So you want to build muscle up quickly, but you don't have access to a gym and you have limited equipment available? You're in luck -- bodyweight exercises, also know as functional exercises, can be used to build mass without requiring any fancy equipment.
Frankly, it's easy to underestimate just how effective pushups can be at building your chest and arms. Pushups might appear plain and boring at a glance: up down, up down, up down -- that's it. And that's true to an extent. But most people outside of fitness enthusiasts are only familiar with the standard pushups that they were taught in their high school gym classes.
There is a wide variety of pushups that you can perform to isolate different muscle groups, but we're going to focus on five types in this article. These will not be the best five for all people, but they should open your eyes to the variety possible in simple bodyweight exercises.
Military pushups: military pushups are a very close cousin to standard pushups, except that your goal with military pushups is to isolate your triceps. You do this by tucking your elbows to your sides and moving your hands directly underneath the outer part of your chest.
Heart-to-hearts: Heart-to-heart pushups, also referred to as diamond pushups, require you to place your index fingers and thumbs together in the shape of an inverted heart, and then placing that heart directly underneath the center of your chest. You'll spread your legs out wider than normal for balance while performing this variation.
Divebombers: also referred to as "yogi pushups," you start the pushup in the yoga down dog position, and then in one motion, graze your nose, chin, chest, abdomen to the ground, lifting your chest in the air as you straighten your arms. The motion is similar to trying to squeeze underneath a fence while keeping your feet rooted. These pushups isolate your shoulders and will also increase the range of motion in your shoulders.
Decline pushups: Instead of placing your feet on the floor, or using your knees, place your feet on a platform so that your head is lower than your feet. You can use a chair, a stepstool, or a bench -- pretty much anything that will allow you to raise your feet up so that they are higher than your head. These types of pushups work your upper chest muscles.
Stacked pushups: with stacked pushups, one arm is spread wide to the side as in wide pushups, and the other is tucked in tight like military pushups. After 5 repetitions, the hand positions are switched.
Here is a more comprehensive list of pushup styles to achieve muscle weight gain: wide, fly, diamond, military, yogi, fist, decline, incline, stacked, deep, prison cell, and inchworm pushups.
Tips to increase the effectiveness of your pushup workouts: remember to add some weight once the pushups begin to get easy. You don't want to push out 50 easy repetitions. Rather, struggle with 20 or 30. Also be sure to add variety by varying your hand position for each of the above types of pushups.
Push ups are a great way to strengthen your upper body and exercise, build muscle at the same time. If you keep it interesting by mixing up your hand positions and trying a few different styles of pushups you can increase the effectiveness of your at-home exercising and relieve the boredom! - 15266
Frankly, it's easy to underestimate just how effective pushups can be at building your chest and arms. Pushups might appear plain and boring at a glance: up down, up down, up down -- that's it. And that's true to an extent. But most people outside of fitness enthusiasts are only familiar with the standard pushups that they were taught in their high school gym classes.
There is a wide variety of pushups that you can perform to isolate different muscle groups, but we're going to focus on five types in this article. These will not be the best five for all people, but they should open your eyes to the variety possible in simple bodyweight exercises.
Military pushups: military pushups are a very close cousin to standard pushups, except that your goal with military pushups is to isolate your triceps. You do this by tucking your elbows to your sides and moving your hands directly underneath the outer part of your chest.
Heart-to-hearts: Heart-to-heart pushups, also referred to as diamond pushups, require you to place your index fingers and thumbs together in the shape of an inverted heart, and then placing that heart directly underneath the center of your chest. You'll spread your legs out wider than normal for balance while performing this variation.
Divebombers: also referred to as "yogi pushups," you start the pushup in the yoga down dog position, and then in one motion, graze your nose, chin, chest, abdomen to the ground, lifting your chest in the air as you straighten your arms. The motion is similar to trying to squeeze underneath a fence while keeping your feet rooted. These pushups isolate your shoulders and will also increase the range of motion in your shoulders.
Decline pushups: Instead of placing your feet on the floor, or using your knees, place your feet on a platform so that your head is lower than your feet. You can use a chair, a stepstool, or a bench -- pretty much anything that will allow you to raise your feet up so that they are higher than your head. These types of pushups work your upper chest muscles.
Stacked pushups: with stacked pushups, one arm is spread wide to the side as in wide pushups, and the other is tucked in tight like military pushups. After 5 repetitions, the hand positions are switched.
Here is a more comprehensive list of pushup styles to achieve muscle weight gain: wide, fly, diamond, military, yogi, fist, decline, incline, stacked, deep, prison cell, and inchworm pushups.
Tips to increase the effectiveness of your pushup workouts: remember to add some weight once the pushups begin to get easy. You don't want to push out 50 easy repetitions. Rather, struggle with 20 or 30. Also be sure to add variety by varying your hand position for each of the above types of pushups.
Push ups are a great way to strengthen your upper body and exercise, build muscle at the same time. If you keep it interesting by mixing up your hand positions and trying a few different styles of pushups you can increase the effectiveness of your at-home exercising and relieve the boredom! - 15266
About the Author:
Jared is a fitness enthusiast who is always looking to get better results in less time. Over the years, he has researched and experimented most of the popular build muscle up products available on the market. His objective product reviews and informative content are freely available to anyone looking to achieve muscle weight gain and strengthen their bodies.
