Press or push-ups. Push-ups are an alternative to bench presses for beginners. Wide variety of push-ups

Push-ups are perhaps one of the most effective and common functional exercises among athletes. It has gained well-deserved popularity in fitness, bodybuilding, martial arts and, of course, crossfit. What can I say - in absolutely every sports discipline there is more than one effective program push-ups, thanks to which you can quickly and without extreme effort achieve serious progress in the development of your own body. Considering what muscles work when pushing up from the floor, it is fair to note that this exercise not only strengthens the elbow ligaments, tendons, loads the chest and triceps, but also has a positive effect on the development of strength and speed of punching and elbowing.

Push-up program for a month

Once you have mastered correct technique push-ups, you should begin to gradually try to increase your result. Not a single athlete in the world is able to perform a hundred push-ups in one approach in the first training session. The program presented below is designed for 30 days, with one day of rest between workouts. This training method will help beginning athletes quickly achieve decent results.

You can also download this program from .

GTO standards for push-ups

Push-ups are a mandatory part of the state GTO program. For men and women, the number of push-ups is, of course, different. The difference in the number of repetitions also varies depending on age group athlete. Each badge has different standards. The lower table contains the current GTO standards for push-ups.

Men

Women

Age	Number of repetitions per:
	Bronze badge	Silver badge	Gold badge
6-8	4	5	11
9-10	5	7	12
11-12	7	8	14
13-15	7	9	15
16-17	9	10	16
18-24	10	12	14
25-29	10	12	14
30-34	6	8	12
35-39	6	8	12
For women over 40 years of age, there is a single standard; there is no differentiation by level of training.
40-44	12
45-49	10
50-54	8
55-59	6
60-69	6 (with emphasis on the gymnastic bench)
70+	5 (with emphasis on the chair seat)

Crossfit complexes with push-ups

Push-ups are the basis of many functional complexes aimed at developing muscle speed and strength qualities. shoulder girdle. CrossFit was originally closely associated with push-ups, as many basic movements and elements, such as burpees, are built on the basis of this exercise.

The table below shows 4 functional training programs containing push-ups, with which you can work out large muscle groups your body and improve skills such as endurance and explosiveness.

If you liked working in this mode, you can independently develop several more similar programs for yourself. For example, you can combine push-ups with and other exercises. Such a complex load will help to work out all muscle groups at once in a short time, which makes the training program extremely intense and effective.

Are you planning to start working out at home? Then it will be useful for you to know why push-ups are good. This is an exercise with own weight on a large number of muscles of the upper body.

Probably everyone has done push-ups at some point. Some people do this regularly, others last time We only did push-ups at school. Push-ups are very good for home workouts. There is usually little space in the apartment, so it is often not possible to equip a miniature gym with barbells and dumbbells. Why are push-ups so good?

Both at home and in gym, and even on the street. Sufficient only in the latter case find some kind of curb, for example. But this is, rather, unnecessary: ​​you can do push-ups at home; for push-ups on the floor, you actually only need a more or less flat surface.

Many good exercises, unfortunately, require quite complex sports equipment. Take for example: this is a great exercise for a large group of muscles in the upper body (not just the pecs and triceps, as many people think), but you need a bench, a bar and weights. Try to place all this in a cramped one-room apartment. And for push-ups you don’t need any equipment at all. For pull-ups, for example, you need at least a crossbar.

Large number of muscles involved

Push-ups, like the bench press, by the way, involve a large number of muscles in the upper body: triceps, shoulders, and pectoral muscles, and the widest, as well as others important muscles upper back. It is quite possible to develop large pectoral muscles or shoulders, for example, with push-ups alone. You just need persistence and regular training.

A large number of varieties of push-ups

They will allow you to change the load and prevent your muscles from getting used to it. And muscles grow only as a result of an unusual load for the body, if you are used to it, then expect muscle growth not worth it. You can vary the width of your arms: the narrower you place them, the less the pectoral muscles work and the more the arm muscles work. You can do push-ups with your fists, and not only boxers do this. Push-ups on your fists allow you to avoid putting your hand on a break. There are clap push-ups that allow you to develop explosive force.

https://youtu.be/9immtaoIsBk

Push-ups are a bodyweight exercise.

Therefore, it is simply impossible to get injured while performing it. You can, of course, overexert yourself and pull muscles, but this cannot be called a serious injury. Exercises with a barbell or dumbbells are much more dangerous in this regard. And you can do push-ups literally any way you like, and you won’t get injured, although you may look stupid.

