Notes:
The chest should never touch the floor. The chest should stop just short of
the floor. The chest muscles must be kept under tension.
Notice that the back is straight. Don't let the back curve and the stomach
fall towards the floor.
-
The hands are under the armpits, approximately
shoulder-width apart
You are exhaling on the way up, and inhaling deeply on the way down
Do this exercise slowly and with strict technique
If you can't do at least 5 repetitions of this exercise, then do it with
your knees on the ground
Target Number of Repetitions
15
Cadence
This exercise should be performed, like most exercises, in a slow and
controlled mannered.
In demonstrations, you'll often see pushups knocked out as quickly as
possible. In these demos, the person doing the pushups tries to impress the
audience with the large number of repetitions performed.
For bodybuilding, two seconds up and three seconds down would be a nice
cadence for pushups, breathing deeply the whole time.
Progression
Once you can do 15 reps, add another set of 15. If you're not
strong enough yet for pushups as shown, then do them with your knees on the
ground. The further your knees are from you arms the harder the exercise
will be. Once you can do two sets of 15 from your knees, then progress to
the type shown above.
Rest Between Sets
One minute
Rest Before the Next Exercise
One minute
Personal Notes
Pushups are one of the greatest exercises in the world. Here's why.
Keeping the body alignment straight during the exercise causes the
abdominals to contract strongly, and this complements the crunches done a
little while ago.
In addition to the abdominals, you will feel the legs tensing, the lower
back stiffening, the shoulders being stressed and the toes being stretched
while doing pushups. It's a great exercise that works a number of muscle
groups, giving you a great bang for the buck.
Exercise Theory
The pushup stresses the pectoralis major, a large, fan-shaped muscle that
attaches to the sternum (breastbone), the pectoralis minor, just under the
pectoralis major and the front deltoid (shoulder) muscle. The abdominals and
lower back muscles also tense during the exercise.
Since all these muscles work during the exercise, and since the pectorals
are a large muscle group, you will be breathing heavily after doing a set of
this exercise.
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