There are certain things in life that are great, but you just take them for granted because they’ve been around for so long that you’ve gotten used to them. Think of a hot shower after a cold day – it’s nice, but you’d be lying if you said you truly appreciated it, simply because it’s ‘normal’ now.
Press ups are a similar thing.
Press ups have been around for so long, are so accessible, so simple to do that we’ve forgotten just how useful they are. Without getting too technical about the nuances of why press ups may be the best chest exercise there is, let me just go through a few of the reasons why I love press ups so much and why they feature in so many of my personal training client programmes….
Press Ups are so versatile….
When you think of a press up, you’ll think of the standard version where you are balanced on your toes at one end, your palms at the other and keeping your back straight, you lower yourself to the floor and push yourself up. That’s a great exercise, but there’s so much more you can do with them. You can elevate your feet to make them harder. You can put your hands on blocks to increase the range of movement at the shoulder. You can add weight to your back to increase the weight you are lifting, you can do a plyometric press up, you can do an Atomic press up with a TRX. You’re limited by your capability, not the variety.
Press Ups are Scalable…
Whether you’re a complete beginner only capable of performing press ups from your knees, or you are a calisthenics pro who can perform press ups with all kinds of levels of difficulty, there is always a benefit to be had.
From a technical point of view they’re a simple movement to learn and the benefits are huge. As an exercise that has quite a low metabolic cost (doesn’t require absolute gut-wrenching effort), they’re suitable for people of all levels of fitness. When you’re more advanced, there’s a range of progressions. When you’re an absolute machine, there’s still ways you can make a push up a worthwhile exercise in your programme. As a personal trainer, it’s a really useful exercise to programme. Our current client leader is a guy called Raf and his best in the studio is 39. Not bad!
Press Ups Require Little/No Equipment…
When I’m expecting personal training clients to do accessory training in their own time, an exercise like a press up can be perfect. If you are the kind of person who trains at home, in the park or a really crowded gym, any exercise that can be performed without the need for a tonne of extra kit is really useful. All you need is a floor (and there’s plenty of that around) and enough space to lie down and you can do all the press ups you want (or I tell you to do!)
Press Ups Are Great for Shoulder Health…
OK, I’m going to get a tiny bit technical here. Your shoulder blades are called your scapular bones. In many chest exercises, the scapular are ‘pinned’ and unable to move properly (think bench press, flyes, incline presses etc). This is fine on occasion, but if all the exercises you do pin the scapular then you could be storing up shoulder trouble down the line. With a press up you allow the scapular to move freely and keep a full range of motion. This can help your shoulders regain the movement they should have and keep them strong, healthy and robust for the long term.
Press Ups can be Paired Easily…
As a personal trainer I’m thinking about movement patterns rather than just ‘exercises’, so by adding press ups to training programmes I’m including an upper body push that doesn’t exhaust the client, allowing me to safely and effectively pair them with another exercise in a superset, or as part of an exercise complex. These serve to burn more calories, illicit a bigger training response and see my personal training clients improve their fitness, build muscle, burn more calories and make general progress much more quickly.
Press Ups Train a lot of Muscles…
Perhaps unfairly, press ups are considered a chest exercise because the main muscles
trained are the pectorals. That’s a bit misleading though, because they are so much more than a standard chest exercise. With a press up you are training the chest, the shoulders, the triceps and the forearms. You are engaging your core muscles to keep your back straight throughout the movement. In addition, the erector spinae muscles keep the back locked further in place and the quadriceps muscles at the front of the thighs keep your legs rigid and prevent collapse. Yes, press ups train the chest, but they also train other muscles too.
Press Ups: Concluded
The humble press up is an exercise that is so simple and easily ignored. Not here at AdMac Fitness – we believe in effective training methods, not fads and gimmicks. We don’t select exercises because they look cool or would make great Instagram content, we select exercises because they make our personal training clients fitter, stronger and healthier.
Why not come down to our private personal training studio in Bow, East London to see how we can help you? Contact us on 07921465108 to book a no obligation consultation.