EOD - Push Ups

Today's Exercise of the Day is the Push-up (this one's for you Ryan). I love this picture by the way.

There are 3 exercises to me that determine a person's muscular strength; the pull-up, the sit-up and the push-up. If you can push up your own body weight which is essentially what a push-up is, then to me you are a strong person.

The basic push-up consists of positioning your shoulders straight over your wrist and bending your elbows outwards until your chest (not nose) hits the ground, then pushing back up until your arms are fully extended. From your heels to shoulders are always in a straight line. Do not sink your hips or push your butt into the air. The push-up works your chest, triceps and shoulders, even a little bit of your back. Check out this website on push-ups.

Now for people who can't quite do a full push-up yet, there are modifications that can be done to get similar results and work the same muscle groups. First, I'd suggest doing a push-up against a wall. Put your hands shoulder wideth apart on the wall, take a step back so you are on your toes and then push your chest towars the wall and then back out keeping a straight line from your heels to your head. The first of two videos I have today is step 2 to the push-up. After you have mastered the wall push-up, this is the next step.



Now if you have mastered the basic push-up, this second video shows some different variations to the push-up which will incorporate more muscle groups into your push-up workout.