Drop And Give Me Twenty!

You may have old visions of a drill sergeant leading a group of new military recruits through push up drills when you hear this phrase. However, this is likely a vision of the past. For some reason, the push up has become a forgotten art form. And as a fitness professional, I don’t understand why!

The push up truly is the ultimate barometer of overall fitness. Unlike
other forms of standardized fitness testing, the push up can show you
your strengths and weaknesses in almost every aspect of fitness. It’s a great indication of what kind of overall physical condition you’re in,
as it tests the entire body. Push ups take strength and core stability
to perform, and endurance to perform with any kind of volume.

The benefits of incorporating push ups into your exercise program are
endless. They build strength in the shoulders, chest, triceps, abdomen,
and yes, even in the legs when performed properly. They are also a
great way to build the ever important core strength that is necessary
to safely execute any kind of weight bearing movement. If you are new to exercising, a push up is a great place to start, as it teaches you to move and control the resistance of your own body weight before you move on to heavier loads.

The push up is one of the more functional movements you can perform, that is, it can be easily translated to every day movements. Therefore,it can be used to safely and effectively train everyone, from the elite athlete to the elderly. For the well-trained athlete, the ability to perform push ups with proper technique is needed before progressing to more complex movements and exercises. For the elderly, the push up can simply be used to train for stability and can be an important indicator of the capacity to withstand the rigors of aging. Specifically, the push up will build the strength and muscle memory to break a fall.

The point is, this movement can be to benefit ANYONE, and we’ve gotten too far away from it!

For those of you who are inspired to re-incorporate push ups back into
your exercise regime, here’s a simple guide for you. The American
College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) standards for the push-up test are as follows:

Men up to the age of 40 should be able to perform about 29
push ups within a minute, resting only in the plank position at the top
of the push up. For men over 40, 25 push ups puts you in the average
range. For women up to 40, 18 modified (bent-knee) push ups is the
golden standard. For women 40 and up, 14 is the magic number.

Though I think we should raise our standards a bit, I still see many
people who cannot properly perform a single push up with good form! So if you’re struggling, don’t despair! Here are a few push up
progressions that will put you on the path to achieving elite volume.

Practice bent knee push ups. This will give you a feel for what the
movement of the push up feels like, but bending your knees inhibits the plank position at the top of the push up, so don’t get too used to this variation.

Move on to incline push ups (illustrated here). Find a surface that is elevated from the floor (like a step or a counter top) so you’re taking on less of your body weight.If you’re working out in a gym, you can use a barbell or a bench. You may even have to start by pushing your weight off the wall.Once you can perform 25 push ups without resting at full range of motion (chest hits the surface, elbows fully extend at the top), you are ready to move on. Slowly bring the surface closer and closer to the floor until you don’t need it anymore.

Focus on your form. Long term development of the push up will never
occur unless you perform this movement at the full range of motion. So,if your chest doesn’t make contact with the surface you’re pushing off,you won’t be fully engaging the muscles you’ll need to develop
strength. It’s always better to perform two perfect push ups than 10
push ups with lousy technique.

Strengthen the muscle groups that assist you in the push up. While
there’s no true replacement for a push up itself, strengthening the
chest, shoulders, triceps and abs using other methods will eventually help you to increase your push up volume. You can do this using a hundred different exercises, but to name a few – dumbbell chest presses, assisted dips and tricep extensions will help!

Integrate this movement back into your exercise program and you WILL see the results you want. Soon, you can laugh when you hear “Drop and Give Me Twenty!”