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The push-up is more than just a simple workout for beginners. In many ways, the push-up is comparable to the bench press (for example, muscle activation). Want to keep things exciting by adding some additional upper-body growth and a workout challenge? Every week, try one of these difficult versions.
Ring Push-ups
Ring push-ups strengthen the shoulders and torso while also encouraging good elbow tracking. The best part is that this is the easiest way to do a push-up.
Do you suffer from shoulder pain? Your wrists will be able to orient and your arms will be able to move freely thanks to the rings. Push-ups from the ground are too difficult for you? Bringing your body to a more upright position will reduce the intensity of the exercise sufficiently for you to complete it.
Simply attach a pair of gymnastic rings to a TRX bar. Grab a low box as well. Work your way from incline pushups using the rings, all the way down until your parallel with the floor, and plant your feet on the box. Perform a pushup, with an internal wrist rotation at the top.
Incline Plyo Push-ups
Elevating the hands on a bench, as opposed to a clap push-up, helps larger people to exert maximal force with less compressive stress on the joints while keeping a neutral spine position (non-saggy push-up position).
Assume a push-up stance on a bench, with your hands under your shoulders, legs fully extended, abs braced, and back straight. Allowing your hips to dip is not a good idea.
Rapidly lower yourself to the bench and then explode away from it. You should be able to rock back to your mid-foot or heel as a result of the energy. As gravity pulls you back to your starting posture, bend your elbows slightly upon impact to lessen stress and "stick" the landing with little torso movement. Restart and repeat the process.
Chaos Push-up
Wrap a strong, thick band around the power rack's supports or hooks. Perform gradual push-ups on the band as the "floor."
Keep the band from shifting as much as possible. It will, but the goal is for you to maintain control. As you progress through the motion, spread the band out a little and try to maintain it "flat."
Use a thinner band or elevate your feet on a bench to make it more difficult. Raise the supports up where you have the band wrapped to make it simpler, and make sure your body is more vertical.
Banded Push-up
Another variant that will boost explosiveness is this. Make an effort to be as forceful as possible across the entire range of action. In the world of push-ups, ballistic training methods like med-ball tosses are ideal, but the resistance band works just as well.
Weave a long band under your palms between your thumb and pointer finger, around your back and under your other arm. Voila.
This exercise can be done in two ways: pausing in the bottom position or repeating without pausing. The former will help you develop explosive starting strength, while the latter will help you increase your reaction power.
Positional Isometric Push-up
When you add segmental pauses to an exercise's range of motion (during the eccentric and/or concentric phases), you're doing positional isometrics. With push-ups, here's how you accomplish it:
Begin by doing a full push-up. Lower yourself halfway down and hold for a few seconds. Lower yourself to the floor, keeping your chest an inch from the ground. Return to the midway point and hold. Return to your starting place and repeat the process.
Hand-release Push-up
Push-ups with a hand-release provide a substantially stronger pectoral contraction than ordinary push-ups. Each rep begins with the prime movers in a "dead" position, with no contraction. To get the body moving, a substantially stronger first contraction is required. At the start of a typical push-up, the stretch reflex and muscular pre-activation contribute to force creation.
Regular push-ups will offer you about 10% more range of motion than hand-release push-ups. This is crucial for muscle development. When done correctly, this variation will predominantly activate the pecs, teaching you to use your chest more effectively during pressing motions like the bench press.
If you lift your body up as quickly as possible, this workout can help you gain strength. To strike the floor, cock your arms back swiftly and quickly reverse the motion.
Descending ROM Push-up
This workout combines a mechanical drop set with a partial-rep regimen. It entails gradually reducing the range of motion of the push-up, making the activity "easier" as weariness sets in.
The concept is that you're extending a set when it would otherwise be forced to finish due to failure. The procedure is straightforward:
? Begin by placing a 2- to 4-inch-high object on the ground (yoga blocks, books, stacked plates, etc.).
? Perform as many push-ups as possible using the object as a target before stopping 2-3 reps short of failure.
? Add an additional 2-4 inch object and execute another set to just shy of failure right after pausing.
? Continue to raise the target until your range of motion is almost non-existent, at which point you'll only be moving a few inches per rep.
What makes this one stand out among other push-up finishers? Due to the gradually decreasing range of motion, the focus changes away from the chest and toward the triceps as the set progresses.
This is comparable to Louie Simmons' triceps of death regimen, however it involves push-ups instead of the bench press.