Push ups

[bruceflea]

Good for your girlfriend bruceflea!! x

I am more than capable of doing normal press ups but not in excess. My post was more a reaction to people competing about doing 150-200 a day. In that respect if that was what was gonna happen each lesson I feel lucky that as a woman I have an alternative.

The 150-200 a day is probably more of a self improvement/maintenance thing. I don't know of any classes where you are doing that many of a single exercise.

In response to the OP, yes, it is important to keep your head and back straight and in line. The more you contort your neck, the greater the chance of strain or injury, and the less you work the muscles you intend to.

Just an FYI for everyone, pushups work the triceps just as much if not more than they work the chest.

Aodhan

Agreed but i dont agree with the fact p.ups work the triceps more....its just not that black and white.

The general rule is...

wide-chest affected more

normal, i.e...shoulder width apart-chest AND triceps, the overall thing.

close spacing,or diamond hand-triceps more.

By the way, yes it is a maintence thing but martial arts and training, doesnt just start and end in the gym or class. Anything you can add in your own time only gives you more of an edge, in my own humble opinion.

[KarateK]

Please i meant no offence... i only mentioned the 150 as a great target to reach, for me at least.

Sorry I didnt think you did mean offence!! My tone of text was obviously a bit dodgy!!

[bruceflea]

Please i meant no offence... i only mentioned the 150 as a great target to reach, for me at least.

Sorry I didnt think you did mean offence!! My tone of text was obviously a bit dodgy!!

No worries! glad that was cleared up.

[Maddwraph]

does it also matter how fast you do them?

[bruceflea]

does it also matter how fast you do them?

Id say medium pace..if you do em too fast you lose the tension the exercise places on your muscles...and of course you lose the effect of the exercise.

[freebird534]

youll be okay if you do them everyday

[Aodhan]

does it also matter how fast you do them?

Id say medium pace..if you do em too fast you lose the tension the exercise places on your muscles...and of course you lose the effect of the exercise.

No you don't. If you do them fast, you work fast twitch muscle fibers. If you do them slow, you work slow twitch muscle fibers.

Aodhan

[Aodhan]

Agreed but i dont agree with the fact p.ups work the triceps more....its just not that black and white.

The general rule is...

wide-chest affected more

normal, i.e...shoulder width apart-chest AND triceps, the overall thing.

close spacing,or diamond hand-triceps more.

By the way, yes it is a maintence thing but martial arts and training, doesnt just start and end in the gym or class. Anything you can add in your own time only gives you more of an edge, in my own humble opinion.

The triceps work to straighten the arm at the elbow. The chest muscles work to bring the upper arm closer to the midline of the body (Think hugging motion). They work in combination in a pushup. If you widen your hands, you are minimizing the effect on the chest, as the upper arm goes through a more limited range of motion. The best you can hope for is an equal stress on triceps and chest.

To get the best chest workout, do dumbbell flies to isolate the pecs. If you can only do pushups, try to get your chest below your hands, this will engage the pecs more. This is why bench press works for pecs, is because the bar and the bench allow the weight and your arms to move past your chest, and results in a greater arc for the upper arm.

Aodhan

[Meguro]

does it also matter how fast you do them?

Id say medium pace..if you do em too fast you lose the tension the exercise places on your muscles...and of course you lose the effect of the exercise.

No you don't. If you do them fast, you work fast twitch muscle fibers. If you do them slow, you work slow twitch muscle fibers.

Aodhan

As I understand it, for most fit people, pushing up your body weight, is a muscle endurance building exercise. Whether you do the push-ups fast or slow, you're still training the slow twitch muscle fibers. The conventional method for developing fast twitch muscle fiber is by doing heavy weight and reduced number of reps.

[Sohan]

does it also matter how fast you do them?

Id say medium pace..if you do em too fast you lose the tension the exercise places on your muscles...and of course you lose the effect of the exercise.

No you don't. If you do them fast, you work fast twitch muscle fibers. If you do them slow, you work slow twitch muscle fibers.

Aodhan

As I understand it, for most fit people, pushing up your body weight, is a muscle endurance building exercise. Whether you do the push-ups fast or slow, you're still training the slow twitch muscle fibers. The conventional method for developing fast twitch muscle fiber is by doing heavy weight and reduced number of reps.

Plyometric pushups are fantastic for building punching power and developing fast twitch fibers. Start in upper position, bend the elbows slightly and push so that your hands leave the floor. Drop all the way down until you are an inch off the floor and immediately reverse direction powerfully. You can repeat the process with or without a pause in between--if no pause, just press powerfully from the floor until your hands come off the ground like before. This is similar to clapping pushups, which I don't do unless I have a very non-slip surface. The reversing from eccentric movement to concentric is key. Just pushing up forcefully from a dead stop doesn't provide the full benefit of the exercise.

Really helps my bench press, too.

With respect,

Sohan