Mastering the Push Up For More Upper Body Strength

A Push Up is a very popular exercise that can be performed anywhere with no additional equipment required. Most people don't truly understand the benefits on the push up and how it can strengthen your entire upper body. By mastering the push up, you'll be able to lift heavier weights during your workout because you'll have stronger pectoral muscles, triceps, anterior deltoids, and abdominals.

You'll read about a number of different variations of the push up online and they'll all place a great tension on a specific muscle group, but understanding the it all generates from the pectoral muscles is key. Visualizing your pectoral muscles as being the primary driver will allow you to maximize the number of repetitions you can do because it's the largest working muscle. When I do a push up i'm thinking completely about rotating my pecs inwards as if they are 2 gears spinning together. Once I reach the top position of the push up (So fully extended arms like shown in the picture above) those gears (pecs) are as tightly squeezed and rotated as possible. This is also done by applying inward intension or pressure with my arms are I try to rotate my arms up and in without moving my hand position for a better contraction. The downward motion that follows as I lower myself to the floor is control and focused on unwinding the gear to release the tension. Be really focusing in on your pecs you'll engage more tension on the pecs which will stimulate more muscle fibres equating to more muscle growth. More muscle grow over time will allow you to push more weight during your presses. Focus and mentally visualizing the muscle working will yield better results.