The benefits of push-ups from the floor have been heard even by people who are far from sports. This simple but effective exercise has a great reputation. It is no coincidence that it occurs at school physical education classes, it is advised by fitness trainers, it must be included in the special forces training program. Push-ups help quickly and without cost to put the body in order and keep it in good shape.
However, not everyone knows how to do push-ups. Someone has a deep dislike for the exercise, received back in school, when forced to practice from under the stick. This is a psychological weakness. Someone just does not have enough strength. Unaccustomed to the load, the muscles refuse to lift the body. This is a physical weakness.
Both weaknesses can and must be defeated. How to learn to push up from the floor from scratch? First, to motivate yourself effectively. Secondly, to understand how exercise affects the body, which muscles work. Thirdly, to master the correct push-up technique. Fourth, make a schedule of push-ups from the floor and strictly observe it.
Main motivation
The right motivation can work miracles even with the most lazy, waving people. As soon as a person really lights up for some purpose, he is ready to work for it for days on end. Therefore, before you learn to push up from the floor from scratch, you need to understand why this is done. Blurry tasks, for example, “I want to do push-ups a hundred times,” are too abstract and often pass in front of laziness, everyday worries, a million excuses.
Strong motivation looks different. Push-ups are a free and uncomplicated way to make the body strong, beautiful, hardy, healthy and keep it in good shape, spending very little time and effort on it. Push-ups give men a beautiful figure, embossed muscles and broad shoulders, women have a direct posture, high chest and tightened arms, children give the general development of musculature and endurance.
Systematic push-ups relieve chronic lethargy, a feeling of constant fatigue. They help to feel life in the body, push back old age. Push-ups are a beneficial contribution to beauty and health, and not a duty. Focused on long-term benefits, motivation allows you to defeat laziness or fear of failure, helps to follow the schedule of push-ups from the floor for weeks, without missing or giving up training at first, when it is especially difficult for a beginner.
Advantages of push-ups (than useful)
In addition to the obvious health benefits, push-ups have a number of advantages that have made them one of the most popular and sought after exercises:
- Simplicity. With due desire and care, the beginner masters the push-up technique in a couple of workouts.
- Profitability. No need to spend money on visiting the training room or the services of a fitness instructor. It is enough to give the exercises 20-30 minutes three times a week, following the pre-selected pattern of push-ups from the floor for beginners.
- Availability. Exercise does not require inventory. You can do push-ups at home, in the fitness room, in the office, on the beach or in the yard.
- Universality. Exercise is suitable for people of different sex, age and with different physical fitness.
- High energy costs. Push-ups help to lose weight, because they improve metabolism and require impressive energy costs. It is difficult to say exactly how many calories are consumed when pushing up from the floor. It depends on the weight of the person, on the type of exercise, the intensity of its implementation. It is averaged that one thousand calories or one kilocalorie is spent for one correctly performed push-up.
- Variability. Push-ups allow you to solve a variety of problems: build muscle, make them more prominent, lose weight, increase stamina and physical strength.
Limitations
However, any training program for push-ups from the floor should take into account not only the physical fitness of a person, but also his state of health. There are diseases and injuries in which push-ups are unacceptable and dangerous. This is, first of all:
- Spinal injuries.
- Problems with joints and ligaments of the hands (arthritis, arthrosis, etc.).
- High pressure.
- Severe obesity. Being overweight increases the likelihood of joint injuries.
Record holders
Push-up records are another powerful motivation tool. Of course, it should be borne in mind that unique athletes set records. But their achievements demonstrate the capabilities of the human body and make 50-100 push-ups in one approach a task quite affordable and not so terrible as it seems to beginners. It is nice that among the record holders there are many Russians. The following records for push-ups from the floor were recorded:
- 10 507 - the maximum number of push-ups without stopping, belongs to the Japanese Minor Yoshida.
- 9,263 - a record of push-ups without stopping among children, established in 2004 by 9-year-old Muscovite Pavel Huseynov.
- 46 001 — the largest daily amount of push-ups committed by the American Charles Servinzio, for this it took him 21 hours.
- 1,500,230 - a record of total push-ups for the year, set by the American Paddy Doyle.
- 67 push-ups on the fingers in 30 seconds, this record was set by Russian Zhabrail Azizayev.
- 20 push-ups on one finger, the record belongs to the young 12-year-old Russian woman Julia Alekhina.
Push-ups: which muscles work
Push-ups are famous for their versatility. The load with different intensities falls on the whole body, starting from the toes and ending with the muscles of the neck and face. However, the main work is performed by triceps, press, front dentate, shoulder girdle and pectoral muscles. It is these groups that are best pumped with the right exercise technique.
