Push-upTHE PUSH-UP IS THE FIRST TRAINING exercise most of us learn, or at least the first movement pattern that isn’t based on something we do for fun, like running, jumping, climbing, or swimming. You understand from the get-go that it’s a test of your strength and overall fitness. Interestingly, when I coached kids, they couldn’t wait to show me how many push-ups they could do. They didn’t object to getting down on the grass or floor and pushing themselves not just beyond their comfort zone, but beyond their previous performance. To them, it’s the entire point. One time, when I was coaching a team of eleven- and twelve-year-old girls, two of my players got into an impromptu push-up contest. (It wasn’t part of my practice plan for preteen soccer players.) They refused to quit until one had beaten the other. Their form was pretty atrocious, as you can imagine, but once both of them went beyond 30 reps, it didn’t matter.
I think both girls learned an important lesson that day: You never know what you can do until you try it. Now I wish I could find a way to get that lesson across to all the people in health clubs who’ll use a seated chest-press machine workout after workout, year after year, without once getting down on the floor and doing a push-up. If two of my Twilight-reading soccer players could do more than 30, don’t you think you can do at least one?
My disdain for chest-press machines, while pure and radiant, is nothing compared to my absolute hatred of shoulder-press machines. I get why chest-press machines exist. People equate push-ups with punishment and pain, and the best-known free-weight version of the exercise, the bench press, looks like a suicide pact, with that loaded barbell poised over your trachea like a guillotine. (As some of you know, there’s a version of the exercise called the guillotine press, in which you deliberately lower the bar to your throat. Be grateful that Alwyn would rather drop a weight on his own foot than include it in his programs.) But why in the world would someone even bother to invent a shoulder-press machine? What’s so hard about lifting a couple of dumbbells over your shoulders?
Another story: A few months after the push-up contest, my wife asked me to do a presentation on exercise and fitness for our daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Again, the girls were all eleven or twelve, but unlike the athletes on my soccer team, this group had a huge range of shapes, sizes, and fitness levels. I brought along a pair of 10-pound dumbbells to demonstrate some exercises. As soon as I set them down, the girls ran to the weights and tried to lift them overhead, even though I never suggested it, and didn’t really think most of them could do it.
Out of perhaps a dozen girls, how many do you think were able to lift those 10-pound dumbbells overhead?
If you guessed “all of them,” you’re right (and you’ve probably heard me tell this story before). It wasn’t just the big girl playing soccer and basketball on elite travel teams. It wasn’t just my daughter, the “loser” of the push-up contest at soccer practice. (She collapsed after 32 or 33, while the other girl got one more.) It wasn’t just the girls who were more physically mature. All of them did it, and most did it for multiple reps.
As frustrated as I get when I look around the gym and see healthy men and women wasting time on machines that replicate the push-up and shoulder press when they would get far more benefit from doing the actual exercises, I know that machines are here to stay. What I don’t get is why so many people in the weight room, the ones who understand that it’s smarter to work with dumbbells, don’t bother challenging themselves. It’s mind-boggling to see adults press weights that I know from firsthand experience would barely challenge a Girl Scout.
But all of them—the machinists as well as the timid free-weighters—would be better served by focusing on the push-up, an exercise many haven’t even attempted since childhood. You’ll find lots of options on the following pages, starting with the classic version. Alwyn could write an entire book on push-ups and still not exhaust all the variations he knows. The one thing we can’t include: two vampire-loving preteen girls to make you feel foolish for avoiding this exercise. Really, it’s child’s play.
LEVEL 1
Push-up
Push-Up
BEST FOR: everybody should do push-ups in Basic Training I. More experienced lifters can do a horizontal variation in one workout and a vertical push-up in the other. Those with less experience can use basic push-ups in both workouts. The only exception to the push-up rule for Basic Training I is for a male lifter who can do 2 sets of at leasts 15 reps of any push-up variation in this chapter. That includes everything in Levels 1 and 3. Of course, by the time you figure out if you can do all of them, you’ll probably be finished with Basic Training I anyway. (Devious, I know.) For female lifters the same rule applies, although for personal reasons I’d rather you didn’t move on just yet. The gym would be a better place if more women were seen cranking out push-ups, especially the advanced versions.
