Many people can’t, but training to be able to do it is fun and can develop a lot of important muscles in the process. It’s perhaps one of my favorite upper body strengthening and core exercises rolled up into 1 nice movement.
A push up is actually a very complex exercise that requires both upper body strength and something called core stability. Have you ever noticed when some people do a pushup their bodies sag in the middle during the initial push up phase, and upon extending their arms out entirely, their bodies then straighten up? There are likely 2 causes of this: 1) They lack arm (tricep-back of the upper arm) and chest (pectoral) strength and 2) They lack the ability of their core (trunk muscles), specifically their superficial abdominals and deep core muscles, to contract enough to keep them in a ‘plank’ position while pressing up. So what can you do to fix this?
First things first: If you can’t do a pushup flat on the floor with good form, then you need to stand up and try this against a wall. If this is easy for you, then you can progressively find something lower like the back of a couch, a sturdy table, even 2 sturdy chairs. Here are some tips to performing a good pushup:
1) Get into position with your arms extended, a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
2) Engage and tighten your abdominals, pretending that someone is going to give you a ‘jab’ to the midsection–Here’s a tip: exhale completely, and I mean every last little bit of air that you have, and feel those deep abdominal muscles. Once you feel those muscles, keep them tight and contracted, but DO continue to breath afterwards!
3) Straighten out your legs completely, and actively tighten your quads and buttocks–This will help you to maintain a straight position.
4) Now, lower yourself as far as you can without sagging your mid-section. If you do have a tendency to sag, go only as far as you can before you begin to sag. Push yourself back up. Repeat 10 times.
This is a great exercise for general upper body strength and core stability. If you have any questions on how to do this properly, get in touch with us. Good luck!