The load distribution between them depends on the setting of the arms and legs. The initial position determines when pushing up from the floor which muscles work more and which less:
- With an average arrangement of hands, when the palms are located slightly wider than the shoulders, the load is distributed approximately equally between the muscles. This starting position is considered classic. It is from him that it is better to begin to learn the correct technique, and then already experiment with different grips.
- Wide-grip push-ups shift the emphasis on the pectoral muscles.
- If the legs are placed on a stand, then the upper part of the pectoral muscles is worked out more.
- If you put your hands on a raised platform, then the load is transferred to the lower chest.
- When pushing up from the floor with a narrow grip, triceps do the main work.
The importance of execution technique
An impeccable technique is the cornerstone of exercise and a must for success. A beginner should be aware and accept for an axiom the idea that the correct implementation of push-ups is more important than their number. This axiom holds for most physical exercises and sports. Without the correct technique of throwing in hockey or basketball, strikes in boxing or tennis, great achievements are impossible.
Technical flaws significantly reduce the effect of push-ups. Improper breathing, mistakes in the position of the body or hands can become a habit, which then will have to be painfully eliminated. It is most reasonable to initially give the technique the closest attention and control each phase of the exercise until its implementation becomes automatic.
Classic performance
- Toe socks rest on the floor. Feet and feet together.
- Palms on the floor under the shoulders or slightly wider than the shoulders. The fingers are directed forward, the palm rests on the floor with the entire plane.
- Hands are straightened.
- The head is raised, the gaze is directed forward, it is easier to breathe.
- Legs and body are on the same line. The knees are straight, the pelvis does not sag and does not rise, the muscles of the press and back are tense.
- From the starting position on inhalation, lower the body to the floor, bending the arms until they form a right angle at the elbows.
- At the bottom point, you can momentarily fix the body, and then exhale to lift the body.
Some fitness trainers advise pushing up with a deeper amplitude, touching the chest with the floor. However, this option is more suitable for experienced athletes who want to exercise more pectoral muscles. For a beginner, it is too complicated.
Also, beginners should not be guided by the high rhythm, which is shown by the push-up wizard, capable of doing up to a hundred body lifts per minute. It is more important for a person who learns to do push-ups to master the technique of exercise confidently, strengthen muscles, increase endurance, and only then think about speeds and records.
Breathing when push-ups from the floor is the same as with any strength exercise. Exhalation is done at the time of maximum load, that is, during the lifting of the housing. Air is inhaled when the body sinks. At first, you will have to constantly monitor each inhalation and exhalation, but rather quickly the body turns proper breathing into a natural habit.
Technical errors
Technical errors are an integral and useful part of any training. Therefore, do not be very upset about them and scold yourself. They must be realized, accepted and immediately tried to correct. If there is no trainer or experienced assistant nearby, then at first you can shoot yourself on video, so it is best to see and correct the oversights when doing push-ups. Most often, newcomers are haunted by the following errors:
- The pelvis sags or is raised too high. Sometimes a person unconsciously takes this position, usually because of the weak muscles of the press. It is more convenient and easier to do push-ups, because part of the load is transferred to strong legs.
- Arms too wide apart. Again, this is due to the desire to simplify your task. The wider the position of the hands, the smaller the amplitude of the exercise, but at the same time the effectiveness of push-ups is significantly reduced. This is a common self-deception that must be eradicated, remembering that in training their quality is primary, not the quantity.
- Insufficient amplitude. In an effort to fulfill the schedule of push-ups from the floor, sometimes beginners go to the trick, saving power and lowering the body is not deep enough. This not only significantly reduces the productivity of training, but also instills the wrong push-up technique. It is wiser to admit that at the moment the program is too complicated, and make adjustments. The message is simple: it is better to do five push-ups qualitatively than twenty somehow.
- Jerks. Exercise should be performed smoothly, without jerking and twitching, which appear from a lack of strength.
- Extended elbows. Sometimes, in an effort to compensate for the lacking strength of the hands, the push-up turns the elbows almost perpendicular to the body, although they should make an angle of about 45 ° with the body.
- Head down to the floor. This situation makes breathing difficult and removes part of the payload from the shoulder girdle. If at first it is difficult to keep your head up, you can imagine a point on the floor about a meter in front of your head and look at it inextricably.
Lightweight push ups
Often, beginners do not have enough strength to do even a couple of push-ups. This usually applies to children or girls whose muscles are completely unprepared for stress. In such a situation, one cannot talk about mastering the technique or completing a full-fledged training program for push-ups from the floor. First you need to strengthen the body with the help of lightweight exercise options, gradually complicating it as the muscles grow stronger. At the same time, technique and proper breathing are mastered:
- From the wall. The easiest option. Get up about a meter from the wall in non-slip shoes, put your palms on the wall at shoulder height and slightly wider than the shoulders. Push up until the chin touches the wall, controlling breathing. Do several approaches, gradually increasing the number of push-ups up to 20 times. Then you can complicate the exercise.