GET READY
• Get into push-up position: arms straight down from your shoulders and perpendicular to the floor, feet close together, weight resting on your hands and toes, and your body straight from neck to ankles.
MOVE
• Lower your chest until it’s within an inch of the floor or your upper arms are even with your shoulder blades, whichever happens first.
• Push back up to the starting position.
Modify It
Push-Up with Hands Elevated
If you can’t do at least 10 traditional push-ups, use the push-up with hands elevated in Basic Training I. Set your hands on a surface that’s high enough to allow you to hit double-digit repetitions, but not so high that the exercise is easy. For most women and some men, a bench or box that’s 12 to 18 inches off the floor will do the trick. It’s also a good use for the Smith machine, if your gym has one. Set the barbell at the lowest level that allows you to get all the prescribed reps. Your goal is to lower the bar over time, and eventually get down to the floor for your push-ups.
But Don’t…
Do the “girl” push-up, with your knees on the floor. It minimizes the two biggest benefits to the traditional push-up, as opposed to chest presses with a machine or free weights:
1. It allows your shoulder blades to operate without the restriction they’d have if you were lying on your back doing a bench press.
2. Your core muscles come into play to stabilize your spine and pelvis.
When you’re on your knees you’re probably going to shrug your shoulders up, which restricts your shoulder blades. (This will also happen when you do the push-up with hands elevated, but to a lesser extent; that’s why it’s important to use the lowest possible angle.) And your core muscles have hardly any challenge. Even worse, it offers no direct path to performing the traditional exercise. Nobody goes from push-ups on the knees to the classic push-up on the toes, but everybody who works at the push-up with hands elevated should eventually work their way down to the floor.
SUPERCHARGE IT!
If you can do 2 sets of at least 15 traditional push-ups, follow this progression to find the variation that will push you to your limit:
1. Stack your feet, resting one on top of the other; switch feet each set.
2. Elevate your feet on a step or bench.
Push-Up with Feet Elevated
3. Raise one leg; do equal reps with one leg elevated.
Push-Up with One Leg Elevated
4. Elevate one foot on a step or bench, and raise the other next to it but without support; do equal reps with each foot on the step.
5. Put your feet on an unstable object, like a Swiss ball.
6. Elevate your feet with a suspension system.
7. Elevate one foot on a Swiss ball, and hold the other one up alongside it but without support; do equal reps with each foot on the ball.
8. Elevate one foot with a suspension system, and raise the other next to it; do equal reps with each foot suspended (this is a current favorite, and a real ass-kicking core exercise).
9. Put your hands on an unstable surface, like a foam pad or Bosu ball.
10. Put one hand on a medicine ball and the other on the floor (do equal reps with each hand on the ball).
11. Put both hands on a medicine ball (shown below).
12. Put each hand on a medicine ball of the same size.
13. Lower your chest and shoulders toward one hand, then the other; each push-up counts as a repetition.
14. Lift your right knee toward your right elbow, then your left knee toward your left elbow (Spiderman push-up); each push-up counts as a repetition.
Vertical Options
You can try these push-up variations in any program in Basic Training or Hypertrophy when you’re looking for a vertical option.
Jackknife push-up
Jackknife Push-Up
Start in the push-up position, but lift your hips as high as you can, forming a V shape with your torso. Your heels will be off the floor. Lower yourself as far as you can without banging your head on the floor, then push back up.
Jackknife push-up with elevated feet
Same exercise, only with your toes resting on a box or bench that’s 18 to 24 inches high.
Modified handstand push-up
Two choices: With your back to a wall, bend over and set your hands on the floor. Walk your feet up the wall, and scoot your hands in as close to the wall as possible. Do as many push-ups as you can, getting your head as close to the floor as you dare. The other option is to stack boxes as high as you can, resting your toes on the top one.
