Posted by We, as a society, are spending an overwhelming amount of time sitting with our heads slumped over our devices. This level of sedentary behavior wreaks havoc on our weight, metabolic health, mental health, and posture. Moreover, people tend to be swamped and bogged down with work in their busy lives, rendering it challenging to carve out time and energy for exercise.
Fortunately, there are exercises that you can include in your routine that will help you achieve your fitness goals in a short time. Push-ups are one such example of a physically demanding, full-body movement. Push-ups are something that can be performed by virtually everyone, regardless of fitness level, and offer a plethora of potential benefits.
Push-ups and Calisthenics
Calisthenics is a form of resistance training that uses your body weight as resistance. Calisthenics, specifically, are compound movements that employ major muscle groups that burn more calories and raise the heart rate rapidly, as opposed to single isolation exercises.
Calisthenic training improves cardiovascular health, strength, endurance, flexibility and agility. Finally, it improves balance and core strength whilst improving the health of the spine and muscles that support the spine. There are numerous exercises incorporated into a calisthenic routine, such as:
- Lunges
- Squats
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups
- Leg lifts
- Planks
- Sit-ups
- Chin-ups
- Mountain climbers
- Tricep dips
- Plyometrics such as box jumps, jumping jacks, and burpees
Calisthenics also do not require any equipment or a large space in which to perform them. They can also be adapted or modified depending on your strength and fitness level. This makes them perfect to perform anywhere, even in the comfort of your own home.
How to perform a push-up
A quintessential, standard push-up entails assuming a plank position with the toes used as a pivot on the floor, with the knees and elbows locked. The body should be parallel with the floor, with feet approximately hip distance apart, hands shoulder width apart, spine straight, and head in line with the spine. You then bend the elbows, keeping the abdominal muscles taut and drawn towards the spine. You then descend towards the floor. After getting the chest to or close to the floor, you then extend back into a plank position.
Full-body workout
Push-ups engage virtually all the major muscle groups of the body and are a great muscle booster. They involve the quadriceps or front of the thigh, the abdominous rectus (your six-pack), the pectoral muscles of the chest, the deltoids of the upper arm and shoulder, and the back of the back arms or triceps.
They also activate the muscles of the back, including the rhomboids in the middle upper back, trapezius muscles that overlay your shoulder blades, as well as the muscles that run on the lateral sides of the chest, colloquially termed your “lats” or latissimus dorsi.
Health benefits
Cardiovascular benefits
Push-ups are a very physically demanding move that forces you to contract, tighten, and stabilize your legs, abdomen, pelvis, and shoulders.
This kind of muscular engagement burns a lot of calories and heightens cardiovascular demand and the respiratory rate.
Strengthen bones and joints
Resistance training, like push-ups, puts a repeated, weighted load onto the body, especially the upper body, forcing those muscles to contract. This mechanical load stresses the bone, induces bone deposition, and therefore helps to prevent osteoporosis. They also strengthen the joint tissues and enhance joint lubrication.
Core muscles and posture correction
As was previously stated, to hold a plank (which is integral to a pushup), with the spine neutral, straight, and parallel to the ground, one must hold their core tight. The core relates to the bands of muscles that wrap around the back and abdomen.
Strengthening these core muscles assists in everyday movements and helps one to maintain a proper, erect posture and alleviate or prevent back pain.
Impact on mental health and brain function
Like other calisthenic exercises, push-ups improve neuromuscular control. This is because these complex movements require multi-joint stabilization, and sensorimotor control to properly perform the movement and maintain muscular control. Furthermore, enhanced blood flow in the brain helps clear wastes and improves brain function.
Variations galore
There are many different variations of a push-up which can make it easier or more laborious depending on the individual. These can be made into an explosive, plyometric workout, they can be slow and methodical, and you can use stability devices such as exercise balls. Even changing hand placement will alter what muscles you are working on.
To illustrate this, if you do a narrow push-up with the hands placed close to the chest, the tricep bears the burden. If you flare your hands past shoulder width, the pectoral muscles of the chest are being worked harder. The following are but a sampling of push-up variations and certainly not an exhaustive list.
Modifications
- Wall push-ups: This is probably the least strenuous option. As the name denotes, you are pushing a portion of your body weight against the wall. The intensity can be amended by how far away from the wall your feet are placed. The farther the feet are placed, the more difficult the move.
- Knee push-ups: To begin, you kneel on a mat with your hands placed shoulder-width apart, with the weight of the torso over the shoulders. The rest of the motion is the same as a standard push-up.
- Upper body elevated push-ups: This movement looks identical to a standard push-up, with the exception being the hands are placed on an elevated surface. This removes some of the burden of the body weight on the hands.
Advanced options
- Legs elevated push-ups: Elevating the legs on a chair or bench places more weight and strain on the upper body.
- Stability ball push-up: This variation helps engage the chest, triceps, and abdominals exponentially more, as one must try much harder to remain stable on an uneven surface.
- One-legged push-ups: This variation raises the leg straight posteriorly, which challenges one’s balance to a greater extent.
Final Thoughts
Push-ups are a great, traditional calisthenic form of resistance training. They can be performed at any time, with little space and no equipment, and are great for novices and experts alike. Push-ups are a full-body exercise that is quite beneficial for cardio-respiratory health, strengthening and retaining bone tissue, building strength and muscle tissue in the upper body and core, and aiding in improving posture.
