Push-up intensity: our simple-to-do push-up program will build you a terrific upper body via progressively more intense phases - Home Training - Cover Story

Men's Fitness, Nov, 2002 by Myatt Murphy

It's no easy matter staying in shape when the whole world conspires to keep you looking like Porky Pig's brother.

Between frequent business trips out of town; brain-draining, dispiriting 60-hour workweeks; and weekends wasted watching Hope Floats with the girlfriend, you're lucky your body hasn't turned you in to the government's fitness czar on grounds of neglect. Leading a busy lifestyle usually means placing all your hard-earned muscle on the sacrificial altar of "not enough time." However, keeping in shape doesn't have to be so time-consuming, nor inconvenient. No matter how complex your life may get, you already have all the equipment you'll need--well within arm's reach--for staying fit.

PUSHING THE LIMIT

The classic push-up has survived the ages of iron, Nautilus and Cybex because of its easy access, but convenience isn't the only reason this timeless exercise is still relevant to the guy intent on building a better physique.

"No single movement simultaneously strengthens the chest, deltoids, lower back, and triceps quite as efficiently as the push-up," says Kurt Brungardt, author of The Complete Book of Shoulders and Arms. Fear of embedding your teeth into the floor forces you to spend equal time lowering your body as you do raising it back up, a concentrated effort you may not often allow when using free weights. It's this controlled pace that works muscles through three types of muscle-building resistance (concentric, eccentric and isometric) while teaching them to work as a team.

Push-ups offer many other perks that you may be unaware of.

* "Being able to perform beyond 12 repetitions improves muscular endurance within the upper body, an area that most men typically neglect," says trainer Fred McDaniel, co-founder of the Human Performance Center in Santa Fe, N.M.

* Push-ups can also improve your reaction time by training your proprioceptive fibers (microscopic nerves responsible for keeping your body balanced) to respond more quickly. "Just holding yourself in a push-up position causes these nerves to fire continuously just to keep your body from tipping over," says McDaniel.

* Finally, because push-ups are a high-rep exercise, they help increase blood flow within the torso and arms, which flushes out lactic acid from muscles, lessening any postworkout soreness you may have as a result of your weightlifting routine.

There's only one catch: With the exception of when you're having sex, going up and down all the time can get boring pretty fast if you don't jazz things up, for both your muscles and your mind. Mixing up the workouts keeps the muscles responding to the stimulation.

Accordingly, MEN'S FITNESS has created three separate workouts, each designed to make things more interesting as you take your push-up routine to the next level. Whether you perform these moves for convenience, for sports training or to improve your physique, your body is never far from the full-body treatment it deserves.

* Before you begin: For all nine exercises, take at least two seconds to lower yourself down and two seconds to press yourself back up. "The slower you move, the more effort you'll place on the muscles you're looking to strengthen and shape," says McDaniel. (For more tips on proper form, see "The Push-Up Lowdown" on page 59.)

LEVEL 1: BASIC TRAINING

Before you start beefing up your workouts with anything too demanding, you have to get your body used to holding itself horizontal. For this beginner's or welcome-back-to-training routine, Brungardt has devised a simple regimen that incorporates the classic push-up, along with a few variations that won't scare your pectorals into retirement too soon. Perform each exercise for as many repetitions as you can, resting between 90 and 120 seconds in between sets. Do three sets of each exercise.

1 BASIC PUSH-UP (chest, shoulders, triceps) Place your hands flat on the floor (shoulder-width apart), keeping your arms straight, elbows unlocked. Straighten your legs behind you, drawing your feet together. Rise up on your toes so the balls of your feet are touching the floor. Your body should form one straight line from your feet to your head; your eyes should stay focused on the ground below (1a).

Without moving your head, slowly lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel to the ground (1b). Avoid winging your elbows out to the sides (this can aggravate the shoulders). Pause, then slowly push yourself back up and repeat for as many repetitions as possible.

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Bonus: If you're looking to apply a little extra effort at the end of your set, try the following variation. After performing one set to failure, bend your legs until your knees touch the floor and continue to do as many extra push-ups as possible. "The effect is similar to a drop set in weightlifting, a technique that lets you push your muscles beyond their usual state of fatigue for added size and strength," says Brungardt. "A traditional push-up is the equivalent of pressing 60 percent of your body weight, but going to your knees changes the fulcrum, dropping that percentage to around 35."