Going on with the series of push ups, this time we have the differences in the push ups. Last time I talked about what a push up is and doing your first push up. This was an easy push up, not the easiest one, but still an easy one. If you have tried to do a couple push ups, you might have noticed that it gets easier as you put your hands further apart. And the opposite,
Let me make this clear first. If you imagination has no end, you could come up with 101 variations to do push ups. Yet only a handful of them are useful and won’t harm the body as much. In this post I’ll be writing about 4 different push ups that are useful and won’t damage your body: The wide stance push up, the normal push up, the narrow stance (diamond) push up, and push ups using a bench.
The wide stance push up
As you might know, the upper chest isn´t 1 big muscle, but lots of smaller muscles. With the wide stance push up, you´ll be focusing on the outer muscles. Performing this push up is almost the same as the regular push up. But with this push up, your hands will be further apart. Let me demonstrate this with my awesome Adobe Fireworks skills.
In picture 1 you can see the normal push up stance. This is where you arms are right next to your body and about 60cm to 80cm apart from each other. In picture 2 you can see where to put your hands for the wide stance push up. Dare I say, have you noticed my awesome Fireworks skills? Anyway, with the wide stance push ups, your hands should be further apart. Depending on the length of your arms, it should be anywhere from 100cm to 150cm.
The normal stance push up
The good old push up I call this. For centuries people have been doing this push up. It has never changed and I think it never will. The normal stance push up will focus on the middle of the chest. Unlike the wide stance push up, which focuses on the outer area, this push up is a little bit harder. The strength will come from both your triceps (green area on the picture) and chest. This stance is ideal for your every day push up session. If you are just starting with push up, it’s recommended you mix the wide stance push up with the normal stance push up.
The small stance (diamond) push up
Enough with the push ups for you beginners. It´s time for a more advanced push up. It´s called the small stance or diamond push up. This is a push up where you position your hands against each other. Your thumbs and index fingers should touch each other so they form a diamond shape form. This push up is one of the most difficult ones. While doing this push up, almost all of the strength will come from the chest. Also, this push up will focus on the inner area of the chest.
Push ups using a bench, chair, sofa, etc
Last but not least we got the push ups with the bench. If you take a look at the picture, you can see that your feet are at the same height as your back. This means that there will be more weight at the top of your body (head – shoulder area) as you go down. You will have to push harder to get up again, and that’s what makes this a push up for the more advanced people. I just talked about the differences in push up. Well, you could do the 3 different stances with a bench, making the push ups harder to perform. Keep in mind, the higher the bench is, the harder your push up will be.
Which one is your favorite push up?
These are the 4 push ups I do occasionally and have been told by my fitness instructor to perform at home. I prefer none above the other and mix them up so I train the inner, middle and outer area of my chest. Which one of these do you prefer?
1-4: What are push ups and doing your first push ups
2-4: The differences in push ups
3-4: How to perform the perfect push ups
4-4: Doing more push ups as time goes by
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