is much more advanced than most people think and here’s the problem I’ve come across: Most women and about 40-50% of all guys can’t do 1…not a single correct push-up.
Go to about 1 minute in this video. Those, yeah, those are NOT PUSHUPS.
So here’s what people try to tell me, ” I can do insert number which doesn’t equal an actual accomplishment of the movement in question here number of pushups on my knees.” or they do that 2 inch deep Ellen/ Obama elbow out thing.
Then I cry.
After the tears subside and I compose myself I explain “we” don’t do push-ups on our knees because that’s not a push-up and much like leprechaun’s, unicorns and 35lbs weight plates, push-ups on the knees don’t exist.
I’m not going to get into a bio mechanical analysis here but in simple English, an actual push-up and that thing from the knees are NOT SIMILAR exercises ……physiologically speaking.
They are different, with different activation patterns and mastering the supposedly easier (knees) version will give you the physical qualities necessary to do the actual thing. If it did all the women in group exercise classes who do them on their knees would be doing actual push-ups at some point and this very rarely.
So we know:
- Push-ups are hard and lots of folks can’t do them.
- Doing them on the knees will be akin to jackassery not work.
Here’s the fix: Elevate the torso.
The biggest problem with push-ups is usually upper body strength but a close second is “bracing” the core. Let’s face it a push-up is nothing more than a moving plank, so to do it right the core has to stay tight and engaged or we get saggy baggy hip syndrome.
By increasing the vertical angle we’re decreasing the amount of strength needed to stay in the plank position. As we get stronger we simply continue to decrease the height that we push from until we reach the floor.
Here’s a general progression (you can start wherever, as long as good reps can be accomplished):
Elevated Rack Push-up: Use a Smith Machine or a bar in a rack.
Push-up to Blocks: Starting from the floor (pushup plank position) place blocks, a dumbbell, weight plates, whatever, under the chest and lower in a pushup position until you touch them. Touch lightly and maintaining a tight, straight line press back up to lockout.
As you improve reduce the height of the blocks.
Regular Push-up: We’ve been over this…..
Dumbbell Push-up: I prefer to move people to handles, the perfect push-up or dumbbells rather than using flat hands on blocks or weight plates.
The increased depth makes this much harder than pushups with the hands flat on the floor. Make sure to keep the wrists straight and grip the dumbbells hard.
When it comes to a basic pushup I prefer this version over the others. Personally I get far less stress in the wrist, elbow and shoulder with this setup.
If you’re using the pushup to train your bench press the dumbbell pushup is the version I would go with.
Dumbbell Pushup with Feet on a Box: Putting the feet up on a box will increase the depth and change the angle of push.
The feet up makes this version more like a decline pushup. I’ve found that increasing the angle slightly works well but putting the feet up too high is awkward and stressful on the shoulders.
Now do it better!
Or in the case of the knees on the ground thing……Don’t do it at all.
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