The standard push-up is one of the easiest ways to work out, and it uses almost every muscle in your body. Push-Up does more than tone your muscles and makes you stronger. If you’re still unsure about adding push-ups to your workout routine or want to know how powerful this simple exercise is, keep reading to learn about the real push up benefits.

A light Introduction to Push Up Workout

The following muscles are worked during push-ups:

  • Chest
  • Arms
  • Muscles in the belly (abdominals)
  • Hips
  • ‌Legs

Push-ups are a great way to work out because you can do them anywhere. They don’t need any gear or a membership to a gym. You can also change them to fit your fitness level or work on certain muscles.

There are many ways that push-ups are good for your health, such as:

  1. Using up energy
  2. Make sure your shoulders and lower back don’t get hurt
  3. Getting more balanced and straight
  4. Getting more adaptable
  5. Being better at sports and other physical activities

How to Do Push-Ups

If you don’t know how to do a push-up, it might feel strange at first, but it will get easier as you keep doing them. The form is the key to getting the most out of any exercise:

  1. Get into a plank position with your body straight and face down. Put your palms flat on the ground with your arms straight and in line with your shoulders. 
  2. Put your weight on the balls of your feet and keep your feet together or about 12 inches apart. 
  3. Keep your back straight and your weight evenly distributed. 
  4. When you do push-ups, look down to make sure that your spine is straight from your neck all the way down. 
  5. Slowly move your body down toward the ground until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. Then push yourself back up to a plank position. 
  6. Lower slowly and push up quickly for the best results. Try taking 2 seconds to lower and 1 second to push up when you first start.

Remember that the way you do push-ups is more important than how fast you do them or how many you do. Taking a video of yourself might help you figure out how to improve your form.

Different Kinds of Push-Ups

  1. Starting with push-ups. If a normal push-up is too hard, you can make changes to help you get stronger. To do push-ups, lean against a wall. Put your hands on the wall and your feet a little bit away from it on the floor. Less of your body weight is used. If wall push-ups are too easy, put your hands on a couch or chair and lean back 45 degrees. You only use about 36% to 45% of your body weight in these push-ups instead of the 50% to 75% in regular push-ups.
  2. Push-ups that are tougher. As soon as you’re strong enough, you can move to the floor. Start by doing push-ups with your knees instead of your feet on the ground. The final step is to do standard plank push-ups. At first, your elbows may not be at a 90-degree angle, but you can try to go a little lower each time. Once you can do a plank push-up, give yourself the challenge to do more than one at a time. Slow down as you lower yourself to the ground, and speed up as you lift yourself back up. You can speed up your push-ups to burn more calories.
  3. Push-ups to work on different muscles. You can work on different muscles by changing your position. For example, you can work your chest muscles by putting your hands closer together. Your triceps will get a better workout if your hands are farther apart. By switching between the two, you can work out your whole body.

No matter how you do push-ups, you should always focus on your form and tighten your core muscles.

19 Top Notch Push Up Benefits

1. They work out in more than one group at the same time

Kelsey Wells, a trainer at Sweat and the creator of the PWR Workout, says that push-ups are very good for you because they are a compound movement. This means that you use more than one muscle group at once instead of just one muscle group at a time.

“Compound exercises are especially good because they help you get the most out of your workouts,” she says. “Most people think that push-ups only work the chest and triceps, but when done correctly, push-ups also work the core, the front of the shoulders, and the muscles that stabilize the shoulders.”

2. They show how healthy your heart and lungs are

The more push-ups you can do, the better your heart and lungs will be. When it comes to cardiovascular health, men who can perform at least 40 push-ups in 30 seconds or less have a much-reduced risk than guys who can only perform ten or fewer push-ups simultaneously. 

3. Push-Ups can be changed easily

So, maybe you can’t do a normal push-up. On the other hand, Wells says that, unlike all the other exercises, there are many different kinds of yoga, and it’s easy to change them to fit your fitness level. Push-ups are a common exercise that looks easy, but simple doesn’t always mean easy.

“It’s important to start where you are and work your way up in your fitness journey,” she says. She says to find the right kind of push-up for you and not give up if you can’t do them right away. “They’re a common exercise, but they’re quite difficult,” she says.

For example, you could do push-ups against the wall or on your knees if you are just starting out. “From there, you can move on to standard push-ups, decline push-ups, pop push-ups, or tricep push-ups, to name a few. Depending on your fitness level, there are many different ways to change or improve push-ups.

4. You can even use them as a kind of cardio workout

Olivia Amato, a Peloton instructor, says that push-ups are usually thought of as body-weight exercises. Still, you can change them to make them more like cardio exercises. “You can do different push-ups by changing the speed,” she says. “Push-ups can be used as cardio if you do them quickly and correctly.”

5. There is no need for any special equipment

You can do push-ups anywhere and anytime because you don’t need any equipment to make them hard. “Push-ups are a great workout for people of all levels of fitness. “They can be easily added to a home program without any equipment and are still very hard,” Wells says. “There will always be a different kind of push-up for you to try, no matter how good you are at working out or how new you are to it.”

6. They can help you stand up straighter

Amato says that push-ups are a good way to improve your posture. “If we do push-ups correctly, they can be great for our posture. They can help us stand up straight instead of slouching or looking down, which I do way too often!” she says.

7. It helps your core in surprising ways

We usually think of push-ups to work out our arms and legs, but they are surprisingly good for your core. For this reason, strength training relies on developing strong core stabilizing muscles, which Amato describes as “the cornerstone of any strength exercises we undertake.”

