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THE ULTIMATE PUSHUP GUIDE:
MASTER THIS CLASSIC MOVE
AND 25 NEW VARIATIONS
WHILEEXERCISESLIKETHEPUSHUPAND
the bench press both work your chest,
shoulders, and triceps, the pushup also
trains your abdominals, lower back,
upper back, and glutes. So it bestows a bevy of
total-body benefits. Whats more, unlike the bench
press, the pushup helps you sculpt healthy, stable
shoulders, by training
both your scapular
muscles and your rota-
tor cuff muscles. The
bottom line: Pushups
not only build up the
facade in front of your
physique, but also
develop the supportsystem behind those
muscles, too.
And if you like this
ultimate pushup guide,
check out The Mens
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Exercisesfor new
variations of all your
favorite gym moves. Infact, youll find full-color
photos of more than 600
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Learn more about the book at
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WHY THE PUSHUP
IS KING
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Your body shouldform a straight linefrom your headto yourknees.
VARIATION #1
Incline Pushup Place your hands on a box,
bench, or step insteadof the floor. This reducesthe amount of yourbody weight you haveto lift, making the
exercise easier.
VARIATION #2
Modified Pushup Instead of performing the exercise
with your legs straight, bend yourknees and cross your ankles behindyou. This is another way to make theclassic pushup easier.
VARIATION #4
Single-Leg Decline Pushup Place one foot on a box
or bench and holdthe other in the air.
VARIATION #3
Decline Pushup Place your feet on a box or bench as you perform a pushup.
This increases the amount of your body weight you have to lift,making the exercise harder.
The higher thesurface and themore upright yourbody, the easier theexercise is.
Dont let yourhips sag.
If you feel strain onyour lower back,youre not keepingyour core tight.
PUSH AWAY FATThe pushup is agood indicator ofwhether or notyoure exercisingenough nowto avoid fat later,
according to aCanadian study.The researchersfound that peoplewho perform poorlyin a pushup test are78 percent morelikely to gain 20pounds of flab overthe next twodecades.
You can do this exerciseon a staircase, moving toa lower step as yourstrength improves.
STRENGTHENYOUR SHOUL-DERSResearchersin Texas found thatthedecline pushup
works the musclesthat stabilize yourshoulders betterthan a traditionalpushup.
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ThePushupSpectrum
EASIEST
HARDEST
9. SWISS-BALLPUSHUP
8. BOSU PUSHUP
7. SINGLE-LEGDECLINEPUSHUP
6. PUSHUPWITH FEETON SWISSBALL
5. DECLINE
PUSHUP
4. STACKED-FEET PUSHUP
3. PUSHUP
2. INCLINEPUSHUP
1. MODIFIEDPUSHUP
The instability of the ballforces your core to workharder, increasing thedifficulty of the exercise.
VARIATION #7
Weighted Pushup Have a workout partner place a weight plate on your
back, at the level of your shoulder blades.
VARIATION #6
Stacked-Feet Pushup Place one foot on top of the other so that only the lower
one supports your body.
VARIATION #5
Pushup with Feeton Swiss Ball
A
Perform the movement with your feet placedon Swiss ball.
You can also increase the amount yourelifting by wearing a weighted vestor placing a heavy chain on your back.
B
Lower your body as far as you can, without allowingyour hips to sag.
65Percent of your
body weight
you lift when
you do a
modified pushup.
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Pause whenyour chest is
just off the floor.
Pause at the halfwaypoint on both your waydown and your way up.
As you push yourself back to thestarting position, pause just beforethe point you straighten your arms.
VARIATION #8
Triple-Stop PushupA
Do a standard pushup,but pause for 2 seconds
at the positions shown.
MAKE TIME FOR THIS MOVEPausing briefly at each point increases strength at that jointangle and 10 degrees in either direction. So this methodeliminates any weak point you might have. It also increasesthe time your muscles are under tension, stimulating growth.
B
C
D
VARIATION #9
Wide-Hands Pushup Place your hands about twice
shoulder-width apart.
VARIATION #10
Close-Hands Pushup Place your hands directly under
your shoulders.
Placing yourhands closertogetherworks yourtriceps harder.
Keep yourelbows tuckedclose to yoursides as youlower yourbody.
Settingyour handswide putsa greateremphasison yourchest. Thedownside:It alsoincreasesthe stresson yourshoulders
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VARIATION #11
Diamond Pushup Place your hands close enough together to
make a triangle with your thumbs andforefingers.
Placing your handscloser together worksyour triceps harder.
VARIATION #12
Staggered-Hands Pushup Place one hand in standard pushupposition and your other
hand a few inchesfarther forward.
Staggering your hands increas-es the challenge to your coreand shoulder muscles.
Alternate whichhand is placedforward each set.
VARIATION #13
Spiderman PushupA
Assume the standard pushup position.
B
As you lower your body toward the floor, lift your right footoff the floor, swing your right leg out sideways, and try totouch your knee to your elbow.
Reverse the movement, then push your body back to thestarting position. Repeat, but on your next repetition,touch your left knee to your left elbow. Continue toalternate back and forth.
75Percent of your body weight
you lift when you do a
standard pushup, according
to research by the
National Strength and
Conditioning Association.
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CHISEL YOUR ABSWhen you place your hands on aSwiss ball or a medicine ball,the instability causes your coremuscles to work 20 percentharder than when you do push-ups on the floor, report New Zea-land researchers.
