Wave Goodbye to Mr. Pizza-man.
Push-ups are a great answer to this problem! Not only do push-ups work our whole arm, they help strengthen other areas too: shoulders, back, abs, even our wrists! Push-ups can even help our posture.
Can't do a push-up? No problem. You have to ease yourself into it slowly, and eventually you'll be doing push-ups like a pro and you can kick those girly knee push-ups to the curb.
Step 1: Find a wall - Start your push-ups against a wall. Stand in front of the wall. The closer you stand to the wall, the easier the push-ups will be. Make sure you don't make it too easy or you won't get any benefit from the workout. Place your feet together and your hands on the wall just wider than shoulder width apart. Don't lock your knees.
Step 2: Push! - Lower your body toward the wall, keeping your head aligned with your back. Make sure your abs are tightened. Lower and raise your body slowly - too fast means you are using momentum, and not your muscles to do the work.
Step 3: Go Lower - Once you can do a few sets of wall push-ups easily, you need to progress to harder types of push-ups. You can make the following transitions once your sets become easy for you:
*Stairs/Chair - Stairs are great because you can pick a level and when that level becomes easy you can simply go down one stair until it becomes easy. If you don't have access to stairs, improvise! Look around. You can use a chair, dining room table, counter top. Just make sure the object is stable and secure. You don't want to fall on your face!
*The Floor - Finally! Now you should be able to do properly formed push-ups, without using your knees.
Just remember, it might seem like it is taking for ever while you are in the moment, but once you master it, it doesn't seem anywhere near as long. Plus, it's a great confidence boost!
Simple push-ups not enough for your competitive soul? Mix it up! Try one-handed or one-legged push-ups for extra variety.
Happy Monday!
The photo can be found here.
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