In the midst of my at-home, no-costs workout.6 sets of 12 Push-ups, the proper classic, that has your hands more than shoulder-width apart and have you lower your chest down to the floor, then calls for you to muster your arms and the edges of your pectorals to push against and off the ground. Now that's a push-up; not the closed arm, woodpecker sorta action that is correctly called-pumping. That kinda push-up skimps and skips away from real effort and instead, tires your arms, because all you're doing is compressing your biceps.



Hmph. And those National Cadet Corps scum(No offense, Hakim, I love you.) think that that is the orthodox method to make them stronger. They can carry on with that, and can hit 200, 180 of which is plainly arching your back upwards and barely working your elbows to push-up.
Ah, I'm feisty.

I'm convinced that the push-up is the premium workout exercise that all we need. Just do that and a few variations: voila! Impressive whole body.

An excerpt:

Pushups Build More Muscle
Logic says the pushup won't build strength unless you're kind of weak to begin with. Its benefits lie elsewhere. "If you do pushups correctly, you develop your scapular muscles and your rotator-cuff muscles to stabilize your shoulders. If you do bench presses instead of pushups, you don't have to use those muscles as much," says Michael Clark, C.S.C.S., a physical therapist and president of the National Academy of Sports Medicine. In other words, pushups not only build up the facade in front of your physique, but also develop the support system behind those muscles, too.

Here's why that's important: In every physical action, some muscles act as the engine and some act as the brakes. If the brakes aren't strong and durable enough to counterbalance the engine, you've got an injury waiting to happen. When a guy comes up with a chronically sore shoulder from bench pressing, for example, the problem is usually that the chest and shoulder muscles are too strong relative to the muscles behind them.

So it makes sense that pushups help improve muscular balance, which is important for developing serious strength. And with strength comes muscle size.


How Pushups Save Your Back
Perfect form in the pushup is the same as perfect upright posture, says Jolie Bookspan, M.D., an orthopedist in Philadelphia who has helped the U.S. military develop back-friendly exercise programs. And bad pushup form--too much arch in your lower back--resembles bad everyday posture. If you learn how to do pushups correctly--and hold that posture in and out of the gym--you reduce your chances of experiencing back pain.

The key to posture rests in your pelvis--more specifically, in learning to "tuck" your hips. At the start of a crunch, when your abs contract, your back flattens. Hold it right there. Notice that your lower back is flat and your midsection is pulled in. This is the best and safest position for your back.

There! And there're a few extremely view-worthy articles for like-minded physical honing enthusiasts.




Ciao, world.