In short, push-ups are an extremely simple exercise that uses a large number of muscles in the upper body and does not require any sports equipment at all.

Many bodybuilders completely unfairly ignore push-ups, speaking of them exclusively as an exercise for beginners. More experienced bodybuilders have found push-ups to be a reliable ally in solving a whole host of problems - from preventing injuries to building muscle mass. Let's not argue - push-ups themselves don't have much value for a bodybuilder. Constant weight - your own - does not allow you to pump up your chest or arms. And the few enthusiasts who are ready to do nothing but do push-ups all day long look more sinewy and dry than massive and pumped up. However, when combined with the bench press, push-ups can work wonders.

Push-ups can be used in different ways. For example, as warm-up exercise before bench press. And then you can forget about injuries and sprains. In addition, heated muscles grow much faster than cold ones. If you combine “power” push-ups with “stretching” swings, rows and other exercises, then the warm-up effect of them can be significantly enhanced. The second way to use push-ups is to do them after your workout. You don't have to stay at the gym to do a few more sets - you can do this at home. And not 3-6 approaches, as would happen in the gym, but 10, 20, 30... As many as you need/can/get. The main idea here is to “clog” the chest and triceps muscles as much as possible, providing them with a serious blood flow.

Another way to use push-ups is to set aside a special day for them, as has already been written about. The basic idea here is the same as with push-ups immediately after a workout. It is important to choose the right time for such a “push-up day.” There are only two options - immediately after bench training, or at the maximum distance from it in time. The first option is preferable when there are several bench press workouts per week. The second is when there is only one. The purpose of the first scheme is to cause maximum muscle stress, the purpose of the second is to prevent the triceps and chest muscles from becoming stagnant in the absence of exercise. It is not recommended to use both schemes, because this is fraught with rapid muscular adaptation to push-ups due to their large number repetitions. Likewise, doing more than one day of push-ups per week is unwise.

But how can you achieve both a “stressful” and “anti-stagnation” effect at the same time? You can combine post-workout push-ups and a “push-up day” scheme at the maximum distance from training day. Second important question- how many repetitions/approaches to do per day. Partially this question has already been answered - approaches are done as many times as possible. Repetitions are the same. It's okay if the number of repetitions per approach decreases during the day. This is a normal phenomenon associated with a gradual increase in muscle fatigue.
Finally, the student may also be interested in the question of the duration of rest between repetitions - it can be as long as desired. As practice shows, to achieve muscle stress it is enough to perform 12-15 sets of 40-70 repetitions. Theoretically, the maximum duration of rest between sets tends to be 40-60 minutes.

If your goal is to develop strength, increase muscle mass, improve athletic performance and overall physical fitness, then the bench press is truly the best upper body exercise.

The bench press is a very simple exercise. You're lying on horizontal bench and push a symmetrical projectile away from you. " And in what case do we perform something similar in Everyday life? " - you ask, - " And in what sport is a movement similar to the bench press performed?»

Yes, good benchers are often quite massive and slow, with a barrel-shaped chest and arms like tyrannosaurus rexes. However, it is difficult to find an equivalent substitute for this exercise. If you are looking for increased strength in a pushing movement, then you need an exercise that simulates that movement. And if you're interested in developing your pecs, deltoids, triceps, and lats, then you need an exercise that works all of those muscles.
So let's compare the bench press to other upper body exercises that various trainers find most effective.

Exercises

The problem with this exercise is that you can only squeeze 40% your body weight. It sucks because anyone can do it! Some might argue that the ability to bench press more than 40% of your body weight is unnecessary. But this is nonsense.
Many people forget that if you have to push a stable object, such as an offensive lineman in American football, then you together form a more stable base for the movement. This increased stability allows you to develop a more powerful force. This is why an offensive lineman who can only bench press 40% of his body weight will be swept off his feet.

One of best exercises to increase pushing force is the bench press. The bench press increases strength in the standing crossover chest press, but this rule does not work in the opposite direction. So, if you are interested in increasing your standing crossover bench strength, then you need to include the bench press in your training program.

Dumbbell press while lying on a fitness ball. Another favorite among functional training enthusiasts. If you're going to bench press, why not do it while lying on a ball? There are several reasons for this.

