THE KEY TO PERFORMING PERFECT PUSH UPS

 fitness...

Almost everybody wants to be fit. Almost everybody wants that dream physique which would make anybody jealous to look at. While I am not saying that people get fit to make other people jealous, but still... it feels good when people look at you and admire your physique. And during this period of pandemic, one of the best and safest ways to stay fit is through home workout.

And one of the best and most common exercises performed during a home workout routine is a push up.

Now, even though push ups are one of the most common exercises performed by people, it still performed in a wrong way by majority of the people. And let me tell you, doing push ups in a wrong way does way more harm than good.

So, if you wanna do push-ups and you wanna do it in the most perfect way possible, then this article is for you. Keeping this in mind...

LETS GET STARTED !

One of the most common mistakes which people do is they go and directly start trying to perform a pushup, which is not correct. Now if you are a beginner and you are attempting a push up for the first time, then there is a 90% chance that you won't be able to do more than 5 push ups. I know, it sounds a little harsh, but it is the truth. It because if you are performing a push up for the first time, then there is a high probability that it is the first time you have taken interest in fitness and push ups is one of the very first exercises which you have ever done. Now, there are people out there who can perform a lot of push ups in their very first try, but that is possible in very few cases. Some possibilities are :-

1) They have done fitness activities like weight training, calisthenics or yoga before.

2)They have had a very healthy diet from the very beginning and have never eaten a lot of fast food.

3) They have had very strong muscles from the beginning due to their genes.

Now, if you do not belong to any of the above mentioned categories and cannot perform more than 3 or 4 push ups, then the first exercise which you should do is a 'plank'.

 Now you may be wondering, ' what is a plank ? '  

well... a basic plank looks like this:-

PLANK

This is what most people consider a standard plank.

Lie facedown with legs extended and elbows bent and directly under shoulders; palms flat on the floor. Place feet hip-width apart, and elbows shoulder-width apart. Engage your abs, then tuck your toes to lift your body (forearms remain on the ground; press the floor away from you with forearms). You should form straight line from shoulders to heels. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds.

Doing this exercise has many benefits such as :-

1. Improves body posture and and body balance
2. strengthens your core (spine, shoulder bones, pelvic and joints)
3. improves body flexibility
4. Reduces belly fat and makes tummy tight
5. reduces headache
6. improves body metabolism...

I think that getting so many benefits from a single exercise  is sufficient enough to indicate its importance in training routines.

At the beginning, it may seem very difficult for you to perform this exercise for even 30 seconds without giving up. But it has been rightly said, " practice makes a man/woman perfect " .

Be determined and do this exercise regularly on a daily basis, and slowly but steadily, you will strengthen your core muscles and master this exercise.

When you have strengthened your core muscles and can hold your body in the 'plank position' for at least 70-80 seconds, then it is time for you to start with your next exercise.

Now that you have developed your core muscles using the 'plank' exercise, it is time for you to improve the muscles on your arm , i.e. , your triceps and biceps.

And, when it comes to developing arm muscles of a beginner, particularly the triceps muscles, one of the best and most common exercise which you can perform is...

INCLINE PUSH UPS 

In case you are wondering about what is an incline pushup, a basic incline push up basically looks like this:

1. Stand in front of your box or bench, then squat or bend down and place both hands on either side of it with your fingers pointing forward. Your hands should be about shoulder-width apart. If you need a wider piece of equipment to safely elevate yourself, don’t be shy about swapping it out.
2. Once your hands are in the right position, step your body back into a plank position, one leg at a time. Make sure your body is in a straight line, your head is aligned with your spine, and that your lower back isn’t sagging before continuing. Looking a few inches ahead of you, rather than down at the box, can help keep your body straight.
3. Next, bend your arms to help you slowly lower your chest toward the box. Straighten your arms to bring yourself back up into a straight line.
4. Repeat 10 times for 3 sets to start. You can increase the repetitions within each set as you get stronger

This exercises helps a lot in developing your arm muscles which are required for doing push-ups, Perfecting this exercise is very crucial for performing a correct push-up.

Keep practicing this exercise at a particular height and when you are absolutely perfect at that height, then move on to a lower height.

Keep practicing this exercise and keep improving yourself.

Finally, a day will come when you will reach the lowest height possible and after that...

You will be able to perform perfect push ups.

CONGRATULATIONS !