Go Oldschool
If I asked you to name the first exercise that came to your mind what would it be? PUSH UPS! That’s what it would be. Push ups are one of the oldest and most well known exercises to ever be used. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if Roman soliders way back when performed it religiously! It certainly looks ancient and very much so feels ancient. But you have to remember that if something is capable of sticking around THAT long, it must be doing something right. Push ups are extremely simple and EXTREMELY effective! If you want a rock hard pair of man boobies then get on your face and give me 20!
Push ups are a great exercise that can be done literally anywhere! For those of you that are not aware of how a push up is performed, it’s done by laying flat on your chest on the floor then raising and lowering the body by only using the arms. Push ups are meant to strengthen the pectorals, triceps and, to some extent, the deltoids, but are also good as core body strength exercises.
If you really want to put pressure on your shoulder and chest muscles you can try the press ups, which are the military or athletic version of the push ups. Press ups are performed with the back and legs straight and off the floor. If you are at home, you can put your feet on a low chair or armchair. If you’re in the park, you can use a bench to prop up your feet. Try not to raise your legs too high above the shoulder line.
Other variations include push ups performed using just four fingers at each hand, using only one hand, clapping the hands (requires strong pushes that raise the body higher than usual), or pressing against a wall instead of using the floor (the farther your feet are from the wall, the harder the exercise). Take care not to injure yourself while performing some of the more exotic variations.
If you’re carrying around a few more pounds that you’d like, and are looking to shed a few pounds than you should not avoid push ups! The push up can teach you a few things about carrying your own weight. If you’re a dieter or looking to start on a diet I strongly reccoment giving ProShapeRX a try. It will curb your appetite and make counting calories (and sticking to it) much easier.