VARIATION #14
Swiss-Ball Pushup Place your hands on a Swiss ball
instead of the floor.
VARIATION #16
Single-Arm Medicine-Ball Pushup Place one hand on a medicine ball.
VARIATION #15
Medicine-Ball Pushup Place both hands on a medicine ball.
VARIATION #17
Two-Arm Medicine-Ball Pushup Place each hand on a medicine ball.
TARGETYOURTRICEPSThis exercisetrains your tri-ceps 30 per-cent harderthan a stan-dard pushup.The reason:The Swiss ballforces yourtriceps to sta-bilize your el-bow andshoulderjoints, whichresults in therecruitment of
moremuscle fibers.
Keep yourcore braced.
Your chestshould nearlytouch the ball.
Dont let yourhips sag.
Do an equal numberof sets with eachhand on the ball.
Squeeze the ball with yourhands, almost like youretrying to grab onto it.
If you dont havea medicine ball,you can use abasketball in itsplace.
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VARIATION #18
T-PushupA
Place a pair of hex dumbbells at the spot whereyou position your hands.
Grasp the dumbbell handles and set yourself inpushup position.
B
Lower your body to the floor.
Pump UpYourPushups
To boost thenumber of
pushups you
can do, try this
simple ladder
routine. Time
how long it
takes you to do
as many push-
ups (you can
use any varia-
tion) as you
can. Then rest
for the same
time period,
and repeat the
process two to
four times. So if
you do 20 push-
ups in 25 sec-
onds, youll rest
25 seconds, and
repeat. Lets
say on your
next round you
complete
12 pushups in
16 seconds.
Youd then rest
for 16 seconds
before your
third set.
Use this meth-
od two days
a week to
quickly raise
your score.
Your armsshould forma T withyour body.
The dumbbellsshould be setslightly widerthan shoulder-width apart.
As you rotate your body,pivot on your toes and
then lower your heelsto the floor.
Set your feethip-width apart.
Raise thedumbbell androtate yourbody in onefluid motion.
VARIATION #19
Judo PushupA
Begin in standard pushup position, but moveyour feet forward and raise your hips so your bodyalmost forms an upside-down V.
B
Keeping your hips elevated, lower your body untilyour chin nearly touches the floor.
C
Lower your hips until they almost touch the floor,as you simultaneously raise your head and shoulderstoward the ceiling. Reverse the movement back tothe starting position and repeat.
C
As you push yourself back up, rotate the right side ofyour body upward as you bend your right arm and pullthe right dumbbell to your torso. Then straighten yourarm so that thedumbbell is above
your right shoulder.
Lower the dumbbellback down, and repeat,this time performingthe move to your left.
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VARIATION #22
Explosive Crossover PushupA
Place your lefthand on the floorand your right
hand on thesmooth side ofa weight plate.
B
Lower yourbody to the floor.
C
Explosively push upand to the rightso your hands leavethe floor.
D
Land with yourleft hand onthe plate and
your right handon the floor.
E
Then lower andrepeat, alternatingback and fortheach repetition.
VARIATION #20
Explosive Pushup
Assume a pushup position.
Bend your elbows andlower your body.
Press yourself up so
forcefully that yourhands leave the floor.
The crossover portion of this movement forces your upperarms toward the center of your body, which is the mainfunction of the pectoralis major, your largest chest muscle.
Your chestshould nearlytouch the floor.
VARIATION #21
Iso-Explosive Pushup Do this movement just like the explosive pushup, but first pause
5 seconds in the down position. This pause technique eliminatesall the elasticity in your muscles, which allows you to activate amaximum number of fast-twitch muscle fibers. These are themuscle fibers with greatest potential for size and strength gains.
A
B
C
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Hang Onfor MoreMuscle
Performingpushups while
suspended from
straps
increases
muscle activa-
tion in your abs
and upper back,
according to a
study by Cana-
dian research-
ers. One cau-
tion: This
exercise can
also place more
stress
on your lower
back. To
protect your
spine, make
sure to keep
your core and
glutes tight,
as you should
when you do
any variation of
the pushup.
Simply brace
your abs
forcefully and
squeeze your
glutes, and hold
those contrac-
tions as you
lower and raise
your body.
VARIATION #24
SuspendedPushup Attach a pair of straps
with handles to asecure bar, so that thehandles are a foot orso off the floor.
Lower your body untilyour upper armsdip below your elbows.
VARIATION #25
Pushup and RowA
Place a pair of hex dumbbells at thespot where you position your hands.
Grasp the dumbbell handles and setyourself in pushup position.
B
Lower your body to the floor, pause,then push yourself back up.
C
Once youre back in the startingposition, row the dumbbell in your righthand to the side of your chest, by pullingit upward and bending your arm.
Pause, then lower the dumbbell backdown, and repeat the same movementwith your left arm. Thats one repetition.
VARIATION #23
Bosu Pushup Turn a Bosu ball over, so that the half-ball
portion is on floor, and position your handson the sides ofthe platform.
Your torso shouldnot rotate as you row.
THE ALL-IN-ONE UPPERBODY EXERCISEThe pushup and row works yourmiddle and upper back as hardas it does your chest.
Keep your body ina straight line fromyour ankles to yourhead.
The dumbbells should beset slightly wider thanshoulder-width apart.
Your chest should
nearly touch the sur-face of the Bosu.
Brace yourcore and glutes.
One option forsuspendedpushups: BlastStraps, whichcan be found atelitefts.com