Starting Push Ups As A Beginner
The easiest way to understand push ups as a beginner is to start doing push ups…but there is a little more to it.
The iconic exercise isn’t as easy to do correctly as you might think, and correct form is critical to getting more push up benefits. The transportable nature of the exercise makes it a skill that can go with you anywhere. As one of the traditional strength exercises, push-ups benefit the body in numerous ways.
Push Ups:
- Build upper extremity strength
- Prevent injury
- Increase shoulder mobility
- Improve your upright posture
- Improve performance in sports and activities
Given how useful push-ups are, it makes sense that they’re so popular. There’s even the Push Up Challenge in June. But these kinds of challenges aren’t accessible to beginners who need to work up to doing a single push up.
It’s also understandable why so many beginners are drawn to the exercise. It looks simple enough; lay on the floor and push up.
But to get the most out of push up benefits you have to do the exercise correctly to fully engage the muscles in a safe manner. If you don’t, there’s a chance of injuring yourself.
How Does Alignment Help Push Up Benefits?
Doing push ups correctly is necessary to capitalize on the various push up benefits. Push ups correctly require alignment in multiple muscle groups throughout the entire body. That means proper alignment in the body so that you use the right muscles to avoid injury. You will reap the benefits.
Just doing a lot of push ups and hoping the body will know what to do is not the way to learn.
These muscle groups need to be accessed so that the push up is a full-body exercise. Beginners going in blind won’t get much value out of push ups because the body isn’t prepared.
To get push up benefits you need shoulder stability.
The humerus (upper arm) needs to be centered in the shoulder socket, and the shoulder blade needs to move with the arm as it bends and straightens. This stabilizes the shoulders and isolates the movement to the arm. As a result, the arm works to do the exercise.
To get push up benefits you need an organized spine.
Several things can destabilize your spine during the push up and lead to trouble. When doing push-ups you need to make sure that
- Your head stays in line with your spine- especially at the bottom of the push-up
- The hips are extended. Think of lifting your thighs to the ceiling while at the same time pressing your hips to the ground.
- The ribs stay connected. Often as one bends the arms in a push up, their determination to get closer to the floor makes the head and ribs drop. The push up is only bending the arms. The shape and relationships between parts of the spine need to be the same at the top and at the bottom.
By keeping the spine organized, you maintain proper form of the push up, preventing injury and ensuring you get the most out of the exercise.
To get push up benefits you need ankle dorsiflexion
You need to reach your heels away from the body when doing the push up. The tension in the bottom of the feet that this creates adds good tension along the spine to protect the tissue of the spine against gravity.
Once the body knows how to align itself for the exercise, learning push ups for beginners is a safe and easy task to kickstart a fitness journey.
Push ups are an iconic exercise in fitness thanks to their numerous benefits and simplicity. It’s an exercise that is accessible for both experts and beginners alike.
But for beginners learning push ups, the exercise can be challenging if attempted without proper preparation. Getting the body aligned and ready for the push up motion prevents injury and ensures that the proper muscles are worked by the exercise.
Interested In Push Ups For Beginners?
If you’re a beginner interested in push up benefits but aren’t sure where to start, try the Push Up Challenge With Laurie right here on Fitstreams.
Designed for beginners, it’s a comprehensive course that sets you up for success by starting with basic exercises to prepare your body in order to do push ups correctly.
Being an online course, these are exercises you can do in the comfort of your home without any equipment. With a 2 week free trial, you’ve got nothing to lose giving push-ups a chance!
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