This is a guest post from my long time friend, San Francisco Fitness Trainer Tammy Foxx:
In my opinion, the pushup may well be the best upper body exercise a woman can do. This is because it strengthens your chest, sculpts your back, shoulders and arms and tones your abs, butt and legs. Working all those muscles at once burns tons of calories and can even help give “the girls” an extra boost. Yes, ladies, the pushup is the bomb!
How to Do A Perfect Push Up
There are also many different variations of the pushup. In one of my fitness books I counted 25 different variations!
You can start with a modified pushup and advance all the way up to the suspended pushup. As a personal trainer, I find that having my clients try different pushup variations helps make their workouts effective, fun and challenging. In this post, I am going to focus on the standard pushup. If you master this basic exercise and know how to do a perfect push up you will be able to do all of its variations with perfect form and get all of the benefits mentioned above.
Proper Form
1. Get into plank position with your arms straight and supporting your weight. Place your hands so that they
are slightly wider than and in line with your shoulders.
2. Your head should be looking slightly ahead of you, not straight down. Looking up helps keep your body in
line.
3. Your body should be in a straight line from head to heels.
4. Butt and Gut
a. Clench your butt and hold it for the entire movement. This helps keep your hips stable and in line with
b. Brace your abs. This helps keep your body rigid, and works your core.
5. If your hips sag at any point during the exercise, your form has broken down. When this happens, consider
this your last repetition and end the set.
The Movement
1. With your arms straight, butt clenched, and abs braced, lower your body until your chest nearly touches the
floor. Inhale as you lower your body.
2. Pause, and then push yourself back to the starting position as quickly as possible. Exhale as you push
yourself back to the starting position.
Trainer Tips
1. Don’t drop your butt or stick it in the air.
2. Your head should stay in the same position from start to finish.
3. If the standard pushup is too difficult, try the modified pushup. Instead of performing the exercise with your legs straight, bend your knees and cross your ankles behind you. Your body should be in a straight line from head to knees.
Modification: Use the same body positions, just use an elevated bench which will take some of the weight off arms.
Be Sure to Pin It:
I hope this post helped you learn how to do a perfect push up! So, ladies, make sure you are including the amazing pushup with all of its variations in your workout routine!
Contact Tammy today for your free consultation.
I have brides in San Francisco and I also offer training via skype to anywhere in the world!
Tammy Foxx
tammy@bridalfitnesscoach.com
415.317.6827
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