LEVEL 2
Standing single-arm cable chest press
Band One-Arm Row to Chestpress
BEST FOR: I think this is an amazing exercise for intermediate to advanced lifters to use for high reps in Basic Training II, III, or IV. Less experienced lifters can use it for Basic Training or Hypertrophy. Since you’re using one arm at a time, your core works hard to prevent rotation. And, speaking as someone whose shoulders don’t allow me to do some of the most popular pushing exercises, I love the fact that cable chest presses never hurt. The only drawback is loading: Eventually, stronger lifters won’t be able to stay upright and balanced with weights that are heavy enough to provide a training stimulus.
GET READY
• Attach a stirrup handle to the cable apparatus, and move the pulley down to about chest level. (You can also use a band or tubing.)
• Grab the handle with your right hand and your back to the machine, and step out so there’s tension on the cable when you hold the handle next to your shoulder.
• Stand with your left foot forward and right foot back, shoulders square and facing forward, and your torso braced and leaning forward slightly from the hips.
MOVE
• Push the handle straight out from your shoulder, keeping your shoulders square as you resist rotation.
• Do all your reps with your right arm, then switch arms and legs (right leg forward when you work your left side) and repeat the set.
LEVEL 2 OPTION
Half-kneeling single-arm cable chest press
BEST FOR: I don’t know how big a progression this is from the standing press, if it’s a progression at all. But I think it allows advanced lifters to work with somewhat heavier weights before gravity tells you it’s time to move on.
GET READY
• Attach a stirrup handle to the cable apparatus, and move the pulley down to about hip level. (You can also use a band or tubing.)
• Grab the handle with your right hand and your back to the machine, and step out so there’s tension on the cable when you hold the handle next to your shoulder.
• Kneel with your left foot forward and your right knee on the floor. (You may want to put a pad under your knee.)
• Unlike the standing version, you want to start with both arms extended out in front of you and aligned with each other as well as the cable or band. Your shoulders are still square and facing forward, and your torso is braced.
• Also unlike the standing press, you want to start with your torso upright, and keep it that way throughout the movement.
MOVE
• Bring the handle back to your shoulder, keeping your nonworking arm straight out in front of you.
• Push the handle back to the starting position.
• Do all your reps with your right arm, then switch arms and legs (kneeling on your left knee when you work your left side) and repeat the set.
LEVEL 2.5
Push-up with hands suspended
BEST FOR: a metabolic boost combined with serious core training. The execution is so difficult, I’m not sure if someone strong and stable enough to do the exercise for double-digit reps will build much muscle or strength. But it’s difficult in a good way, meaning it requires more effort than just about any pushing exercise I know (except for the one I describe next). So it’s great for experienced lifters to use for fat loss in Basic Training.
GET READY
• Set up a suspension system so the handles are 12 to 24 inches above the floor. Higher is easier; lower is harder.
• Grab the handles and get into push-up position, with your toes on the floor and your body mostly straight. (Even advanced lifters tend to hike their hips up a bit.)
MOVE
• Lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel to the floor, then push back to the starting position.
• When you can do all the required reps, make it harder by lowering the handles.
Especially Frustrating Alternative
The push-up with your hands on a Swiss ball is one of the hardest variations I’ve ever tried. I never get better at it, and it tends to hurt my shoulders, something that rarely happens with push-ups. But it’s certainly an option if you like a challenge.
LEVEL 3
T push-up
T Push-Up with Weights
BEST FOR: This is another one Alwyn has now used in all five books. It offers a metabolic boost for more advanced readers in Basic Training, and a very good challenge for everyone else in either Basic Training or Hypertrophy. The Supercharged version of the exercise, using dumbbells, means you can raise or lower the intensity for high or low reps.
GET READY
• Get into push-up position.
MOVE
• Lower your chest toward the floor, and as you push back up, twist to your right so your right arm comes off the floor and finishes straight over your left arm. In this position your body will form a T.
• Twist back and immediately begin your next push-up.
• As you push back up, twist to the left, so your left arm ends up over your right.
• Remember that each T push-up counts as a repetition. So if the workout calls for 15 per set, you’ll have to do either 14 or 16 to get the same number to each side. If you stop at an odd number, no problem; just start the next set to the opposite side.
