Kung Fu Kendra
🇨🇦​ Canada's Top Fitness Trainer
Push Ups
Push Ups
Push ups are an excellent strength and cardio workout that requires no equipment and is easy to do from home. In this blog, I will be covering many variations of push ups that will help you get stronger and stay strong. Push ups work many muscles (unlike weights) and can get the heart rate up and the blood pumping. A full body workout, push ups are the perfect at home strength workout.
Here is a video showing various push ups.
Standard Push Up
The first push up I'm going to explain is the standard pushup.
You want your hands shoulder width apart at head level and feet together, from here you want to do is bring yourself down as far as you can go while keeping the core engaged and tight. Do 5 push ups.
Standard Push Up
- Place hands shoulder width apart.
- Keep feet together.
- Lower your body down then up.
Palms in Push Up
The next push up I'm going to teach you is the palms in push up. Placing your hands palm over palm, starting with right palm over left pump and this will be what I like to call a pulsing push ups. It's not a matter of how far you go down, but what is important is pushing all the way up.
Do the palms in push up 5 times in a row then switching hand positions.
Palms in Push Up
- Place hands palm on palm above your head.
- Place feet together on toes.
- Lower yourself slightly and pulse push up from there.
On Knees Push Up
The next push up you're going to learn is on our knees. This is a modified version of a push up for people who are learning how to do a pushup and building upper body strength. Again, hands and shoulder width apart and feet crossed over each other. Knees on the ground pushing up and down 5 times.
On Knees Push Up
- Place hands shoulder width apart.
- Place knees on the ground and cross feet over.
- Lower your body down and back up again.
Staggered Push Up
The next push I'm going to teach you is the staggered hand push ups. Place one hand above the head and the other hand down at chest level, do 5 pushups and the switch hands. Remember, push ups are a cardio workout as well as a strength exercise.
Staggered Push Up
- Place one hand above the head and one hand below the shoulder.
- Keep feet together.
- Lower your body down then up.
Patty Cake Push Up
The next push up I'm going to teach you is the patty cake push up. A reminder that push ups are an excellent strength workout as well as cardio workout as it works the heart and gets the blood pumping throughout the entire body. What you want to do is imagine a partner in pushup position in front of you, facing head to head. Let me explain. Begin by starting in regular push up position. Moving down then up, release one hand and Patty cake diagonally across. This is a strength workout that allows your body weight to be held with both legs and one hand. Do this 5 times switching hands each time.
Patty Cake Push Up
- Place hands shoulder width apart.
- Keep feet together.
- Lower your body down then up.
- When coming to top position, release one hand as if to patty cake another hand.
Benefits of Push Ups:
Cardio, Strength, Flexibility
Push ups are primarly used for building upper body strength but are also beneficial for the heart. They work the pectoral muscles, triceps, shoulders and even the lower back and core by engaging abdominal muscles and therefore are a fast and effective exercise for building full body strength. Push ups also increase flexibility. One of the most underrated benefits of doing push ups (when done correctly) is the flexibilty it provides to your biceps and back muscles. As you lower yourself to the floor, your back muscles are effectively stretched, and as you push yourself to the starting position your biceps obtain a full stretch. This not only improves your flexibility, which helps prevent injuries, but a well-stretched muscle feature a solid and attractive appearance. As stated earlier, push ups are classified as also a cardio exercise. When you simultaneously engage large muscle groups, your heart must work harder to deliver oxygen-rich blood to muscle tissue. Ultimately, this activity results in an effective cardiovascular exercise, which supports heart health and promotes the reduction of stored body fat.
Improved Posture
Improper posture can affect your spine and comfort level as you age. One of the most common reasons for a lack of proper posture is weak core muscles. In order to properly hold your shoulders and back, your core must be strong enough to support its vertical positions. When push ups are properly executed, the muscles responsible for supporting posture are strengthened and when you regularly do push ups - your body will naturally develop proper posture. This is one of the most influential benefits of push ups.
Fast and Reliable Workout
Although you may not have time for a traditional strength training or cardio workout, if you have five minutes you can achieve a full-body workout with push ups. There are a multitude of variations of push ups as I've discussed in this article that target different muscles from different angles. Imcrease the cardio aspect of the push up by doing them faster and longer. Push ups are great because you can do them just about anywhere, they require no equipment and are a great cardio workout as well as a strength exercise. I can't emphasize enough the benefits of a push up which is why I have incorporated them into my Home Workout Program.