Drop and Give Me Fifty - The Push-Up

"Drop and give me fifty, Burrese, you do one hundred." I still remember those days as a student in the 2nd Infantry Division Scout Sniper School fondly. Funny how time makes hardships seem less tough, and you can look back, clouded with nostalgia, and forget the pain you endured. Actually, the pushups I performed during sniper school were a small amount of the pushups I performed while in the military. From basic training until I got out, pushups and their variations were used extensively during the Army's physical training sessions. I'm no longer in the military, but I'm still doing them, and if you want a great exercise that doesn't take any equipment and that you can do anywhere, I recommend you do them too.

The prime movers in the push-up are the shoulders, the chest (pectoralis major), and back part of the arms (triceps). The pec minor is also involved to a certain degree. Combine push-ups with pull ups and sprints and you have a simple exercise program. I mention this because I remember a fellow soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division when I was there that swore by push-ups, pull-ups and running (including a lot of sprints). The guy was in fantastic shape, so his simple program seemed to work for him. I'm not recommending that's all you do, but if all you did was these three things it would be a lot better than nothing, and if you are short on time, on vacation in places you can't get to a gym, and so forth, these simple exercises will keep you in shape and don't take that much time.

Getting back to push-ups, there are a number of variations that make the exercise harder and more interesting. You can vary your routine to combat boredom, hit muscles from different angles, and increase intensity.

The Military Push-Up:

This basic push-up works the chest, shoulders, and triceps. It's performed by lying face down with your hands flat on the floor just outside and slightly in front of your shoulders, your fingers spread and pointing forward. Lift yourself off the floor by straightening your arms so that only your hands and toes are in contact with the floor, keeping the heels together. Your body should form a rigid line. Your head should be up. Lower yourself to the floor by bending your elbows. Keep your body rigid. Don't rest on the ground, just barely touch your chest and straighten your arms and push your body back up. During Army PT (Physical Training) tests, we would have someone grading our push-ups to ensure we went all the way down and came all the way up.

Variations:

The vary the basic military push-up, try them with your feet up on a bench or chair. To make them easier, do them on your knees rather than your toes. Try going deeper by doing push-ups with your hands on chairs, so that you lower yourself between the chairs. Make this movement even more difficult by raising your feet as well. To put a greater stretch on the chest muscles try a wide hand position. Hit the triceps harder by using a close hand position, such as placing your hands in a diamond position and lowering your chest into the diamond. Once in a while try plyometric push-ups by exploding up so your hands come off the ground. Try coming off the ground high enough to clap your hands together for an advanced variation of the plyometric push-up. (Note - due to the powerful nature of plyometric exercise, you have a greater risk of injury. Plyometrics should probably be performed no more than once per week and only for a duration of up to four weeks at any one time. Don't attempt plyometrics unless you've been training for at least six months.) Fingertip pushups can be great for developing hand and wrist strength. In Korea, we used to do fingertip pushups before every Hapkido class, since strong hands and wrists are essential for training in the Korean art of self-defense. Another advanced push-up is the one-arm push-up. These require spreading your feet and maintaining balance as one arm does all the pushing. Keep your free arm behind your back until its turn. If you need some motivation, pull out a DVD of "Rocky" and watch Sly Stallone pump them out.

Conclusion:

Push-ups have been a mainstay of military and martial art workouts for ages. This is for a good reason, they are effective! They take very little space, require no equipment, and build muscle and strength in the upper torso. If you aren't doing push-ups as part of your exercise program, you should. If you can't do at least fifty or more, get to pushing!

About this Author

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a performance and personal development expert who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. Alain combines his military, martial art, and Asian experiences with his business, law, and conflict resolution education into a powerful way of living with balance, honor, and integrity. He teaches how to use the Warrior's Edge to Take Action and Achieve Remarkable Results. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles and reviews and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com and http://www.aikiproductions.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alain_Burrese