The Perfect Push Up

The more I do push ups, the more respect I have for them. It's easy to do a push up with bad form. But it's much harder to have perfect form in a push up.

To do a perfect push up:

• Keep your abs tight
• Keep your glutes tight
• Keep your back straight
• Look down and keep your head straight
• Slowly push up with your chest, then slowly lower your body with your chest
• To correct your form, watch your form in the mirror, or have someone watch your form, or record your form with a camcorder, then play it back
• Your head, back, and legs should form a perfect plane

The main reason people have poor form with the push up is because they don't have enough strength in their chest to do the exercise. Instead of doing a push up with the tips of your toes on the ground, place your knees on ground and cross your legs. This allows you to do a push up with less body weight and gives you the opportunity to focus on form.

Once you get good at the basic push up there are many advanced variations you can do:

• To target a different area of your chest, place the tips of your toes on an elevated surface (ie, a bench, chair, or bed)
• For core training, place your legs or the tips of your toes on a ball, or if you are really good, keep one foot in the air
• For a little more cardio, try walking push ups where you move sideways with your hands and feet, each time you do the push up
• For the really strong, do one-armed push ups

Even the simplest exercises can be made more challenging with slight variations. Don't ever stop challenging yourself.

Have fun, be fit!

"Functional Marc"