There is no doubt about it; push-ups are great for strength training.  There is a reason why push-ups have always been popular, and it’s because push-ups work.  Even though we know that push-ups have been tried and tested for success, what kind of benefits can you expect from push up training.  And then what push-ups can you do to make sure you get a full upper body workout.

One of my favorite movies growing up was “Major League.”  There was a character in the movie named Willie Mays Hays, played by Wesley Snipes, who had incredible speed, but had a bad habit of popping the ball straight up.  His coaches made him do push-ups for each time he popped the ball up in practice, he became so familiar with doing push ups that he accidentally did the push ups in an actual game after he popped up.  So whether you do push ups as punishment or for a workout routine, there are plenty of great benefits push-ups provide you.  Push-ups are great for your chest, arms, shoulders, back, and even your core.  They help build lean muscle mass, which helps to speed up your metabolism, and not only does lean muscle mass speed up your metabolism, but it also does not bulk you up.  Lean muscle mass helps tone your body, so you do not look like a world-class bodybuilder.  You do not even need to leave your home to get a toned body.

The other great thing about push-ups, are that there is plenty of ways to perform them.  There is the standard push up, wide push up, diamond push up, military push up, reverse push up, and shoulder push-ups.  All of these push ups can be used to give you the ultimate upper body workout.  Pick about three different push ups and start doing them tell you can do them anymore, then after a couple weeks start switching in some new push ups.  You can get creative; do inclined push-ups; declined push-ups, or push-ups on an exercise ball.  There is a whole open world of push-ups.  If you have wrist issues then look into getting some push up stands, not only will they help your wrists, push-ups stands also help with a deeper range.

If you have any questions about push-ups, go ahead and ask me!  Just click on the “ask the fitness dude a question” button, located at the bottom of the web page.  Fill out the form and submit.