How do you do your push ups?

[ricepower]

Ive noticed theres quite a large variety in how people do push ups, would be interested to hear how you do yours.

When I started with stronglifts (my first ever training) I did them how I saw most people doing them(including fitness instructors & soldiers) With chest just dropping a little below elbows and arms fairly wide. I made fast steady progress going from a single set of about 5 all the way to several sets of 20-30.

At this point I was nearly considering adding weight till I saw people on T-nation & Beast Skills doing push ups quite differently. Elbows rather tucked (upper arm about 45degrees to body) and most significantly touching chest to the ground on every set. This struck me as a much better way to do them, and the same as proper bench press technique which id also been trying to perfect.

So for a couple weeks Ive been doing push ups this way, they are so much harder/better. I began with sets of 10 and have gotten up to 15.

I was just wondering how you do yours? Also, do you add resistance bands/weight/raised blocks etc?

[Dada]

Elbows rather tucked (upper arm about 45degrees to body) and most significantly touching chest to the ground on every set. This struck me as a much better way to do them, and the same as proper bench press technique which id also been trying to perfect.

I'm a soldier and this is actually the way I do them too. Also, I've found that I can do the most pushups by starting with a close grip to utilize the triceps first. Then as I start to fatigue, I'll widen the grip a little which starts to use a little more chest. And finally, after I'm pretty much burnt out, I'll widen even more and squeeze a few extra reps out. I did this back in April during my APFT and knocked out 75 in less than two minutes. I think I could have done 80 but 75 is 100 points for me so I was happy with that and stopped.

Also, do you add resistance bands/weight/raised blocks etc?

I don't have resistance bands but I sometimes do them with feet elevated. Also do variations of close, medium, and wide hand positions. And sometimes I use the perfect pushups (rotating pushup bars) which IMO makes them about 3x harder than normal pushups.

You could also do weighted pushups with a backpack, or partner resisted (have someone push down on your back). We'll do them like that in the military sometimes or if I'm at home, my son will jump on my back (he's about 40 lbs, so it makes it pretty tough).

[Psilomadman]

I use two wooden blocks for my hands and definately keep elbows in and go deep. Raised feet for added difficulty. Hindu's and tricep versions for variety. Also I'll put my rings down low and do them that way for a good core workout, those are challenging. Also its good to do Isometric holds at the bottom position for your shoulder health. The blocks help get some extra ROM. I'd like to get bands and try those as well.

[Dada]

I use two wooden blocks for my hands and definately keep elbows in and go deep. Raised feet for added difficulty. Hindu's and tricep versions for variety. Also I'll put my rings down low and do them that way for a good core workout, those are challenging. Also its good to do Isometric holds at the bottom position for your shoulder health. The blocks help get some extra ROM. I'd like to get bands and try those as well.

Oh yeah, I forgot about hindu's and divebombers. Both killers.

[NoGood]

You can also try doing them with a dumbell in each hand rolling them towards each other as you push yourself up. Tough as hell!

[amaeland]

I'm always slightly annoyed when people brag about how many push-ups they can do, then when you see them they barely go down five inches. I try to keep the body in a straight line, with a very slight angle at the hips so I can activate my core well. Chest touches the floor on every rep, I try to explode up and get 2/3 of the set done quite fast before fatigue starts setting in. I like push-ups, but when I PR'ed I hurt my wrist and it still doesn't feel good to do them It's nice to do a bit of push-ups after a session with benching and dips, I miss it.

Interesting comment about isometric push-ups, I think I might give those a go!

[Doo]

...I'd like to get bands and try those as well.

I have bands but really don't like them for push-ups. Seems awkward. They're great for a whole lot of other uses.

I would like a weighted vest but I wouldn't buy one unless it had more than 50lb. I saw an 80lb one for nearly $300. Ouch! I was thinking of getting some chains because I could use them for other exercises. I really should work on my one arm push-ups.

[Doo]

I have been doing "deep" push-ups. Instead of having my chest touch, I try to wear a loose shirt and have shirt touch. That way I don't end up with the potential for a slight bounce.

