{"id":94,"date":"2013-01-17T02:22:02","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T02:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/video.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=94"},"modified":"2014-05-15T19:11:11","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T23:11:11","slug":"how-to-perform-a-pushup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/how-to-perform-a-pushup.html","title":{"rendered":"How To Perform A Pushup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ss_qsTF0rr4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a question I hear from a lot of people: &#8220;What can I do to shape\/strengthen\/build up my arms?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The answer is, &#8220;a LOT&#8221;\u2014even if you don&#8217;t have access to a gym! Here&#8217;s one exercise you can do almost anywhere: the pushup. It&#8217;s a fantastic move for building a commanding set of arms.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the video above to see how I do it, and then read the remainder of this article for precise instructions on how to perform this exercise.<\/p>\n<h3>Muscles worked:<\/h3>\n<p>The pushup is an exercise that works both the\u00a0<span class='et-tooltip'>triceps<span class='et-tooltip-box'>Add a Tooltip Text<span class='et-tooltip-arrow'><\/span><\/span><\/span> and chest.<\/p>\n<h3>Equipment needed:<\/h3>\n<p>Equipment is optional, depending on your strength.<\/p>\n<p>Beginners may wish to use an elevated step or bench. The higher the bench or step, the easier it is since you won&#8217;t be fighting gravity as much.<\/p>\n<p>Performing the exercise on your knees will make the exercise easier (but by no means &#8220;easy&#8221;) too, because there&#8217;s less weight being supported by the working muscles of the arms and chest.<\/p>\n<h3>Difficulty Level:<\/h3>\n<p>All individuals can perform this exercise\u2014beginner through advanced, all levels.<\/p>\n<h3>Description of action:<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Kneel down and place your hands flat on the floor (or bench). Your hands should be directly under your shoulders (or slightly wider).<\/li>\n<li>Extend your feet behind you, so that you&#8217;re balanced on your hands and the tips of your toes; with your body in a straight line. (starting position).<\/li>\n<li>Keeping your body stationary, end at the elbows to lower your chest towards the floor or bench.<\/li>\n<li>Stop your descent just above the floor or bench, hold for a moment, then push back up to the starting position.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>To define and strengthen the triceps and chest, I recommend performing 3\u00a0<span class='et-tooltip'>sets<span class='et-tooltip-box'>Add a Tooltip Text<span class='et-tooltip-arrow'><\/span><\/span><\/span> of this exercise, using a range of 8 to 12\u00a0<span class='et-tooltip'>repetitions<span class='et-tooltip-box'>Add a Tooltip Text<span class='et-tooltip-arrow'><\/span><\/span><\/span> per set.<\/p>\n<p>In between sets, rest (drink water, stretch, look at your stopwatch!) and let your muscles recover for about 45 to 60 seconds.<\/p>\n<h3>Cautions:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep your body straight during the exercise\u2014do not allow your mid-section to sag towards the floor.<\/li>\n<li>Do not lock your elbows out at the top of the movement. Keep your elbows slightly flexed to maintain tension on your muscles throughout the entire set.<\/li>\n<li>Do not pause between repetitions.<\/li>\n<li>Do not race through the exercise. Take a few seconds to lower your body, hold for a moment at the bottom of the movement, and rise powerfully.<\/li>\n<li>As you tire, you may be tempted to &#8220;cheat&#8221; by not lowering your body all the way down. <strong>Don&#8217;t!<\/strong> You will get more out of fewer, full-range repetitions than you will out of partially-completed ones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Variations on the Pushup:<\/h3>\n<p>Over time, your pushups will become easier&#8230;which means it will be time to make them harder! <strong>The exercise needs to be challenging in order to be effective.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can increase the difficulty by performing your pushups without a bench or step; and starting on your toes instead of your knees. You can also vary your hand position: a wider stance will emphasize the chest; a narrower stance will emphasize the triceps.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re an advanced exerciser, you can load the working muscles by&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>propping your feet up on a step or bench. This elevates your feet so you&#8217;re now performing a &#8220;decline pushup.&#8221; Your arms have to support more of your bodyweight in the decline position.<\/li>\n<li>using\u00a0<span class='et-tooltip'>pushup bars<span class='et-tooltip-box'>Add a Tooltip Text<span class='et-tooltip-arrow'><\/span><\/span><\/span> or dumbbells. This will raise your hands above the floor and increase your <span class='et-tooltip'>range of motion<span class='et-tooltip-box'>Add a Tooltip Text<span class='et-tooltip-arrow'><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\n<li>adding weight. Wear a weighted backpack or have a training partner place a weight on your back after you&#8217;re in the starting position.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Enjoy flaunting those strong, impressive-looking arms!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a question I hear from a lot of people: &#8220;What can I do to shape\/strengthen\/build up my arms?&#8221; The answer is, &#8220;a LOT&#8221;\u2014even if you don&#8217;t have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[18],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/video\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}