Push Ups.php

The push up is probably as old as physical exercise itself. Though relatively simple to perform, there are many variations that make the exercise either easier or harder.

Basic push up
The basic push up starts in plank position: get down on your hands and feet, hands about shoulder width apart and your feet together. Use your core muscles to keep your lower back and hips aligned with your shoulders and lower legs. Now bend your arms, dropping your full body to its lowest point, just a few centimeters / inches off the floor. Now straighten your arms and return to your starting position.

Please note
The key to a succesful push up (especially when you get to longer series) is to involve your core muscles. Don't just use your arms. Relying solely on your arms is inefficient (energy wise), and more importantly: it leaves you vulnerable to injuries, especially in the elbows, shoulders and lower back.

Push up variations
There are many, many variations when it comes to push ups. To make the exercise slightly easier, you can get on your hands and knees instead of your hands and feet. To make it harder, you can place your hands wider than shoulder width, place your hands close together (with your thumbs and index fingers touching in the shape of a diamond: this is unsurprisingly called a "diamond push up").

Taking things a step further, you can place your feet on an object like a box or a chair, lift one leg off the ground while performing your push ups (Single Leg Push Ups) or alternate bringing your knees to your elbows when dropping down (Spiderman Push Ups). Or cross-tap your shoulders when you're at your highest point (Shoulder Tap Push Ups). Or...simply do one-armed push ups.

And if you want to go full ninja on this, you can push yourself up explosively and clap your hands before landing, or clap your hands and feet (Clapping Jack Push Ups). Or clap your hands twice. Or clap them behind your back. Or push yourself up explosively and straighten your arms in front of you, like Superman. And yes, that's what we call a "Superman push up". Oh, and here's one more variation - one that requires a little more body coordination: after pushing yourself back up, rotate your body on your left hand and your right foot, extend your right arm to the side and kick your hand with your left foot - and then do the other side. Cross Kick Push Ups, baby!