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Push-ups are the Perfect Exercise Even Without Investing in the Perfect Pushup
By Christina | July 12, 2009
One of the most common excuses given for not exercising, hands down, is lack of time to exercise. Everybody wants six-pack abs and a bikini body for summer, but not everybody is willing to do what it takes to get there. I had a client say to me recently that if only she had unlimited time and money, she would have the body she has been dreaming of her whole life. Guess what, some of my favorite exercises that can transform the body cost nothing, require very little time, and can be done anywhere. Squats, lunges, and push-ups definitely fall into this category. If I had to choose only one exercise that everyone should incorporate into their daily exercise routine, however, it is definitely the push-up.
Talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck! The push-up is resistance exercise at its finest. When done properly, all of your muscles are engaged. Push-ups especially work your arms, chest, shoulders, and back. But, what most people don’t realize is that your abs are getting a heck of a workout, too, because your core must remain tight and engaged the entire time in order to maintain proper form. Additionally, you will see results in your body without having to do too many reps or sets and can even elevate your heartrate.
Because of my love of push-ups, I wasn’t surprised when I found out recently that the Perfect Pushup is one of the bestselling fitness gadgets of all time. Basically, these are two sturdy handles that are attached to discs which rotate. Instead of placing your hands on the floor, you place your hands on the handles and perform your push-up as you normally would. What’s interesting to me about the financial windfall of the Perfect Pushup is not that people are doing push-ups, but that people are paying money for a gadget in record numbers to help them do push-ups.
I borrowed the Perfect Pushup to see if there is any benefit to using this device instead of simply placing my hands on the floor. One of the benefits is supposed to be increased intensity because of the rotation provided by the discs which are attached to the handles. I think the rotation might have added a little something to a standard pushup, but for the average exerciser who is purchasing this, regular standard push-ups are intense enough. In fact, most people can’t do many regular push-ups at all without compromising their form. Therefore, just by incorporating regular push-ups into your exercise program with a close eye to proper form (butt aligned with your spine), you are adding intensity and total body resistance training into your workouts without the need for any additional gadgets.
In addition, the rotation of the handles in the Perfect Pushup, caused me some shoulder discomfort after many repetitions. I do a vast array of push-ups often. The minor shoulder twinges I experienced with the rotation left me wondering about the potential for discomfort for people who do not perform push-ups regularly.
Another advantage of the Perfect Pushup that is emphasized in its informercial and marketing is the lack of stress to your wrists that the handles provide. It is true that a standard push-up on the floor can place stress to your wrists if that is a weak area for you. However, this can be easily remedied without having to purchase any additional equipment by either doing push-ups with your hands in a fist position or resting your hands on dumbbells instead of the floor.
There are so many different kinds of push-ups that you can do to challenge your muscles differently or more intensely such as stagger push-ups, military push-ups, tricep push-ups and the like. One of the pitches of the Perfect Pushup is that by varying the placement of the handles, you can get a completely different workout each time. In my opinion, you can easily accomplish this on your own by simply changing your hand position and the type of push-up that you are executing.
Push-ups are the perfect exercise even without the Perfect Pushup. If, however, the Perfect Pushup is the only way to get you to do push-ups when you otherwise wouldn’t, then this would be a perfect purchase for you.
Topics: Boot Camp, Exercise, Fitness Fads, Personal Training |
