Push-ups - training and result enhancement

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2012-11-08

Push-ups from the floor are one of the most common exercises. They effectively train the chest and triceps and require no equipment. I believe that both guys and girls should do push-ups. Therefore, I will start by explaining how to learn to do push-ups from the floor (aimed at women). Then, I will show how to improve your results (aimed at men).

I’d like to say a couple of words about the width of hand placement. There are two options: wide, where the hands are placed 1.5 to 2 times wider than the shoulders, and narrow, where the hands are shoulder-width or slightly closer.

These are intended for training the chest muscles. Therefore, it’s better to spread your elbows to the sides.

These are intended for training the triceps. Hence, it’s best to keep your elbows close to your body. Naturally, there are many intermediate options between these two.

How to Learn to Do Push-ups from the Floor

There’s nothing difficult here. We will only need two exercises: push-ups from the floor on your knees and push-ups from a bench (or any other elevated surface).

To start, do push-ups from the floor on your knees. This way, you have to lift about 25% - 30% less of your body weight. Always try to touch your chest to the floor, which is easier for women to do. After you can do this for at least 12 reps, move on to push-ups from a bench. Any elevated surface will do. The higher it is, the easier it will be. Your task is to gradually lower the height of your support. Once you can do 12 push-ups from a low support, transition to doing them from the floor. From personal experience, I can say that for a woman, doing 10 push-ups from the floor is quite impressive.

Hand Supports

To improve your push-up results, use different supports for your hands. Bricks, blocks, anything. The optimal height is 10-20 cm. This allows you to dip lower, thus stretching your chest more, which encourages additional growth of the chest muscles. It’s also advisable to place your legs on a support. The higher your legs, the more body weight you will be pushing.

Use Weights

By doing push-ups with weight on your back, you will increase the strength of your chest muscles or triceps (depending on the grip width). This can be weight plates or a backpack filled with items. You could also push up with your girlfriend on your back if you're strong enough and she's light! My personal record for push-ups with a wide grip is 50 kg for 10 reps.

Vary the Number of Repetitions

For example, today do as many push-ups as you can without weight. Then, a day later, do them with a heavier load for 8-10 reps. Unlike

—with push-ups from the floor, you can also do them with maximum weights for 1-2 reps, as this exercise is less injury-prone. In other words, you should alternate between endurance and strength work since the number of push-ups is equally influenced by both factors. Read more about changing the number of repetitions here.

Use clap push-ups to develop explosive power in your chest muscles. The easiest option is claps in front of you. A bit harder is claps behind your head. The most challenging (at least the one I’ve tried) is claps behind your back.

In summary, this has been a straightforward article. If you liked it, share it with your friends and subscribe for more. Good luck!