8. They are useful workouts

Functional training has recently gained popularity. For example, Amato says that push-ups are a great functional exercise, and I agree. “In life, we do things that require the same motion as a push-up,” she says, giving examples like pushing a child on a swing or opening a door.

9. They make your upper body stronger

The Sculpt Society’s founder, Megan Roup, says that push-ups are a great way to strengthen your upper body, especially your chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and upper back. In addition, doing this will make you look better and feel better about yourself.

10. They give you power

Amato says that doing a push-up gives you a sense of power. She says, “They make you feel strong, sure of yourself, and able.” “It’s amazing that you can lift your own body weight off the ground and hold yourself up. We should all try to do that!”

11. They help make your bones stronger

Roup says that a few push-ups a day will help keep the bone doctor away. “Push-ups and other weight-bearing exercises build bone density, which is great for women, who are more likely to get osteoporosis,” she says.

12. It makes your running better

Push-ups should be part of every runner’s training routine. It’s a workout for your chest, shoulders, and core that can help you run faster. So how can doing push-ups make you a better runner? First, it’s a core-stability-required upper-body strength exercise that runners must do.

You can run with good posture and form if you have a strong core. Push-ups require control over your whole body, which is a skill that directly translates to running.

13. Strengthen the entire body by activating all of its muscles

While lowering your body to the floor and feel that familiar “burn” spread throughout your muscles, the last thing on your mind is how many muscles you’ve used. When you do this exercise, it uses almost every major muscle in your body.

Major muscle groups like your biceps, core muscles, triceps, anterior deltoids, and lower body muscles work to support and stabilize your body while you move. As a compound exercise, which uses more than one muscle group, it works the most important muscles all over your body.

Have you always wondered why a normal bench press is easier than a normal push-up? Newsflash.

14. Stretching muscles is good for health and well-being

Stretching your biceps and back muscles is one of the most underrated benefits of doing push-ups. You lower yourself to the floor and stretch your back muscles well. Then, when you push yourself back to the starting position, you stretch your biceps fully. This action makes you more flexible, which helps you avoid injuries, but it also makes your muscles look strong and attractive.

15. Increase the amount of muscle in your whole body – HGH Promotion

When you do a push-up, you use a lot of different primary and stabilizing muscles. The more muscle mass you use when you do strength training, the more a special hormone called HGH, or human growth hormone, is made and released.

As a young man or woman, your body makes a lot of this special hormone to help your whole body grow. But as you get older, your body produces less HGH on its own, making it harder for older people to build muscle.

By using so many different muscles, you stimulate HGH production, which leads to muscle hypertrophy or muscle growth. Therefore, you should do them as part of your regular strength-training program to get the most out of push-ups.

16. Avoid getting hurt in the shoulders

A rotator cuff injury is one of the most painful and common injuries that older people get. Even though the severity of this injury depends on many different factors, protecting this sensitive part of your body should be a top priority.

The standard push-up is one of the best ways to keep your shoulder joints from getting hurt, especially for older people. Because push-ups use stabilizing muscles around the rotator cuff joint, this area of the body gets stronger and more flexible to move more quickly.

By keeping the primary and secondary shoulder muscles strong and healthy, the risk of serious injuries goes down a lot.

17. Avoid hurting your lower back

A lower back injury is one of the most painful injuries you can get. This important part of your body helps you move in almost every way, so if it’s hurt or broken, even the simplest tasks can hurt like hell. For example, as we’ve already said, push-ups use your whole torso to steady their movements. By doing this, you make this weak part of the body stronger.

By making this part of your body stronger, you build up the muscles that reduce pressure on your lower back, which is important to prevent and treat low back injuries.

18. Save time and build a strong body at the same time

When surveys are done to determine why people don’t exercise more, the most common answer is that they don’t have enough time. People are getting busier and busier. Even though exercise is important for a healthy body, it’s usually the first thing to get cut from a list of daily tasks.

Even if you don’t have time for a traditional strength training or cardio workout, you can get a full-body workout in just five minutes by doing push-ups. Want to change up this quick and powerful exercise move? Check out how you can place your hands and feet to hit muscles from different angles. By doing this, you’ll quickly become stronger and bigger.

19. Increase testosterone and slow the development of osteoporosis

As men and women get older, the amount of different hormones in their bodies goes down. For men, the biggest loss is the amount of testosterone in the blood. Several studies suggest that the simple movements of a standard push-up increase testosterone production, which is important for a healthy body in both men and women. However, more research needs to be done on the preliminary evidence.

Also, weight-bearing exercises, like the standard push-up, help build stronger and denser bones. This increase in bone density could help prevent diseases that weaken the bones, like osteoporosis.

Last Thing to Know

Remember that there is some chance of getting hurt when you exercise. Listen to your body and know what it can and can’t do. If you are injured, and push-ups hurt, you should stop doing them until you feel better. Before adding push-ups to your workout routine, talk to your doctor if you have any concerns. But I hope any doctor or physical fitness expert would suggest it after learning all the push up benefits explained in this article. 

Author

Shakir Hasan is a fully qualified personal trainer and award winning writer, with a decade’s worth of experience under his belt. He has helped hundreds of people to meet their dietary and fitness goals, writing exercise and nutrition plans to suit any and every requirement. Shakir founded ThisIsWhyIamFit as a way to share his vast knowledge of exercises, diets, and general fitness advice.