4 more styles of push-ups to add to workout

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 10, 2008 | by MILO BRYANT columnist

Last week we started going over the multitude of push-up styles. We'll go over several more today. Don't forget to hit the blog to get descriptions and video of more variations of push-ups.

- Decline push-ups add a slightly different dynamic to the push- up. To do the decline push-up: Lie facedown on the floor. Your hands should be shoulder level, slightly more than shoulder-width apart, and your legs should be parallel to each other with your feet elevated about a foot to 18 inches. Use a bench at first -- once you get proficient with your feet on the bench, add the difficulty of putting your feet on a physio ball. Without bending or arching your back, push your body up until your arms are extended. Allow your arms to relax to return to the starting position.

- Ballistic, or plyometric, push-ups have several variations. The ones I like tend to be similar to the basic push-up. Check out the blog to get several other variations of push-ups. To do ballistic push-ups: Lie facedown on the floor. Your hands should be shoulder level, slightly more than shoulderwidth apart and on top of a couple of aerobic steps or brick pavers. Your legs should be parallel to each other. Without bending or arching your back, thrust your body up and quickly move your hands inside the bricks and catch your body before it hits the ground. Then thrust your body up and quickly place your hands on the bricks and catch your body again. Definitely check out the blog to see the correct way to do this.

- Much like the ballistic push-ups, staggered push-ups work to help us gain some upper-body flexibility as well as muscular endurance. To do staggered push-ups: Lie facedown on the floor. Your hands should be shoulder level, slightly more than shoulder-width apart, and your legs should be parallel to each other. Place one of your hands on top of a phone book or a brick while the other remains on the ground. Without bending or arching your back, push your body up until your arms are extended. Allow your arms to relax to return to the starting position. After a set, switch the hand placed on the phone book or brick.

- Suspended push-ups work parts of our upper body we didn't know existed. And like many of the other push-up variations, we're able to do these from a flat or incline position. To perform the suspended push-up: Grasp the handles or rope from your suspension device. Your hands should be shoulder level, slightly more than shoulder width apart, and your legs should be parallel to each other. Without bending or arching your back, push your body up until your arms are extended. Allow your arms to relax to return to the starting position. The issue with these comes from being able to steady the body so the exercise can actually be done.

Bryant has two National Strength

and Conditioning Association

certifications. Contact him at

milo.bryant@gazette.com or read

his blog at milobryant.blogspot

.com. He appears on KOAA's

Comcast Channel 9 most

Wednesdays at 4 p.m.