Push Ups Improvement Program
How to Do More Push Ups

To increase your ability to do push ups and to increase your strength, you will need to vary your workouts.   With any exercise, whether you're using your own body weight, free weights or machines, if the resistance doesn't increase, your muscles won't be overloaded and the stimulus these fibers need to grow in size will be missing. Think about it: if you work up to three or four sets of 25 push-ups, how hard can each repetition be? You'd build local muscular endurance, but you wouldn't be any stronger. Say a person doing bicep curls can do three sets of 20 reps with 15 pounds: wouldn't you think they could probably do one set of 10 reps with 20 pounds? That's what they would need to do to make their biceps grow stronger and bigger. However, there are a few ways you can increase the resistance of your push-ups.

Increase Resistance
One way to increase the resistance is to elevate your feet while doing push-ups. Start with your feet on a step at the bottom of a stair or a low step stool. Raising your feet higher will make you work against gravity, thereby increasing the resistance. Work up to the point where you can do your push-ups with your feet on a chair. Note: The higher your feet, the more you'll work your shoulders, so mix in some flat push-ups to make sure your chest gets a workout, too.

Push-ups must be practiced at least three to five times per week to ensure progress. If they are practiced too often, the muscles may not have enough time to recuperate and become stronger. Below are some variations that will help you improve your strength and muscular endurance.  When practicing push ups, perform your exercises just as if you were working out with free weights - perform your pushups in sets and remember that repetition and increase in resistance and/or frequency are the best ways to challenge yourself.  Doing one big set of 80 push ups is not as effective as 4x sets of twenty pushups with 30 seconds rest between each set... then increase to 4x sets of twenty five... then decrease the rest period. 

Push Up Improvement Video

Push Up Tips
Tips: Kneel down on the floor and place your hands flat on the floor and slightly wider than shoulder width apart. With your shoulders directly over your hands, straighten your arms. Move your feet back, placing your toes on the floor, so that your knees are off the floor and your legs are straight. At this point, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Your body should remain straight throughout this exercise. Keep your head and neck in line with your body so that your are looking down toward the floor. This is the starting position. In a controlled fashion, lower your body down toward the floor, bending your elbows, until your body is nearly touching the floor. Now, push your body up away from the floor, straightening your arms, until you have returned to the starting position. If you need to reduce the intensity of this exercise you can perform the pushup from your knees.

Push Up Training
Training only on push-ups and/or bench presses can lead to a strength imbalance. Pull-ups or some type of rowing work should be done with resistance or training partner.

When training, pay attention to proper form. Keep your body straight and rigid. Lower yourself or the weight in a controlled manner so that you can gain a training effect. During the test itself, however, to conserve energy and improve your performance, you should work at a much more rapid pace. When being tested, try to do as many repetitions as possible during the first 45 to 60 seconds.

Place your hands at shoulder width with your fingers pointing forward and slightly outward. Keep your heels and toes together.  Do not forget to breathe during both training and testing.  Change position of hands to a narrower or wider position after you are tired, then try to do some more push-ups.

For normal push-ups, the start position begins with the hands shoulder width apart, elbows fully extended, BODY straight and the feet together or up to 12 inches apart.  To complete a repetition, the trainee lowers his/her BODY , maintaining a straight back, until the upper arm is parallel with the ground, then returns to the start position. Once the two-minute push-up period has started, trainees may not lift their arms or legs off the ground. They may rest in the "start" position. They may also bend at the waist and the knees to relax the back, always maintaining 4-point contact with the ground. Before resuming push-ups, they must return to the start position.

Modified Push Ups Training

The Perfect Push Up
The Perfect Pushup puts a new spin on one of the oldest exercises, the pushup. Invented by someone who knows a lot about pushups, former U.S. Navy SEAL, Alden Mills, the Perfect Pushup's rotating handles allow your arms to rotate naturally when you do pushups the same way they do when you throw a punch or press up a dumb bell. This unique feature accelerates results by engaging more muscles in the arms, chest, shoulders, and back. It also helps reduce strain on wrists and elbows, and helps to stabilize and strengthen the shoulder joint by engaging the scapular and rotator cuff muscles. You will notice the comfort and effectiveness of the Perfect Pushup on the very first try! Includes free instructional DVD and full color poster that show perfect form along with a customizable 21 day workout planner based in SEAL 2 minute drills that works for any fitness level - from beginner through Olympic athlete.

