Press up variations

[Thuggish]

ohhhh i thought you were talking about the front shoulder exercise also called the shoulder press or military press. maybe i gotta stop the crack i dunno.

[granmasterchen]

also one handed push ups

 

put your legs up on a chair or bed, so that you are getting more vertical

 

10 count push ups, go down, holding yourself about 1 inch above the ground for the count of 1 then go up and back down for the count of 1..2

 

then the next to the count of 3 .1....2...3

 

all the way up to 10 this gets fun up in the higher numbers, then you can start counting backwards once you get to ten , or you can continue to increase the number to 15 or 20 count, after awhile though you will get tired.

 

wide grip, close grip, finger tips, two finger and thumbs of each hand, one finger and one thumb of each hand , knuckle, standing up with legs agains the wall, rotate from left to right when going down on wide grip push ups,bend elbows out to the side, or keep the elbow to your side, one handed with 2 fingers and thumb, one hand one finger and thumb,

[telsun]

Has anybody ever heard of tiger push ups? You may know them by a different name:

 

Start in a jack knife position (upside down 'V') Lower yourself until your nose nearly touches the ground. Now move your body forward until your back is parallel to the ground. Whilst lowering yourself down you would take a deep breath. Now at the bottom point look forward and make a harsh breath out, look left harsh breath, look right harsh breath. now push back the way you came so you return back to the jack knife position, taking another deep breath. Once there drop your bum down so that your in a cat stretch position and realease the breath.Return to the start position.

 

Hard to describe really. Do you understand that? These are very hard to perform. This should be done at a medium pace with a smooth action.

 

Also lowering yourself in a normal pushup in 3 stages holding each stage for 3 seconds and then raise in 3 stages holding each for 3 seconds.

 

I like the holding bottom position for increasing amount of time I'll be giving that a go. You can also try pyramiding your reps as I have described in another thread.

[telsun]

Here:

 

http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=8858&highlight=

[chh]

Telsun, we do the "tiger pushups" exactly as you described in my dojo, Okinawan Goju-ryu as well. I wonder where it traces back to. Miserably difficult exercise, I clearly remember the first time I was able to complete one of them, it felt very momentous. Your pyramid suggestion was very useful to me, by the way, seemed much easier/quicker than what I was already doing (5 sets of 25) but I REALLY felt it for a couple days afterwards.

 

Here's a general bone-headed pushup question: Is a "basic" or "normal" pushup hands shoulder-width apart, elbows kept close to the sides as you go down? I was poking around on the web and saw a few people say that wide arm pushups are more difficult than "normal" pushups. This confuses me, because wide arm pushups are a million times easier for me. With my hands shoulder-width and elbows in I find it very difficult to do the full range of motion with good form for more than even 10 or so. :confused:

[telsun]

Hey chh, where are you?

 

Tiger push ups are punishing aren't they. I had never done them b4 I started Okinawan Goju-ryu. I was watching Sensei Higaonna's 'Warm up' video yesterday (for the 1st time) and there he was doing them as a stretching exercise.

 

I traines with a kick boxer friend at his club and he also does them as well.

 

I thought the pyramid push ups would be easy but like you say I did struggle with them. As you get better you can up your maximum rep count and then count down from there.

 

I am the same as you about the push up width query

[chh]

I'm in Washington, a bit south of Seattle. That makes sense about the video, my sensei's sensei trained with Higaonna Sensei at some point. We also use it as part of our warmups. Wonder where the kick boxer's club got it from--the movement itself is very similar to what I think are called Hindu pushups, but the breathing part seems very Goju-y.

[tommarker]

press-ups is one of those funny english terms like anti-clockwise and calling your car's truck the boot

 

anyways... a neat exercise while watching tv is to put your feet on the coach, and your hands on the floor. commence pushups.

 

there's another sequence called "hindu pushups" like look sorta like the yoga upward and downward dog. I can't describe them very well though. try a google search on them, and you should find plenty of info.

[Fenris-wolf]

Um, I may be wrong, but I'm pretty damn sure that push-ups are more difficult in "normal" position that wide. At least that the consensus of everyone at my club, which is good enough for me.

 

P.S. Don't knock the "boot", dude!