Not so long ago I did a little push ups series. It was a 4 part series, you can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. These push up series are amongst the most viewed posts of this blog and I wanted to add a little flavor to the posts by writing another post. This time it’s all about the different types of push ups. Enjoy the 7 different types of push ups.
1. Normal push up
We all know the normal push up and I hope you know how to perform it. But just in case you don’t know how to perform it, this is how you do it.
Position 1: You start with lying on the floor with your face downwards, so you’re looking at the floor itself. Your hand should be positioned next to your shoulders so you can push up yourself. Push up yourself till your arms are stretched.
Position 2: Once you are done with #1 you are ready to do your push up. The second step is to move slowly towards the floor by bending your elbows. Keep on going down till your nose almost hits the floor. Push yourself up till you’re in the starting position again and you’re ready for another push up.
2. Diamond push up
The diamond push us is one of the more difficult push ups to perform. Because your hands are so close together, all of the strength will come from the chest and triceps. I highly recommend this one for the more advanced people. If you’re familiar to these push ups, I shouldn’t have to tell you how to perform these, but for the sake of it, let’s do it anyway.
Position 1: Start off with sitting on your knees. Slowly bend forwards till you touch the floor with your arms stretched, while you’re bending forwards, your index fingers and thumbs should be touching each other, so that there is an open space between your hands in the shape of a diamond.
Position 2: Slowly bend your elbows so that you’re moving downwards. Keep on going down till your chest touches your fingers. If this is too difficult for you, you could stop earlier, so that your chest doesn’t touch your hands, this will make it bit easier. Push yourself up till you’re in the starting position again and you’re ready for another push up.
3. Wide stance push up
The wide stance push up is for the people who are just starting with push ups. Because your hands will be so far apart, it will be easier to push yourself up, making this a good push up for beginners. The wide stance push up is almost similar to the normal push up, but this time your hands are further apart.
Position 1: You start with lying on the floor with your face downwards, so you’re looking at the floor itself. Your hand should not be positioned right next to your shoulders, but if bit further, so that you elbows are in a 90 degrees angle. Push up yourself till your arms are stretched.
Position 2: Once your arms are stretched you’re ready to go. The second step is to move slowly towards the floor by bending your elbows. Keep on going down till your nose almost hits the floor. Push yourself up till you’re in the starting position again and you’re ready for another push up.
4. 1 handed push up
Before I go any further about this push up, I want to tell you this push up is for a Rocky movie only and you should be very careful with this push up, as this push up will put a lot of pressure on the elbows. Other than showing off how “strong” you are, this push up isn’t good for anything. If you are still curious about how to perform it, keep on reading.
Position 1: Start with sitting on your knees and spread your knees apart. Slowly bend forwards till you touch the floor with your arms stretched. Before starting the push up, touch the floor with both hands touching each other. With the 1 handed push up it’s important to spread your legs widely, because this way you will stay in balance. As you’re ready to push up, put 1 hand behind your back so that you’re pushing up your body with 1 hand. Remember to keep the hand touching the floor in the center of your body, otherwise you’ll just tumble.
Position 2: After you’ve put 1 of your hands behind your back, slowly move towards the floor. The closer you are to the floor, the harder it will be for you to push up, so keep going down till the point where you think it’s enough. Push yourself up till you’re in the starting position again and you’re ready for another push up.
5. Fingertip push up
Just like the 1 handed push up, the fingertip push isn’t really advisable. Though you’re get really strong fingers from doing this, I don’t see why you should be doing a fingertip push up. If you’re very good with the fingertip push up, you could try the “Bruce Lee” 2 fingertip push up, which will kill you (figuratively of course).
Position 1: You start with lying on the floor with your face downwards, so you’re looking at the floor itself. Your hand should be positioned next to your shoulders so you can push up yourself. Push up yourself till your arms are stretched. This time you won’t be supporting your body weight with the palm of your hands, but you’ll be supporting your body weight with your fingertips.
Position 2: Once you are done with #1 you are ready to do your push up. The second step is to move slowly towards the floor by bending your elbows. Keep on going down till your nose almost hits the floor. Push yourself up till you’re in the starting position again and you’re ready for another push up.
I’ve got to warn you though, I’ve tried a couple of these while I was writing this post and my fingers are hurting as hell while I’m typing this. So be careful with these!
6. Explosive push ups
The explosive push ups are one of my favorite. As you become more familiar with push ups the push ups will get easier by the day. Once you hit the stage where you think regular push ups are just not working for you, you could switch to the explosive push ups. These are almost the same as the regular push up, but there is 1 big difference and that’s the jump in between the push ups. Let me explain how these are performed.
Position 1: You start with lying on the floor with your face downwards, so you’re looking at the floor itself. Your hand should be positioned next to your shoulders so you can push up yourself. Push up yourself till your arms are stretched.
Position 2: Once you are done with #1 you are ready to do your push up. The second step is to move slowly towards the floor by bending your elbows. Keep on going down till your nose almost hits the floor. Unlike the normal push up, where you rise slowly, with the explosive push up you push yourself from the floor so that you elevate a bit from the floor. Once you land back on your hands you’ll be in the position to perform some more of these.
7. Hindu push up
This is a weird push up. I’ve tried a couple of these, but couldn’t find the area it was focusing on. If anyone knows which specific area the Hindu push up is focusing on, please let me know so I can share it with the readers. Even though I don’t know which area the Hindu push up is focusing on, I know how to perform it.
Position 1: You position your hands like you would do for a normal push up. Your feet are going to be a little closer so you’re not fully stretched. Your feet should be a bit further apart than your hands. Because you feet are a bit closer to your hands, your butt will be pushed upwards and this is exactly what you need. (You’re supposed to feel a little stretch in your hamstrings). Don’t arch your back all the way up so you look like a mad cat.
Position 2: While you’re going downwards, your elbows will be coming out a bit, which is quite normal and natural. On your way down, you will slightly push yourself forwards so that you end up in a position where you face the floor and your hands are almost near your hips.
Position 3: After you’re in position #2 you push your upper body up and while you’re doing this, you’re trying to point your nose towards the roof. After you’ve pushed yourself up, you raise your hips and you get back in the starting position.
The Hindu push up is bit complicated which makes it even harder to describe. So for you folks that still don’t understand how to perform a Hindu push up, here’s a Youtube video for you.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Actually, push ups performed with the hands stretched out are more “difficult” (as opposed to “easier”) than pushups performed with the hands placed directly under the shoulders. It’s simply a matter of physics and easily determined by implementation.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:56 am
@kudos I think you`re wrong about that kudos. Doing 10 push ups in both positions clearly shows that the push ups with your hands straight under your shoulders are harder to perform than the push ups where your hands are further apart.
It could be that my body is not responding to the push ups as it`s supposed to, but I doubt that.
July 16th, 2008 at 6:39 am
To each his own, I suppose. Nice blog. I like that picture of Jack.