Just as you will find that you won't be able to use quite as much poundage doing a twisting DB bench press rather than a non-twisting linear DB press, so with these twisting pushup bars you will find yourself being able to do fewer repetitions than with normal fixed push-up bars. That is really the main advantage of these "Perfect Pushup" devices: you don't need to crank out as many reps to get to the same level of exhaustion. I normally can do around 30-40 reps per set with normal pushup bars, 50 reps per set with no bars just the ground, and only about 20-25 reps per set with these "perfect pushup" bars. This means you get a faster, more efficient workout. And if you are prone to rotator cuff issues, also a safer workout as long as you don't space these bars too far apart. They work best at shoulder width and especially, closer in---which makes perfect sense, since if you were doing a twisting DB bench press you would hold the DBs much closer together than if you were doing a barbell bench press. 

Find out more about the Perfect Push Up.

Other Push-Up Variations

1. Standard: Lie facedown on the ground. Put your legs together. Place your hands on the ground, palms down, fingers pointed forward. Balance your weight on your palms and your toes. Your hands should be shoulder width apart. Keeping your body straight, lower your body by bending your elbows. Go down until your chest almost touches the ground. Return to starting position.
2. Elevated Push Ups: Same as the standard push-up, except you place your feet on a chair or Swiss ball or elevated surface. This allows you to hit your upper pecs more.
3. Wide Push Ups: Same as the standard push-up, except hands are placed wider than shoulder width. This helps bring out your outer pectorals.
4. Diamond Push Ups: Same as the standard push-up, except hands are positioned under the middle of your chest. Put your hands together so there looks like there is a diamond in between them (Index fingers touch each other and thumbs touch each other). This helps develop your inner pecs and your triceps.
5. Basketball Push Ups: Same as the standard push-up, except you balance one hand on a basketball, medicine ball, or Swiss ball. This works stabilizer muscles.
6. Three-Point Push Up: Same as the standard push-up, except you put one foot on top of the other.  So your points of contact are: 1.) left hand, 2.) right hand, and 3.) one foot while the other foot rests on its heel.
7. Deep Push Ups: Same as the standard push-up, except you need three chairs. Place the chairs so your feet are resting on one and your hands are on the others. Now you can go down farther than you could when doing push ups on the floor.
8. Plyometric Push Ups: Stretch-Shortening Push-Ups - Drop yourself off a raised platform in a push-up position ... to a pushup with a narrow hand position.  You can also do explosive pushups by pushing yourself off the ground, landing, then repeating -- or you can push up then clap your hands together as your body reaches its peak.  Or have your partner push down on your back to increase resistance as you do your push up.

Try adding a couple of these push up sets between the sets of your chest workout.
 

Special Ops Workout
Mike Mejia and Stew Smith put together a comprehensive book detailing what it takes to be apart of the Special Forces community. Together, their knowledge, know-how, and grit lay the foundation for what it takes, physically and mentally, to screen for the Navy Seals, Army Special Forces and Air Force Special Forces. The exercises and workouts contained within give the reader a glimpse of what tools and abilities are needed to succeed and become a part of our Special Forces.  I for one have used this book and another of Stew Smiths book while serving in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. All the workouts allow me to stay in shape, keep the edge and ward off any boredom that creeps up in between missions and operations.  This book is a must have, read, and heed for any individual wishing to become a part of America's Special Forces.

Body for Life
"Body For Life" is the most approachable, motivational, and effective fitness program I have encountered. Several of my male friends were getting in extremely buff while following this program, and their wives were getting into great shape, so I had to toss my skepticism aside and give it a try. Sure enough, even after 6 weeks, people were noticing that I looked "physically fit."  The book explains the workout process and the eating process in a clear, informative, and motivating manner, not only explaining how to work out and eat correctly, but WHY it must be done correctly. The book also contains many photographs demonstrating proper workout techniques, as well as lists of "proper" foods, and even some recipes!

The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook
This book pretty much tells you everything you need to know to prepare for Basic Training. There are a couple other books out there but they don't offer a fitness program like this one. The fitness program really whips you into shape too. Also, the book has a helpful packing list which includes EVERYTHING you need to bring to basic training, down to the last pair of socks. I highly recommend this book for anyone entering any branch of the military.

Military Discounts