A fitness ball is good for rehabilitative exercise, but it will reduce your strength when performing dumbbell bench presses because the unstable body position reduces activation muscle fibers in working muscles. Bench pressing on a ball can be a big challenge for your core muscles. But understand, if you are trying to solve two problems with one exercise ( work out the core and pectoral muscles at the same time, in this case), the working muscles are seriously underloaded.

If you want to work your core muscles, use gymnastic roller, body raises on a downward inclined bench or “plank”. If you want to “pump up” your pushing muscles, then use a stable bench for support!

And although you will have to devote some time to mastering the technique of the exercise, a good bench presser will be able to demonstrate decent results in the bench press on a fitness ball. But someone who performs bench presses exclusively while lying on a ball will not be able to excel in the barbell press while lying on a bench.

Push ups. Push-ups are great exercise, but the main problem with them is that they are too easy to do. By doing push-ups from the floor, we lift approximately 60% its weight, which is very little.

Many people perform push-ups with incomplete amplitude and do not touch the floor with their chest. Push-ups often involve “cheating” and are not suitable for maximizing muscle mass and strength development.
The bench press improves your push-up performance. If you are able to push your body weight or 150% body weight, then push-ups become incredibly easy.
But push-ups don’t really improve your bench press results. There are guys who can do push-ups 50-70 times but can't do 10 reps on the bench press with a barbell that weighs the same as their body weight. Who the hell needs this functionality?

Good exercise, but it cannot match the effectiveness of the bench press. Dips can hurt shoulder joints due to the characteristics of your anatomical structure. The bench press can also injure your shoulders, but once you grab the barbell with a medium grip or slightly narrower, the load on your joints is significantly reduced.
You can shorten the range of motion on dips to solve the joint stress problem, but then you'll be doing partial reps.
In dips, it is difficult to increase the working weights. Of course you can hang 20 kg to the belt. But hang it up 70 or 90 kg and feel like your deltoids are about to rip.
Finally, you will be surprised to know that when performing dips, the chest receives very little stress. Most people have little feeling of the work of the pectoral muscles in this exercise. Even leaning your body forward does not help in most cases. It's just that this exercise works the deltoids and triceps to a greater extent than the pectoral muscles.

One-arm push-ups. Exercise for "tough" guys! When you do it, you immediately remember the movie “Rocky”. They also work the core muscles well. But the load is again too small for most strong people- about half of body weight. Plus, one-arm push-ups have no effect on increasing strength in other pressing exercises.

Of course, the bench press also does not particularly affect the result in one-arm push-ups. But the bench press absolutely helps improve the results in regular push-ups, and this has a positive effect on the number of push-ups on one arm.
In short, one-arm push-ups are a great show of strength and athleticism, but they don't help you become stronger in other pressing exercises.

Push-ups on gymnastic rings. Another exercise that won't give you significant muscle gains or make you stronger on the bench press or dips.

Smith machine bench press. And this exercise is unlikely to help you make progress in other pressing movements and certainly will not be useful in life. It can help you increase muscle size as it allows you to use very heavy weights. However, movement along the trajectory specified by the simulator does not contribute to the development of general neuromuscular coordination.
Spend a year benching exclusively on the Smith machine and you might get stronger on other machines, but try doing a regular bench press afterwards and be prepared to be disappointed. However, spend a year performing free bar presses and you can bench the same or even more weight on a Smith machine.

Standing push press. It's difficult to compare the standing push press to the bench press. The push press is an explosive overhead press of the barbell, in which the pectoral muscles are practically not involved, while in the bench press the load vector is perpendicular to the body and the chest muscles are actively working.

In terms of muscle growth, preference should still be given to the bench press, because in this exercise you can use more weight, and the muscles are under load longer ( especially considering that the standing push press uses inertia).
In terms of strength development, it all depends on the increase in strength in which plane of movement ( horizontal or vertical) You need. In terms of improving athletic performance, we can agree that the standing push press is more important exercise than the bench press, although there is not enough scientific evidence for this.
From a functional point of view, both exercises are good. If you are strong in any of them, then any load in ordinary life will not cause you much trouble. After all, most of us don’t need to lift 100 kg overhead or bench press 100 kg every day.
Performing a standing push press requires good coordination and good posture, which is something most people lack. But anyone can do the bench press, having mastered the basic technical aspects this exercise. The standing push press contributes to some degree to increasing strength in the bench press and vice versa.
So if you like the standing push press, that's great, but it won't hurt to do the bench press every now and then.

Finally