PRESS UP
not dress up
1) MORE CORE:
When powering out a push up, you’d ideally ensure that your spine is in a totally neutral and position and that the abs are tightly engaged throughout the movement. You’ll also want to avoid letting your back collapse as this would place undue stress on the lumbar region (which would become hyper extended). This is where you’ll need a strong core, and that musculature around your midsection will help to maintain a correct spine position to carry out the rest of the motion correctly. It’s a high plank position with added chest engagement, so as a basic foundation of the exercise, your abs should absolutely feel the burn in tandem with your arms and chest!
2) SHOULDER THE BURDEN:
Repeated practice of the press up will develop the scapular and rotator-cuff muscles, to help stabilise your shoulders. If you choose to pursue the bench press instead of press ups, that’s ok but you aren’t forced to use those muscles anywhere near as much, thus the compounding benefits of the exercise are lost!
Repeated practice of the press up will develop the scapular and rotator-cuff muscles, to help stabilise your shoulders. If you choose to pursue the bench press instead of press ups, that’s ok but you aren’t forced to use those muscles anywhere near as much, thus the compounding benefits of the exercise are lost!
3) LEG UP:
Maintaining what is effectively an active, very dynamic plank engages all sorts of unexpected muscles. A proper session of press ups, executed on tiptoes and with straight and engaged legs, requires the engagement and constant activation of the quads. It’s not one you feel immediately but after a while, it’s one of the more prominent lactic burns that suddenly takes over!
4) ARM FULL:
With the pivot point being your elbow joint, something’s got to get that body back up to the starting ‘high plank’ position… Cue the upper arm, or more specifically, the triceps brachii and the brachialis, which work antagonistically like a little team to control your trunk’s horizontal pitch. Both anterior and posterior deltoids do their fair share of the stabilisation at either end of the motion, and even the forearm gets in on the action at the nadir of the press up (this is especially the case in the narrow-grip variant). Warning: slender arms are an unavoidable consequence.
With the pivot point being your elbow joint, something’s got to get that body back up to the starting ‘high plank’ position… Cue the upper arm, or more specifically, the triceps brachii and the brachialis, which work antagonistically like a little team to control your trunk’s horizontal pitch. Both anterior and posterior deltoids do their fair share of the stabilisation at either end of the motion, and even the forearm gets in on the action at the nadir of the press up (this is especially the case in the narrow-grip variant). Warning: slender arms are an unavoidable consequence.
5) THE TREASURE ‘CHEST':
This is the main attraction. Many women I know often think it’s not for them, that it’s purely a ‘guy’ exercise: I couldn’t disagree more. We ALL need a strongly conditioned chest to help lift or push anything heavier than a sack of sweet potatoes. It’s also one of those ‘just in case’ muscle groups that you might need to spring into action, with serious power, at a critical moment; just letting the sternal and clavicular (the two constituents of your ‘pecs’) shrivel up is simply no way to go. The humble press up can rehabilitate those neglected little fellows, and develop a strong muscular ‘armor mesh’ across the breadth of the chest, from hitting the outer-pec at the base of the motion, to the inner pec at the top.
This is the main attraction. Many women I know often think it’s not for them, that it’s purely a ‘guy’ exercise: I couldn’t disagree more. We ALL need a strongly conditioned chest to help lift or push anything heavier than a sack of sweet potatoes. It’s also one of those ‘just in case’ muscle groups that you might need to spring into action, with serious power, at a critical moment; just letting the sternal and clavicular (the two constituents of your ‘pecs’) shrivel up is simply no way to go. The humble press up can rehabilitate those neglected little fellows, and develop a strong muscular ‘armor mesh’ across the breadth of the chest, from hitting the outer-pec at the base of the motion, to the inner pec at the top.
HOW TO EXECUTE THE CLASSIC PRESS UP IN 4 STEPS:
1. Lie on the floor face down and place your hands about a shoulder-width apart while pressing your torso up at arm’s length, on tiptoes.
2. Next, lower yourself downward until your chest almost touches the floor; inhale as you descend.
3. Now, press your upper body back up to the starting position while squeezing your chest, and exhale as you do so.
4. After a brief pause at the top-most contracted position, you can begin to lower yourself downward again for as many repetitions as needed until you reach utterly fatigued failure!
1. Lie on the floor face down and place your hands about a shoulder-width apart while pressing your torso up at arm’s length, on tiptoes.
2. Next, lower yourself downward until your chest almost touches the floor; inhale as you descend.
3. Now, press your upper body back up to the starting position while squeezing your chest, and exhale as you do so.
4. After a brief pause at the top-most contracted position, you can begin to lower yourself downward again for as many repetitions as needed until you reach utterly fatigued failure!
The Squat
HOW TO SQUAT?
1. Sit down and back, as though you’re sitting down onto a chair. Ensure to squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Deeper squats are fabulous at really exhausting the lower body, but are not recommended for those with weak knees!
2. Keep the weight on the heels and try not to extend the knees beyond your toes.
3. Keep you abs tight, roll your shoulders back and stand tall, maintaining a straight back.
5. Exhale with exertion.
6. Keep a soft bend in the knees when you push up. This will keep the work in your legs and not your knee joints.
1. Sit down and back, as though you’re sitting down onto a chair. Ensure to squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Deeper squats are fabulous at really exhausting the lower body, but are not recommended for those with weak knees!
2. Keep the weight on the heels and try not to extend the knees beyond your toes.
3. Keep you abs tight, roll your shoulders back and stand tall, maintaining a straight back.
5. Exhale with exertion.
6. Keep a soft bend in the knees when you push up. This will keep the work in your legs and not your knee joints.
DON’T FORGET TO STRETCH!
If some of your muscles are tight, it can indeed limit your technique and range of motion. For example make sure to stretch the Piriformis, hip flexors and, if possible, execute a full body stretch as after all you are working pretty much all the significant muscles in your body!
If some of your muscles are tight, it can indeed limit your technique and range of motion. For example make sure to stretch the Piriformis, hip flexors and, if possible, execute a full body stretch as after all you are working pretty much all the significant muscles in your body!
Walk the Plank!
The modern day human spends an disproportionate amount of time seated; at a desk, in a car, by the computer or watching TV at home. Often, this means slumped shoulders, a curved neck, and generally ‘weak posture’… and then eventually, the scourge of ageing Britain, back pain. Whilst some muscles will naturally grow tighter and others weaker, there are exercises and stretches you can perform to encourage a stronger core. The word ‘core’ mainly describes the central band of the torso, and the purpose of training it, is to encourage better support and protection for the load-bearing joints in and around the back. Almost every move the body makes relies on the core – balance, running, reaching, lifting, kicking. Therefore it’s crucial to build and maintain well-conditioned core strength. This post is about doing exactly that! Read MORE to see 4 flavours of plank…
Find your Zen
This post focuses on my 5 key benefits of meditation. I don’t practise it with the mechanical regularity I’d like, but when the opportunity arises (like on this private little outcrop high atop the Caesar Augustus in Capri), it’s a joyous delight. Some may read this and instantly think ‘oh, that meditation spiritual malarkey, it’s not for me…‘ but you’d be depriving yourself of some exceptional medically proven benefits! Read on for MORE, and to discover my latest fabulous fitness fashion ensemble from the wonderfully-affordable Onzie, straight out of care-free California!
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