How would you like one exercise that strengthens the chest, arms, shoulders, back, stomach and leg muscles? In my humble opinion, the push-up is the best darn exercise invented by man. It doesn’t require any equipment, can be done anywhere, works virtually every muscle group in the body with variations, improves posture and, unless you have a major shoulder or elbow issue, can be done by anyone at any age. If you don’t do anything else to build strength, do the push-up. Two scientific studies (references be
Study #1. Kinetic Analysis of Several Variations of Push-ups by B. Wurm et al. In layman’s terms, the study estimates the percentage of body-weight being “pushed-up” based on the variation of the push-up. For example;
• The regular push-up is equivalent to pushing about 64% of body-weight. • With feet elevated 24 inches – 74% • With feet elevated 12 inches – 70% • On bent knees – 49% • With hands elevated 12 inches – 55% • With hands elevated 24 inches – 41%