SUPERCHARGE IT!
To do the T push-up with weights, you have two options:
1. Use a single dumbbell, of any type, and hold it in your working hand. Do the push-up the usual way, and lift the weight overhead at the top. Do half your reps, then switch sides and do the rest with the other hand.
2. Use two hexagonal dumbbells, and alternate sides for each repetition.
LEVEL 4
Dumbbell bench press
BEST FOR: pure muscle and strength. I hope most readers will use the push-up variations and cable chest press for Basic Training I through IV, and that less experienced readers will continue using them through most of Hypertrophy. But for experienced lifters, this is the go-to exercise for Hypertrophy, and it’s the exercise Alwyn and I recommend for everyone who moves on to Strength & Power.
GET READY
• Grab a pair of relatively heavy dumbbells and lie on your back on a flat or incline bench. (My ego prefers the flat bench, but my shoulders think my ego is a bad influence, and force me to use the incline.)
• Hold the weights straight up over your shoulders, with your feet planted flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart. If your feet don’t reach the floor when the bench is flat, either incline the bench, or better yet, skip this exercise altogether. The bench press, like the push-up, is a total-body exercise. You need feet on the floor to give you a solid foundation for lifting heavy weights. If you’re going to put your feet on the bench, you’re only slightly better off than you would be on a chest-press machine.
MOVE
• Lower the weights toward the edges of your shoulders. Those with long arms may want to stop when your upper arms are even with your shoulder blades; it’s probably better for your long-term shoulder health.
• Press the weights straight up toward the ceiling.
LEVEL 4.1
Dumbbell single-arm bench press
BEST FOR: one of the Hypertrophy programs, or for any program in Basic Training your second time through. It’s a terrific exercise, and with practice you probably won’t have to use significantly less weight than you lift on the bilateral version for the same number of reps. As with any unilateral movement, you’re doing double the number of reps designated by the template, which makes it a good metabolic stimulus as well as a solid core-training exercise.
GET READY
• Grab a dumbbell and lie on your back on a flat or incline bench. If you just finished a program using a flat bench, I recommend shifting to the incline.
• Hold the weight straight up over your chest, with your feet planted flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart, and your nonworking hand on your stomach.
• Traditionally, I recommend starting with your nondominant side—your left if you’re right-handed. Recently, though, a couple of trainers have suggested starting with the dominant arm. When you start with your weaker arm, your stronger arm never gets fully challenged. But if you start with the stronger arm, and do a challenging set to the point of fatigue, then your weaker side has to work a lot harder to complete the same number of reps. I find it’s much more exhausting to train this way, which means it probably accomplishes more.
MOVE
• Lower the weight toward the edge of your shoulder, and press back to the starting position.
• Do all your reps and repeat with the other arm.
LEVEL 5
Dumbbell shoulder press
BEST FOR: developing pure muscle and strength on a vertical plane. You may think it’s odd to put the “advanced” label on an exercise that, as I wrote in the introduction to this chapter, any twelve-year-old thinks is the first thing you should do with a dumbbell. Alwyn sees a sharp distinction between what you “can” and “should” do. Trainers will typically have beginners do the shoulder press while seated on a bench or, worse, sitting with their backs braced against a vertical support. In Alwyn’s view, anybody who does the exercise should be able to do it standing up. Like the push-up and bench press, it’s a total-body exercise. Novice lifters won’t have the core or shoulder stability and strength to do it with good form.
GET READY
• Grab a pair of dumbbells and stand holding them in front of your shoulders, with your feet shoulder-width apart. You can turn your palms in if that’s easier on your shoulders, or hold them the conventional way, with your palms forward.
MOVE
• Press the weights straight up.
• Lower them to the starting position and repeat.
SUPERCHARGE IT!
The single-arm shoulder press is a good challenge to your core stability, and offers a nice little metabolic stimulus. It should work best for stronger lifters using relatively heavy weights. Even trickier: hold two dumbbells, and alternate arms.
