The push up is one of the most useful yet under utilized exercises there is. Not only is it a great upper body strength exercise, but it also is a great for shoulder and scapular stabilizing and core stabilization exercise. The push up is a body weight exercise that you can do anywhere at anytime with an endless amount of options to vary the difficulty and purpose of the exercise. As I say this, I cringe at the thought of some of the push ups I have seen in practices- if you do not have a good push up- work on your straight push up before moving on to the variations. What is a bad push up? Well, if you have back pain- that is often due to a bad push up without enough core stabilization. If your butt is in the air- you are not maintaining the proper form.
SIGNS OF A BAD PUSH UP
* poor spinal alignment
* if you are sagging in the middle
* butt is sticking up in the air
If you are having problems- start with either a push up from your knees as we originally showed in the push up blog or you can have good form in your push up position but only go 1/4 down and then back up and work your way to to 1/2 way down and up and then to a full push up. This will help build up your upper body strength as well as core stability which is vital to a correct push up. If you still are struggling with the position, work on a wall push up. To make this more difficult, bring your feet further out from the wall each time.
PHYSIOBALL PUSH UP- This push up variation adds an unstable surface to incorporate core and upperbody/lowerbody priorioceptive stability.
PUSH UP WITH FEET ON PHYSIOBALL- Variation of an unstable surface during the push up motion
STATIC PUSH UP
DIAMOND PUSH UP- This push up puts more emphasis on the triceps than the shoulders and chest
EXPLOSIVE PUSH UP: This push up helps develop explosive power in your chest
WIDE GRIP PUSH UP: This puts an increased emphasis on the chest
PUSH UP WITH ROTATION: Great exercise to not only work on push up but also thoracic mobility and core
