The push-up is considered a staple to effective workout routines. It’s simple yet effective for building strength.
Sticking with doing push-ups on a daily basis can be a great way to boost your fitness level without needing to use any exercise equipment, pay for a gym membership, and use anything other than your own bodyweight to get results.
Are you interested in learning about some of the many reasons why you should incorporate push-ups into your daily routine? We’re here to help. In this article, we’ll do a basic run through of how to do a push-up before discussing seven benefits you will get from doing push-ups regularly.
How to Do a Push-up: It’s All About Correct Form
To make the most of every push-up, it’s important to focus on maintaining proper form. This will help reduce the risk of injury while engaging all the right muscles to build strength efficiently.
A basic push-up looks like this:
- Get into plank position. Keep your arms straight — avoid locking the elbows. Your palms should be flat on the floor and your wrists, elbows, and shoulders should be aligned.
- Engage your core so that your back doesn’t sag downward. Aim to maintain a straight spine from your neck to your hips.
- Bend your elbows to 90° in a slow and controlled motion.
- Push yourself back up to the plank position. As you get stronger, you might work on holding the down position or bringing your chin or your chest all the way to the floor before pushing back up.
Now that you know how to do a push-up, let’s answer the question:
Why should you do pushups?
1. You Can Strengthen Multiple Muscles at Once
When you do a push-up, you work multiple muscles at the same time. Push-ups help strengthen your:
- Chest muscles
- Shoulders
- Triceps
- Biceps
- Upper back muscles
Moreover, because you must maintain proper form throughout the push-up movement, you’ll have to keep your core, hip, and leg muscles engaged as well.
If you’re searching for an exercise that will strengthen both your upper and lower body, the push-up is an excellent one to add to your routine.
2. You Can Modify Push-ups to Suit Your Needs and Fitness Level
The nice thing about push-ups is that they come with many variations; you can modify how you do your push-ups to suit your current fitness level and make them more challenging as you get stronger.
For example, if you are just starting out, you can perform push-ups on your knees or try incline push-ups using a bench. Mastering these beginner exercises will help you progress to doing a regular push-up on the floor. When you get stronger and are ready to take things to the next level, you can try more challenging variations or change the speed at which you do your push-ups.
A few examples of push-up variations include:
- Decline push-ups: Have your feet elevated on a workout bench while keeping your hands on the floor.
- Diamond push-ups: Place your hands close together under your chest, with the thumbs and index fingers touching.
- Clap push-ups: Push yourself off the floor and clap your hands before you come back down.
3. You Can Strengthen Your Joints and Bones
Push-ups don’t only strengthen muscles; they also help to build your body’s supportive structures.
For instance, because push-ups involve movement at the elbows and shoulders, regular push-ups will help strengthen those joints over time. As a bodyweight workout, push-ups are also beneficial for building and maintaining the strength of your body’s bones.
With these benefits, push-ups are an excellent addition to any strength training routine you might come up with.
4. You Can Support Your Cardiovascular Health
Push-ups can also help to get your heart rate up. While primarily a way to build muscular strength, push-ups can also help to support your cardiovascular health. Remember, push-ups engage multiple muscles at once. This means your heart will need to work harder to pump enough blood and oxygen throughout your body.
Consistent push-ups will keep your heart strong, making the exercise an excellent addition to any HIIT (high-intensity interval training) routine you might follow.
5. You Can Burn Calories to Lose Weight
If you’re looking to lose some weight, exercising to increase muscle mass throughout your body will help to support a faster metabolism that will help your body burn through more calories.
As an exercise that helps to build strength and get your heart rate up, push-ups can definitely help you burn calories and fat as you work toward slimming down.
How many calories can you burn while doing push-ups? The answer depends on several factors such as your gender, age, height, and weight, as well as the intensity of your workout. Generally, however, you can burn at least seven calories each minute when doing push-ups.
6. You Can Improve Your Posture
If you spend a lot of time sitting, your posture might be taking a serious toll. Thankfully, there are many workouts that can help undo the damage and promote healthier posture.
The push-up is one exercise that will engage your back muscles and help you build a strong, stable core to maintain a straight posture.
7. You Can Use the Strength You Develop in Everyday Activities
Your workout routine should provide benefits beyond just helping you look slimmer and more toned. We want your workouts to improve the way you feel, move, and function on a day-to-day basis.
Push-ups will help by giving you more strength to do everyday tasks, such as pushing open a heavy door. The exercise will also help you avoid injuries as you go about your day.
Are You Ready to Add Push-ups to Your Daily Routine?
The push-up is a powerful and comprehensive bodyweight exercise that provides many obvious benefits. You can do it anywhere, anytime and use it to build a stronger, healthier body. Now is the perfect time to add this exercise to your workout routine and take your fitness to the next level.
Try this simple 3 day pushup challenge:
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10 comments
Hi. I’m worried that your featured photo at the top of this pushup article has the guy with his neck in the wrong position. He seems to be head up looking straight ahead toward the wall rather than a neutral neck looking more toward the floor.