How to do push-ups correctly
One of the main exercises that builds muscle and lays the foundation for the upper body is the push-up. This is an easy-to-learn exercise that does not require special equipment or accessories.
What shakes push-ups
By pushing up from the floor, you develop your strength, since you only need to lift your body weight with the help of your hands. By doing this exercise, you develop:
- While straightening your arms, you train your triceps. You can enhance the effect when performing the exercise with a narrow grip.
- The pectoralis major muscles that do most of the work when lifting and lowering.
- The deltoid muscles in this exercise are in third place in terms of load, they help in lifting the body.
- The serratus anterior muscle is located behind the pectoral muscles. She is responsible for stabilizing the shoulder blades.
- Press when pushing up, it is also pumped up. It helps to keep the body in an even horizontal position.
- The neck develops to a small extent. When doing the push-ups correctly, the gaze should be directed downward.
Other muscle groups are not involved in this exercise and it is impossible to pump them up with push-ups.
How to do push-ups from the floor
First you need practice in push-ups from the kneeling position. You should do the exercise as slowly as possible to feel all the muscles involved. Your body should be as flat as possible during the entire duration of the exercise. The head, back, pelvis and knees should form a straight line. If push-ups are performed correctly, in addition to tension in the arms and chest, you will also feel muscle tension press.
After that, move on to the classic push-up option. Try to keep your body as straight as in the previous exercise. Don't try to get too low to touch the floor with your chest. It is perfectly acceptable to leave the distance between the body and the floor up to 5 cm. The most important thing is to observe the elbow flexion angle of 90 degrees.
Returning to the top position, pay attention to the position of the hands. Do not bend them too far, this is considered a technical mistake that can injure your elbow.
Watch your breathing, it should be even without delay during physical exertion. The pace of the exercise must be coordinated with the pace of breathing. When lowering, you breathe in, and when you rise, exhale.
There are options for light and weighted push-ups. Beginners can start training off the wall. To do this, you need to step back from the wall half a meter back and rest against the wall with your hands, raising your heels. After inhaling, bend your arms and approach the wall, exhaling, return to the starting position. Another option for lightweight push-ups is to perform the exercise leaning on a bench.
The load can be increased by reducing the support area. To do this, push-ups are performed with support on the fists or even on the fingertips. You can also complicate the exercise if you do push-ups with support on one hand and put the other behind your back.
Another way to increase the load is to shift the center of gravity. To do this, you need to raise your legs by placing them on a support, for example, on a bench. In this case, the higher the support, the more the position of the center of gravity changes and the more difficult it is to do the exercise. You can further complicate the exercise by substituting chairs under the arms and legs.
Another way to make push-ups harder is to increase the weight you lift. To do this, you can use special weights that are fixed on the back.
