How to maximize your push ups
The push up is the BEST upper body strength movement in the world.
Sadly, 53.8% of Americans CANNOT do 10 in a row.
Here’s 4 tips so you can be better than average.
#1 Squeeze the ground together
In the video you see MORE pec activation when the subject moves his hands closer together WHILE straightening his arms (versus just keeping them shoulder width.
The pecs are the primary mover for a push up, but to get the MOST out of the pecs you need to bring the arms CLOSER together
Similar to a pec fly motion
To do this on push ups, act like you are trying to move your hands TOWARDS each other. Do this going up AND down. You hands will obviously NOT move, but you’ll create the right tension for shoulder function.
#2 Get the shoulder blades down, NOT back
Shrug your shoulders to your ears - then shrug the AWAY from your ears. You should feel the lats and both teres activating, NOT the muscles between the shoulder blade.
By getting the shoulder blades down, you create lat tension.
This plus squeezing the ground together 10x shoulder function.
#3 Start at the bottom
ALL bad compensations happen at the bottom. You can FIX them all if you just simply start there.
Then you simply push UP, then return to that same start position. This is obvious when you think about it, but i’ve yet to meet a single person that does this.
#4 Use elevation
Push ups are 2/3 your body weight. If you can’t do more than 25, start with the hands elevated.
The same 3 rules from above apply.
If you can easily do 25+ push ups, elevated your feet.
Last bits
A few other tips
pause for 1 second at the bottom
use lower rep sets. I’ve started people on sets of THREE.
work then 2-3 days/week
You have now MAXIMIZED push ups. Welcome to the top 50%.