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What is it for?

The press up exercise can be considered as one of the original exercises, a classic and one of my favourite exercises of all. It works the chest, the back of the arms (triceps – Beeble) and it also works the core muscles (stomach, spine and hip muscles – Beeble). The primary muscle it uses is the chest (pectoral muscle – Beeble) and is a great guide to show your functional strength.

The ability of your muscles to move your own body weight is essential for “survival” of your day-to-day lives. All right, so actually performing the press up is unlikely to come up in your daily life, however the extra strength it will give your chest muscles is invaluable for creating the ability to push and the benefits to your core strength will literally aid everything you do. It is beneficial and will improve many different sports and activities, especially contact sports as well as racket sports and golf. You don’t need to push in golf but it is essential to have strong core muscles to aid the swing and protect the back from the strong pressures caused through the swing. In my opinion every able bodied person should be able to complete at least 20 press ups, this would show a reasonable level of strength.

Technique

The press up is an easy exercise to get right, unfortunately it is also an easy one to get completely wrong. If you have read up on the other exercises then you should have picked up that having your joints at 90 degrees is important as it creates a strong base and reduces the pressure in the joints. It is the same with the press up.

To get into the press up position it is best to start on all fours and then push up onto your hands and toes so that you body is completely straight and off the ground. Hands should be just wider than shoulder width and level with your lowest part of your chest bone. The temptation is to have them at shoulder level but this is wrong. Make sure that your shoulders are further forwards than your hands by allowing your elbows to come closer to your body, creating approximately a 45 degree angle at your arm pit. Hands should be pointing forwards. Lower your body down, keeping your body straight, until your elbows are at 90 degrees. At this point your forearms should be completely vertical. If your hands are too close to your body then your elbows will stick out too far. If your hands are out too wide then your elbows will be nearer to your body than your hands. Adjust your hands accordingly so that at the lowest point your elbows are directly above your hands creating that 90 degree joint on the elbows.

Now push up until your arms are straight. This covers the movement at the top of the body so what is happening lower down? Well, hopefully nothing. Your body needs to be so straight it would be like you having a pole all the way along your back (or somewhere else – Beeble). The support that allows this to happen actually needs to come from your stomach.

At the start of the movement, before you lower down to the floor, make sure you concentrate on drawing your stomach muscle in (as though you were at the beach – Beeble) and slightly up. This helps you to activate your transverse abdominals that are one of your main core muscles and will help maintain your nice straight body throughout the movement. Make sure you hold your tummy muscles in all the way through the whole movement until completed.

It can be difficult to remember to breathe whilst remembering everything else, so this is another one to concentrate on. I find it easier to breathe out on the way up and in on the way down, however as long as you breathe in a nice controlled manner then that is what is important!

Diagram

The first diagram (fig.1) shows the press up from a side view. It is important to note that the hands are placed well back and in line with the lower chest level. Many people will attempt to do the press up with their hands placed well forwards. This is a sign of bad technique and although won’t be damaging it does not use the chest muscle in its ideal position.

The second diagram (fig. 2) shows the press up from the head down view (great drawing – Beeble). This diagram shows us how low you need to go. You will notice at this lowest point the elbows are at 90 degrees (their strong position – Beeble) and that the hands are directly below the line of the elbows. Not only is this a strong position but it is also the safest for your joints.

Make sure your weight is going through the base of your hand and not the fingers. If you are well practiced in chest exercises then you can go lower than this position and this will be better for you as it works the chest in a wider range of movement. For all you novices and intermediates I wouldn’t recommend it as it puts more pressure on the joints and chest muscle and can lead to injury if your body is not use to it.

The Do’s

•    Get your elbows to 90 degrees at the lowest point
•    Keep your hands behind your shoulder line
•    Tighten your core muscles
•    Stop if you lose technique
•    Breathe
•    Keep your head down facing the floor

The Don’ts

•    Don’t have your hands too far forwards
•    Don’t hold your breath
•    Don’t let your lower body sag downwards
•    Don’t let your joints go less than 90 degrees

In Your Program

Press ups are a great exercise to add to any program whether you are trying to lose weight or trying to gain muscle mass. You can have it as a regular addition to your workout or use it as a strength test. As an exercise whatever your goal is, or as a strength test, I would always recommend that you complete as many as you can in a row with perfect technique and in a slow and controlled manner. As soon as the technique drops then you must stop. Then you can rest and try another set or leave it at that and try to beat it next time.

In most exercises there is a guide line to show you how many repetitions and sets to complete for different goals, but you also have the ability to change the resistance. With press ups you can’t easily or safely change the resistance and so this is why I personally feel that the “press up till you have to stop” method is the best for this exercise.

If you are looking for maximizing muscle gain in your chest then complete your usual routine and add the press ups in at the end. It’s a great way to get that “burn”.

And a Warning…

I am sure many of you are wondering how press ups can be dangerous, well believe me they can under certain circumstances. If you are a beginner then start by doing press ups with your knees on the ground, these are known as ¾ press ups and are slightly safer for beginners (use a mat to protect your knees - Beeble). I have seen people try press ups for the first time and the only thing that stopped them from being one with the mat was their face, which was a painful and embarrassing moment for them.

I would also avoid press ups if you have high blood pressure and/or a heart condition as the temptation to hold your breath during the exercise is very high. Holding your breath will actually increase the pressure on your heart and can lead to heart problems (slight understatement – Beeble).

Remember to be safe and train within your limits, “no pain no gain” is the saying and it does not apply if you actually want to see benefits from your training. It should be “no discomfort no gain”, but as you can see that is not in the least bit catchy!

Good luck!

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