Push Ups Catch all thread

Generic 'catch all' thread title so maybe anything on pushups can be addressed here, I made a search and found little or nothing <--- edit addon: which I don't understand, pushups were discussed in the kettlebell thread, oh well.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the 'finger tip pushups' Jack Lalanne does in the http://www.jacklalanne.com/blog/ March 20th 2009 entry in their blog, made an effort to imitate it,

Of course, I understand Jack had some heart surgery on a valve a year or so ago. I also know he says he doesn't eat anything that tastes good but let's not get carried away. I've researched juicers some and his doesn't seem to be the best, seems in fact according to the wikipedia there was even a slight safety problem with a product line years ago.

Anyway, Jack goes back to the original muscle beach. Those finger tip pushups, that's like something I can almost envision that back in the day, these guys might try some fancy move to wow everyone.

I've always liked him for a while this station was playing the old shows real early in the morning for the exercise programs.

Pete: again, you give a lot of good advice that really many times one would need to often find out from a specialist. Actually, I think yes, push ups was mentioned in a training log, I think someone said they did 34 as part of a routine. I think it's a great development exercise, 30 is probably a good number for me.

If you lived in the UK I'd suggest you enter our push-up contest we hold every year at the Animal Aid Christmas Without Cruelty fayre in London. Actually this year. We've even made the effort & got a major new sponsor onboard Fitness superstore who are giving serious vouchers for any exercise stuff you want other prizes (as well as the usual prizes from the stallholders we normally do).
Should make it a little bit more competitive I reckon.

Going back to push-ups I would also consider variations once you've got the basic push-up. Plyo push-ups add some power to the move, wrap a resistance band round your back (held in each hand) & you've got a resisted push-up, 1 arm push up keeping the body so the chest is parallel with the ground (not twisted) is an ace core strengthener as well as challenging for most people. If you did finger tips (some people have done thumbs alone as well) then that would probably be the limiting factor, so I'd do those then finish with a set of push-ups that challenge the rest of your body a little more.
I actually did (as I was challenged to) 44 push-ups on my 44th birthday this year, that was quite hard as I hadn't really done much over 5 reps in a long time at any exercise!

Ok, I may have been too strict on form in my initial try, I made another effort not sure if it's the exact form as Jack does but did manage to get a some done loosely based on the video.

Next, a one armed pull up using only one index finger... .. only kidding.

I tried a set of perfect pushups at the gym once,



they might have a place with some people, to me they felt a bit unsure around the wrists, I'm reading reviews at amazon and people who have had shoulder problems wrote about that.

If anyone ever tries those, I'd just advise one to be extra careful.

Damn, I read a study about these not so long ago - for the life of me I can't remember where?
I remember because the answer it got was counter-intuitive. They measured the muscle response by doing a push-up the normal way & with the perfect push-up. The result was no extra muscle activation using the perfect push-up handles!
To be honest I'd have expected more. As I remember there were 'rules' like both were done through he same range of motion etc. I think if you measure a floor push-up compared to a perfect push you might see more intensity through a greater range of motion with the perfect push-up. I do think everyone of normal health should be able to do a push-up (on the floor), I also think anyone with shoulder issues the perfect push-up might not be the ideal choice - I wouldn't use one I've had rotational issues in the past so I'd steer clear on anything that may put an unnecessary rotational stress on my shoulder.
Also if you look at the advert it equates the perfect push- up to a punch & a biceps curl, but that doesn't really pan out, a punch is an unweighted twist & a biceps curl has very different dynamics & works the arm in a totally different fashion.



I'd say that if you have a healthy shoulder & fancy a set, then go for it. If you have shoulder issues I'd avoid them. You should obviously be ok at doing push-ups BEFORE getting one in my view.

Pete wrote:

...I actually did (as I was challenged to) 44 push-ups on my 44th birthday this year, that was quite hard as I hadn't really done much over 5 reps in a long time at any exercise...

HAH...!
I got you beat...!
On another forum (having more to do with wooden boats than fitness) I challenged those slack-bellied boat-builders to a contest--doing a push-up for every candle on their birthday cake. Since I have more candles than they did push-ups, and since sloppy push-up form was not an issue, I won.
(Well... okay, there is one boat-builder who can out-pull-up me...)

So how about this...?
A year from now let's stage a push-up contest-- a push-up (of relatively good form) for every candle on our respective birthday cakes.
Okay?

(And if I am found dead on the gym floor I will be declared the Honorary Runner-Up.)

At least you said push-up. I could do that I reckon, if you'd said pull-up I'm not so sure I'd be able to get there (although you never know?).
OK I'll do that. I did it with virtually no practice at the beginning of the year, with some practice I reckon I could do one more

As a side note I've also got a Valentines day challenge running with Coach Gary. Our goals are holding a 32Kg kettlebell (you could use a DB), single leg pistol, straight into a clean & strict press, then over to the pull-up bar & two hand chin with the bell attached to a dip belt - repeat with other arm /leg (obviously chin is done the same both times), that is to be done on or very near to valentines day 2011.

Pete wrote:

At least you said push-up. I could do that I reckon, if you'd said pull-up I'm not so sure I'd be able to get there (although you never know?).
OK I'll do that. I did it with virtually no practice at the beginning of the year, with some practice I reckon I could do one more

As a side note I've also got a Valentines day challenge running with Coach Gary. Our goals are holding a 32Kg kettlebell (you could use a DB), single leg pistol, straight into a clean & strict press, then over to the pull-up bar & two hand chin with the bell attached to a dip belt - repeat with other arm /leg (obviously chin is done the same both times), that is to be done on or very near to valentines day 2011.

With those goals, I might be wishing the flu season is still going strong.

Plus as Coach Gary can out squat me by a mile I need some pay back hee hee

Other stuff aside from handles and plyometrics is sets. Press up stuff I've tried is:
10 min max reps test. Do as many as you can.
30 min max reps.
Pyramid. Do 1, rest, 2, rest,3.4.5.6....then when you hit a max, come back down to 1. rest for 20 secs between on the way up, 30 secs on the way down.
Really slow press ups, like 10 secs/each.
Feet on the stairs, then progress to handstand.
One hand on the medicine ball. Swap the ball to the other hand between each press.
Move the hands around so you're doing them in odd positions.
If you have a young child handy, get them to climb on your back and do them. My kids getting big, and I'm getting older....

I'm not the greatest high rep person in the world I'm more comfortable going heavier (for me) & doing lower reps. years ago when I was trapped in a small, one room place with no cash I got fairly competent doing push-ups, these days getting my birthday in reps on a good day is about my limit.
I've seen metabolic circuits that people do on their birthday, where they do something like:
push-ups,
inverted row,
kettlebell/dumbbell swing/clean & press/snatch (or similar movement),
medball slam/chest press or similar each done for your age with no rest
(you could swap any of the above with say a sandbag move, barbell complex or similar)

Do say 3 cycles if you feel like torturing yourself (no rest just cycle round), for each the rep range is obviously your age.

If I remember I'll do it for my birthday next year (which should be 'interesting' as I really am rubbish at reps & I'm becoming old enough that it will hurt!!!).