Push-ups are one of the most well-known strength exercises. Whether at school or in a sports club, most of us have had to or wanted to do push-ups – and there’s a good reason for that.
Push-ups are a great way to build strength, train your upper body, and improve cardiovascular fitness. Doing ten push-ups every day can have positive effects on your body.
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Push-ups: How to do them correctly
Executing the push-ups accurately is important so that you don’t injure yourself.
- Start in plank position on your hands and tiptoes. The hands should be placed directly under the shoulders. Maintain good body tension by tensing your stomach and trying not to arch your back.
- Slowly lower your body by bending your arms at a 45-degree angle to your torso. Look just in front of your fingertips.
- Go down so low that your chest almost touches the floor.
- Now push your body back up. Make sure your elbows stay close to your body.
- Inhale as you go down and exhale as you push up.
If you find that you are too exhausted to maintain a clean form, it is better to rest or continue your training with an easier variation.
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Push-up variations for beginners
If you can’t do a clean push-up yet, there are three ways to make the exercise easier:
- Push-ups on your knees: In this variant, the execution remains as described above, except that you touch the floor with your knees. Important: The hips still remain straight.
- Push-ups with raised hands: Find a stable object to place your hands on, such as a table or chair. Perform the push-up as described above. Go so deep that your chest almost touches the object.
- Eccentric push-ups: If you want to build up strength for the push-up, you can initially concentrate on the eccentric movement of the exercise. To do this, go down in a normal push-up, but try to make the movement as slow as possible. You then start the next repetition from the top of the plank position.
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Push-up variations for professionals
If you can do ten push-ups a day with good form, you can challenge yourself with these variations:
- Raise feet: Place your toes on a higher object, such as a chair. The higher your feet are placed, the more your shoulders are stressed.
- Diamond push-ups: This push-up variation primarily trains the triceps. Place your hands closer together and turn them outward slightly so that you can make a diamond shape with your index fingers and thumbs. Now perform a push-up in this position.
- One-arm push-ups: This variant is the absolute supreme discipline of push-up exercises. To do this, place one hand behind your back and do the exercise with the other hand. However, before you approach this advanced version, you should already have a very good command of the other variants.
Push-ups: That’s why they’re so good for the body
Push-ups are real all-rounders! We have put together four advantages for you:
1. Strengthens muscles
Push-ups are a great way to strengthen your chest muscles. If you can do ten push-ups a day, you can strengthen your chest muscles. The exercise not only strains the chest, but also arms, shoulders and stomach. The chest will look firmer and firmer, and the upper body will look more defined overall.
2. Better fitness and more mobility
Push-ups are not only one of the best strength exercises for the upper body, but they also train mobility and coordination. The position on the hands is unusual for the sense of balance and the body has to work hard to maintain balance.
To ensure more stability, many small muscles are also tensed. Since you go very low when performing cleanly, the shoulder and chest are stretched, which leads to improved mobility.
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3. Better posture
An upright posture is not only important for the health of the body, but also contributes significantly to appearance and self-confidence.
Anyone who has an office job and sits a lot during the day often finds themselves hunched over. By training your core and expanding your chest during push-ups, you get back into a more upright position.
4. Cardio Booster: Trains endurance
Even though push-ups are primarily a strengthening exercise, doing ten repetitions will definitely get you out of breath. This is because many muscles are being used at the same time.
The heart has to pump faster to deliver enough oxygen from the blood to the muscles. This makes push-ups a good cardio exercise.
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