Utility Push

Utility Push

Fort Collins Personal Trainers Advocate Push Ups for Strength Building

Once upon a time, we all took a class called Physical Education.  And in the midst of all that dodge ball, Red Rover, and flag football was a little thing called the Presidential Fitness test. Remember the sit-ups? The arm-hang? Maybe the dreaded 1-mile-run?  Though memories of these fitness benchmarks are hazy at best; no one, can forget the push-ups. They couldn't be done willy-nilly. Without proper form, they didn't count and you could kiss that shiny Presidential Fitness medal goodbye.  To execute the push-up properly, you and your friends had to come far enough down so that everyone's elbows bent at a 90-degree angle. This of course, required practice. So chances are pretty good that you (and your 16-year-old body) did push-ups in P.E. warm-up—everyday. The good news is that almost everybody got a little bit better at push-ups through the school year.

The sad reality is this—few if any of us wanted to continue our daily push-up regimen after high school. In fact, once we graduated from Coach Wilson's 3rd period gym class, we swore never to go facedown on a mat ever again. I suggest that we rethink our rejection of the pushup. It's time to revisit the wisdom of this fantastic strength builder.

Push-ups are simple to teach and simple to execute. Not strong enough? Do push-ups from your knees as your strength builds. Are you so strong that push-ups seem easy and boring? Try Spiderman push-ups, walking push-ups, wide push-ups, triangle push-ups—just to name a few of the countless ways you can strengthen your whole body with this simple exercise. Push-ups require no special training, certification or equipment to perform effectively. In short, they are amazing muscle builders for everyone.

If you ask coaches to list their top five favorite upper body strength builders—push-ups would always make the cut. Why? Because so many muscles are required to do a push-up correctly. It is truly a total body move. You have to have core strength to hold your back level and avoid a sagging belly, you must be balanced as you lower your body and you must be able to push back to the level position. You need arm and shoulder strength to perform multiple reps. Push-ups target the chest, the anterior deltoids, the triceps, the abdominals, the back and even the quads.

Push-ups are also a functional exercise—fitness moves or routines that somehow mimic real-life movements. In every day life, parents have to crawl under beds to retrieve lost Barbie Dolls and or they have to lie flat in the driveway as they check engine leaks. People who lay down flat on their stomachs have to do a push-up to get back up. Hence, functionality.

Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, "What about the bench press? It requires arm and chest strength. What's wrong with bench press as an upper-body strength builder?" Remember, push-ups utilize (and therefore strengthen) our core muscles—bench presses do not affect our core muscles. Many bodybuilders have a hard time doing multiple repetitions of push-ups because their stabilizing core muscles simply aren't highly trained.

Give push-ups another try in your fitness routines. You will be amazed with the progress you will make in your strength training program.

About the Author

Dennis Blair is a Fort Collins Personal Trainer and is the owner of Core Fitness and Nutrition, a personal  fitness training company which helps people to look and feel great. You can learn how to do a certain type of push up by going here: Personal Training in Fort Collins.

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