The push-up is a staple, bodyweight movement that is widely used as a training tool across the fitness industry around the entire world and has been used for several years. Push-ups have their popularity for good reason. They have great versatility, being able to do them in many variations. The accessibility of them is endless, with the ability to do them literally anywhere. Lastly, the benefits of push-ups are unmatched. There are few movements out there that have the ability to improve your upper body strength, improve your core strength and stability, improve your cardiovascular health, improve your posture, and provide you with more functional strength. Push-ups are one of those movements.
When it comes to performing a push-up, doing it correctly is key. That is why the versatility of the movement is great. You can find a variation that fits your ability no matter what level of fitness you are at. You can cater the variation of the movement to your needs as much as possible. If unable to perform any on the floor, start with your hands as high off the ground as possible on a bench, chair, or even wall. This also provides you with a great way to track your progress by seeing how low you can start moving down to the floor.
By performing push-ups on a regular basis your overall upper body strength and core strength will improve. You will notice improvements on other upper body movements and even notice improvements on how well you can use your upper body to do things at home. Your posture will improve by getting your joints in the right alignment, leading to healthier and better positioned shoulders and more of a neutral spine. You can even do push-ups to work on cardiovascular health by doing them at more of a high repetition rate that will increase your heart rate and improve your endurance.
Lastly, it doesn’t get more functional than being able to lift or push your body up off the ground. The longer in life you are able to physically push yourself up off the ground, the higher quality of life you are going to live. If you are unable to do it at this given time, it is not too late to start working on it. All of us should strive to be able to perform daily activities that ensure us longevity. Now, find some space at home or at the gym and start doing more push-ups. The results may just surprise you!