Just finished a 5000 push-up challenge at DailyBurn.com and am now doing a 10,000 push-up challenge (albeit more slowly since it is so soon after the 5000).

[ricepower]

I have been doing "deep" push-ups. Instead of having my chest touch, I try to wear a loose shirt and have shirt touch. That way I don't end up with the potential for a slight bounce.

Just finished a 5000 push-up challenge at DailyBurn.com and am now doing a 10,000 push-up challenge (albeit more slowly since it is so soon after the 5000).

How much time do you get to do your 5000/10,000 push ups? Seems like an obscene number. It would take me a year to even make an attempt at 5000 I think.

[Doo]

^ I wish the Challenges were "Everybody Wins" but instead it is the first to get there. For the 5000, a few guys were doing 200-400 per day and I only managed to get 1000 by the time it finished in two weeks. The 10,000 is going now and some of the 200-400 rep guys are slowing down. I'm currently 6th out of 43 @ 732. #1 has 2521. I hope to actually make it to 5000 before its over. Key is to not overtrain because I am still doing 5x5 bench on M and 1x5 bench on F. It seems to have helped my bench some even though high rep work doesn't translate directly to low rep lifting.

[tassietaekwon]

I love push-ups. I hate bench.

Infact I've recently given up benching all together in favour of doing weighted push-ups. People will cry "but what about your chesticles!!!" And frankly I don't care. The main reason for my weight training is to help me become a better martial artist. Push-ups are much more specific to my MA training and they are alot healthier on my shoulders, which currently take quite a beating from skill training.

I'm not giving up on bench totally, just giving it a break for a while. And really concentrating on my over head presses, too.

I do my push-ups with a backpack with weight in it. I wrap the weights in a towel to stop them moving about. I put my hands the same width apart as I would bench, so that my elbows are about 45 degrees compared to my body. I have my forearms vertical in the bottom position, so that when I'm in the top position they are actually on quite an angle. My hands are quite abit lower than my shoulders, towards my feet. I see alot of people have their hands directly under their shoulders, not sure of the benefits either way but my shoulders feel better if I place my hands further down.

At the moment, push-ups are king!

[NoGood]

The incline bench press, pushups and overhead press are much more sport-specific for almost all sports, so you could easily ditch the flat bench for good.

[mljoshua]

Push ups are the best, I think that body weight exercises are ignored by most people because they want to show off benching etc. but you can get as much if not more by just adding to your body weight - I like the weights in the backpack idea.

[Kaizen]

I do my Pushups two ways, i own a pair of Elite Rings (there brilliant) doing them on rings adds another element into pushups, being unstable. It becomes a plank and a pushup due to your core having to balance you. Not to mention if you relax your grip on the rings, your arms are gonna fly around like a thunderbird puppet
Working my way up on weighted ring pushups, currently got 50lbs on my back for 4 sets of 10reps.

When i give the rings a rest i do 'beastskills style' pushups. Tucked elbows, chest touches floor, like previous posts have mentioned, you wouldnt do half range of motion bench pressing, so why do half motion on pushups. I do them on my knuckles also, seem to work the forearm more.

Dont think i will be using my bench for a while, unless its for decline bench press, as an alternative to dips if they start aggravating my elbows/shoulders.

[tassietaekwon]

@ Kaizen...


Someone accidently left a set of ring at the gym the other day. Well, they weren't exactly rings, they were like strap things, with a solid straight handle and a semi-circle cloth/canvas-sy one underneath.

I saw the guy who left them, he was pretty huge. But when I was sure that he wasn't comming back for them, I decided I'd hook them up and have a go.

I finally found a good use for a smith machine. To hang rings from!!!
I used them at the end of my workout, I think that may have had an effect on my performance with them, if you could call it a performance...
They're bloody brutal!!! I tried a few push-ups, inverted rows... they make them like at least 10x harder.
I think for the martial arts they could be an absolutley fantastic conditioning/strength tool!

Am looking into getting some for myself right now.