Got a minute? You’re reading this, so of course, you do. 60 seconds is all you need to #takethechallenge and shine like a Healthworks’ superstar!
Push-Up Yourself to the Limit: #takethechallenge
Each month, the Healthworks Team poses a challenge that draws on one aspect of fitness to keep things interesting and productive for your brain and body. The challenge might focus on power, endurance, cardio or strength.
This month’s Push-up Challenge asks you to dig deep for a mere minute and draw on your STRENGTH!
The beauty of this month’s Push-up Challenge is that you can do it anywhere, anytime. There’s no special equipment needed. You don’t even need shoes. Just bring your bodyweight and your go-get-‘em attitude to the floor. If you take this challenge throughout the month, you will come away with a stronger core and more.
Whether you are a Healthworks member or part of the staff, find a style of push-up that suits you. You can do a full push-up and lower your chest to the floor. Or you can modify a push-up and lower your chest to a yoga block.
Get in a Plank and Work it! Here is How to Participate:
- Count how many repetitions you do in a minute.
- Then, submit a ticket with your name and the number of times you managed to complete those stunning, strong push-ups of yours.
- That’s it!
If you don’t feel like counting the reps yourself or want a staff member to look at your form, make an appointment, and a trainer will help you out. Healthworks will post the top 10 Challengers on the Leader Board each week so you can root for each other.
Repeat the Push-up Challenge as often as you want to increase your chances of winning the monthly competition and improve your mighty muscular strength. Any way you look at it, participating makes you a winner so #takethechallenge!
What Muscles Do Push-Ups Work?
Push-ups are typically known as a triceps exercise, but they also work the muscles of the chest shoulders, quads (if you’re doing them from the toes), and even the core because your abs stay tight and engaged throughout the entire movement.
Push-ups are a compound exercise which means they work more than one muscle group at a time, which makes for more calorie burn compared to an isolation exercise such as a triceps extension with a dumbbell.
All The Benefits Of Doing Push-Ups:
- Not only will push-ups burn more calories (because let’s face it, they’re not that easy), but they also strengthen the body from head to toe.
- You don’t have to lift heavy weights to get muscles either, doing body weight exercises can be just as efficient at building muscle as any weightlifting routine as long as you are making it challenging and doing each set to failure, you’ll build muscle.
- Push-ups are also a very functional exercise because they strengthen your muscles in ways you’ll benefit from in everyday life (i.e. pushing a lawn mower, pushing your friends broke down car, and even pushing the clothes dryer back against the wall).
Push-Up Variations to Add to Your Routine:
If you’re a beginner and can’t quite perform a push-up yet, you can either try them from the knees or even from a stability ball. Lay across the ball on your belly, place your hands on the floor and go from there. The further you walk your hands out from the ball and the more of you that hangs off the ball, the more difficult the push-ups become, so you can adjust to your level and work your way up.
For the more advanced, try these variations:
Diamond Push-ups
Start in the traditional push-up position, then bring your hands just under your face as you are looking down towards the floor. The thumbs and index fingers should be brought together, which forms the shape of a diamond. Slowly lower yourself down till you are just a couple of inches off the floor, then push back up and repeat.
Plyo Push-ups
These are just like doing traditional push-ups except as you push-off the floor, you’re going to do it in an explosive manner and hop your hands off the floor just by a few inches, land softly, lower yourself back down, and repeat. If you want to, add a clap like to women in the video linked above. Plyometrics, or jump exercises, are extremely beneficial for building strength in a flash.
Chaturanga Push-ups
These are pretty tough, but you can also perform them from the knees to start with. Get in the traditional push-up position and either drop to your knees or stay on the toes, then move your hands directly under your shoulders with the fingers facing forward. As you lower yourself, your elbows are going to be pointing back towards your feet instead of out to the sides, so you keep them tucked in close to your body the entire time.
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