Pushup Workouts - Better Than The Average Workout
Pushup Workouts Doing pushup workouts is one of the best things you can do for your body, especially if you’re trying to increase your level of fitness. They seem trivial and unhelpful, but, in fact, for the sheer purpose of getting fit and healthy, you can replace any of the chest exercises with them. That is, if you do them correctly! They're a great way to challenge and get your body back into shape. No, I’m not just talking about the standard pushup. Going up and down, up and down in the same way doesn’t help all that much in the long run. The key is variety! Adding different movements to your pushups will put you over the top. Add Some Flare to Your Workouts! What I mean is, pushups will add a bit of spice to your workouts that you never thought possible. For example, you could add a plyometric pushup workout (for explosive movements), a routine to compliment an already existing chest workout, or even a cardio workout (do as many reps as you can in a minute!). Any variation you can think of can be included your program to bring even more results than you might expect. Furthermore, when done properly, they're also great core exercises. Keeping your back straight by squeezing the glutes, quadriceps and abdominal muscles forces your midsection to work. It’s not only a chest exercise! In general, you should be able to draw a straight line between the top of your head and the tip of your heals. The only way for this to happen is for you to tighten that midsection! Your core is what makes this exercise happen. You need balance, stability, and strength to pull off a good set of pushups Pushup Workouts are Great for Beginners This is especially great for beginners just starting out. Back in high school, the baseball coaches put us all directly under the bench press. The problem is, this exercise doesn’t do much for strengthening the chest if you don’t already have a bit of strength. Why? Well, when you’re just starting a workout program, the bench press will more than likely be done improperly, unless there’s so little weight that you’re not working any muscles. Doing pushup routines in the beginning will help build chest, arm and core strength to maximize your results on the bench press or dumbbell press later on. Women and Pushups I’ve always felt sorry for girls who’ve lived a life of people telling them they aren’t “strong enough” to do a normal pushup or pullup. How could this be so? They’ve never been given the opportunity! From a young age, they’ve all been forced to do less-challenging forms of the exercise, regardless of whether the it’s challenging for them or not. Their separation from the "boys" in this regard is ridiculous. Give them a chance for crying out loud! How can we ever instill confidence in our youth if we tell them they’re not strong enough? Yes, women are genetically programmed to have a smaller muscle mass to body weight ratio. But this, in no way, means they can’t workout to get stronger. The key is effort and variety – the best thing you can do is to get out there and try! Set a goal for yourself and go for it. Start off slow and work your way right up to the top! It’s Free! The best part is that there’s no equipment required! You don’t need a gym membership or any fancy piece of equipment – just your body and the floor! This is all you need for a great chest, arms and core workout. Add Variety! There’re a million ways to do pushups – each one of them is a way to add variation so you can avoid that dreaded plateau! Did you catch that? I’ve mentioned throughout the site that adding variety is the key to success for any workout program. That includes adding variation to your pushups! There are tons of ways to do pushups – give them a try! Here's a table of pushup illustrations - don't worry, there's more to come! Return from Pushup Workouts to Chest Exercises Return from Pushup Workouts to the Smart Strength Training Homepage

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