LEVEL 7.5
Barbell bench press
BEST FOR: competitive lifters. As Alwyn told me when we were writing this chapter, “Other than ego, I’m not sure it actually does much for the general-population trainee. You can get more metabolic work with other exercises, and can work your core and other muscles with push-up variations. There’s more range of motion with dumbbell work, so that’s a better hypertrophy choice. All those options are less stressful on the shoulders. The flat barbell bench press pretty much wrecks every shoulder joint eventually.” The key word there is “eventually.” You lessen the risk by using the exercise as part of your training program, rather than the focus of it. Even Alwyn uses it for a few weeks here and there in his own training. I assume that every experienced lifter reading this has done it, many still do, and many who haven’t before will want to by the time they reach Strength & Power. All I ask is that you be careful, give yourself long breaks from the exercise, and back off when your shoulders feel worse from one workout to the next.
GET READY
• Load a barbell and lie on your back on a flat or incline bench with your feet shoulder-width apart and flat on the floor. Grab the bar overhand with your hands about one and a half times shoulder-width apart.
• Lift the bar off the supports, or have a spotter lift it off for you on low-rep sets, and hold it straight over your chest.
• Tighten up everything, from your feet to your hands. You want your feet directly beneath your knees and angled out slightly. Your lower back is arched, your core is tight, and your shoulder blades are pulled together in back. Grab the bar like an iron dishrag you’re trying to wring out.
MOVE
• Lower the bar to your lower chest, keeping your upper arms close to your torso. Don’t let your elbows flare out; you’ll put more strain on your shoulders.
• Push the bar back up to the starting position, keeping your shoulder blades pulled together in back. You should feel your entire body pushing the weight, including your legs, as if you were standing up and pushing a car out of ditch.
Acceptable Variations
You can use a closer grip, with your thumbs perhaps 12 to 15 inches apart, for more triceps work. You can also do a board press, with one or two pieces of 2-by-4 set flat on your sternum. If you use two, you can tape them together. (A thick phone book works just as well.) The idea is to shorten the range of motion, emphasizing lockout strength, which is more dependent on your triceps. It’s probably easier on your shoulders as well.
Other Variations
Powerlifters and other strength athletes use bands and chains as part of their training on the bench press, squat, and deadlift. I assume they help, since the powerlifters I know are extremely analytical; if they didn’t see a direct cause and effect with those training tools, I doubt if they’d use them for long. Alwyn doesn’t use them, even when training powerlifters, so we don’t include them here.
Other Push Exercises
We’ve left out several popular pushing exercises:
Dip
Because your upper arms are behind your torso while pushing your body weight, it’s a brutal exercise for your shoulder joints.
Dumbbell fly
Bodybuilders love this exercise, in which you hold two dumbbells over your chest, lower them out to your sides, and then pull them back. I once found myself in an argument with a bodybuilder who was convinced the exercise does something you can’t get from a mix of bench presses and push-ups. I argued that the action at the shoulder joints isn’t appreciably different. You’re just changing the angle of your elbows so the weights are farther away from your torso at the bottom. The tradeoff is that you have to use lighter weights, and even then you’re putting more strain on your shoulders. At least one study confirms that it activates the same muscles in the same way, and also shows that it activates them for less time than barbell or dumbbell bench presses, making it an inferior exercise.
Floor press
You lie on the floor and do barbell or dumbbell chest presses, with the floor stopping your descent and thus shortening the range of motion. This one is more popular with powerlifters than regular gym rats, and again, I’ll take their word that it helps improve their competitive lifts. If anything, it hurts my shoulders more than traditional bench presses.
Decline bench press
Bodybuilders use this one interchangeably with dips, with the idea that it better activates the lower fibers of the pectoralis major. We know that incline bench presses give more work to the upper part of the pec major (the clavicular portion), while the middle part (sternocostal) gets more action on the flat bench. The open question is whether it’s worth the effort to target those lower fibers, which originate at the top of the external obliques. Bodybuilders are convinced you need specialized exercises to develop the lower pecs, but for the rest of us, it’s hard to justify taking extra time for so little muscle.