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Doing Push-Ups Properly
1. Stretch out beforehand. To perform push-ups properly and ensure that you can increase the number of push-ups you can do at once, it's important to learn the proper form for the exercise and to stretch out thoroughly before you begin.
Stretch your chest by performing the warrior pose, gripping your hands together behind your back at waist height, then extending your arms gently away from your body to stretch out your chest. Hold for a count of 15-20, gently stretching your pectoral muscles.
Stretch out your upper body and your lower body as well. Push-ups, despite being a mostly upper-body exercise, engage your whole core, requiring you to be loose and ready to exercise.
2. Position your weight on the balls of your feet. For the push-up, the balls of your feet should be placed firmly on a non-slip and preferably slightly padded surface, like a yoga mat. You can wear trainers for additional foot support, if necessary.
If you're just on the carpet at home, it's good to have shoes on to help you grip the floor slightly and avoid slipping. In bare feet or socks, it can be more difficult.
If it is difficult for you to do a regular pushup, start by performing modified push-ups on your knees instead of your toes until you build enough strength to do a regular pushup.
3. Keep your shoulders back and your spine straight. Your head should be facing the floor, your neck as straight as possible to avoid straining. Keep your shoulders back, not scrunched up toward your neck. You want your spine to be as straight as possible without disrupting its natural curvature. This straight line down the length of your back should continue down to the heels of your feet.
It helps to set up a mirror, if you can, or have someone spot you, to make sure you've got a straight back while you're in push-up position. Have someone snap a quick picture of you to make sure, then make the necessary adjustments.
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4. Position your hands and arms properly. Both your arms and feet should be shoulder-width apart, though your hands may be spread further to make the push-up easier when you're first starting out. As you get better, you should bring them closer to shoulder-width for an ideal push-up.
Keep your elbows in, however wide your hands are, and position your hands behind the plane of your shoulders. When you're in push-up position, imagine a straight line between your shoulders and the ground, and don't cross that line with your hands.[4]
Performing push-ups can put a lot of strain on your wrists. Use the outside edge of your hand, rather than the flattened palm, to perform the push-up. Some people also like to grip dumbbells instead of doing flat-hand push-ups, for the same reason.
5. Bend your arms to a 90-degree angle. Bend your elbows, keeping your back and your hips very straight and locked, and lower yourself down slowly. When your arms are at a 90-degree angle, push yourself back up until your arms are straight.
It's not better to try to touch your nose to the ground, or to try to pop up in the air forcefully after doing a push-up, at least at first. Just focus on getting the mechanics right and keeping your back straight if you want to eventually do more push-ups.
Other varieties of push-ups, some of which involve deeper dips, done for added muscle-building, will usually involve slightly different hand positioning and will be discussed in the last section. For the purposes of regular push-ups, don't dip further than 90 degrees.
6. Keep your core locked. Done properly, you should start to feel a push-up in your abs, just as much as in your chest. Your core (abdominal muscles) should be tensed to maintain posture, but there should be no dynamic movement other than the arms, shoulders, and chest area throughout the movement.
Try this: hold yourself in a push-up position, but don't do a push-up. See how long you can hold it, staying very straight, locked in to the position. Where do you start to feel the burn? Keep those muscles tight as you do a push-up, and you'll stay engaged and straight during the exercise.
7. Go slowly at first. It's not a race. Lower yourself in a smooth and swift movement, breathing in as you go down and expelling air outward as you push yourself up into position. You'll be able to do more push-ups in the long term if you do fewer, more slowly, at first.
If you're blasting through push-ups very quickly, it might seem like a good way to increase the number you can do, but it's important to focus on building strength at first, then worry about numbers later.
If numbers are your goal, of course, your ultimate goal is to do more push-ups, more quickly. Push-ups done quickly are somewhat less challenging.
See you in the next article.
Artemus Vazhui