- From the windowsill, chair, bench. Slowly lowering the height of the palm rest, you need to get to the supine position. The technique of exercise is the same: hands on a support, on inspiration the body drops, on exhalation it rises. It is important to monitor not only breathing, but also the position of the body. It must be direct and intense.
- On the knees. Get on your knees, laying something soft under them, put your hands in the same way as in the classic push-up position. Perform exercise while controlling breathing and technique. It is better to cross the legs and hold the canopy, if it is difficult, then they can be laid on the floor.
- Strap. Take the initial position for push-ups and stay in it for as long as possible. Make several sets with one to two minutes of rest between them. This wonderful static exercise quickly strengthens the muscles of the arms, back, and abdomen.
The main criterion for the transition to a more complex version of the exercises is an increase in push-ups from the floor. At the beginning of this path, even push-ups from the wall quickly tire and cause muscle pain. With proper perseverance, after a few weeks yesterday, the newcomer will confidently do a couple of dozen technical pushups on his knees and stand in the bar for up to two minutes. This means that his body is strong enough so that he can go to full push-ups from the floor.
Training Program: General Principles
Principle No. 1. The program should correspond to the capabilities of the person occupying it. Too light loading is like stomping in place, it will not develop muscles and will not increase the number of push-ups. Too much exercise will turn workouts into excessive torment, it can lead to injuries.
To avoid this, you need to do test push-ups, which will show the level of preparedness and ability of the person. And then, checking the results with a special table of push-ups from the floor, select the optimal program.
Principle number 2. High motivation. The most successful training schedule is useless if the person involved has a desire to work. Learning to push up from scratch is hard. At first the muscles hurt, the results are not impressive, and they can attend quite logical thoughts to follow the path of least suffering and abandon training or postpone it until better times.
In such moments of cowardice, motivation comes to the rescue. It is enough to recall how push-ups are useful, what benefits training will bring, to imagine your own toned, strong body, a beautiful figure and direct posture, so that, having forgotten about excuses, you can start working again. Ideally, competent motivation makes push-ups an almost physical need and a useful habit, similar to daily brushing.
Principle No. 3. Discipline. It is important to steadily follow the accepted schedule of push-ups from the floor. Excessive zeal and laziness are equally harmful. The program is designed for a rather long period during which the student may have an opinion that the training is too simple, and therefore he seeks to increase the load ahead of the schedule. There is unnecessary excitement and the pursuit of records, often the quality of push-ups suffers from this, their productivity decreases. The other extreme is missed or rescheduled training days. They dampen and often put an end to the whole program.
Principle number 4. Stretching. Often stretching is taken lightly, considering it an optional step. However, this misconception is usually based on ignorance of the benefits that simple stretching exercises bring. Stretching reduces the likelihood of injuries, increases the elasticity of the ligaments, provides blood flow to the trained muscles, sets up a working mood. Moreover, it takes very little time.
Principle No. 5. Adequate rest. Many beginners have an amazing zeal for training, especially at those moments when the first positive results appear. I want to quickly develop success, a person is ready to do push-ups from the floor every day without rest. But this approach is fundamentally wrong.
The body urgently needs rest in order to replenish strength and restore muscle fibers damaged during training. It is during rest that muscles grow. In addition, a person who is learning to do push-ups from scratch is waiting for a mandatory delayed pain in the strained muscles, the so-called krepatura. It can be relieved by shower, massage, compresses, going to the sauna, but best of all, the pain syndrome from krepatura is removed by a good rest.
Training program: how to learn to do push-ups from scratch
This program will be useful for beginners with different physical training. According to it, both children and girls and men will learn to push up from scratch. Depending on the maximum number of push-ups that a person is capable of before starting training, he is offered one of three options for the program. It is designed for six weeks of systematic work and is presented in the form of an easily readable and intuitive table of push-ups from the floor:
The essence of the push-up schedule is simple. Every week, you need to do just three short workouts. Between them is a day of rest. For example, for push-ups, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are allocated. That is, between training weeks there will always be two days to rest.
Each workout consists of five approaches. The first four approaches with a fixed number of push-ups. In the fifth, you need to make the maximum amount, but not less than the specified. Between sets of 1-2 minutes of rest, is no longer recommended. Therefore, as it is not difficult to calculate, one training takes about 15-20 minutes, given the time for warm-up, push-ups and rest.