push-ups-related stories
Thanksgiving Gut Buster Workout
One of the more colorful emails to appear in my inbox this month was a compendium of Thanksgiving-themed exercises, courtesy of New York Sports Club (a subset of the Town Sports International gym chain). Assembled by Master Trainer Amy Hoff, the collection promised to "help even the most overindulgent combat the year's biggest holiday meal." Sure, I'll take that.
The team at NYSC had actually taken time to connect the calorie burn of each exercise to a serving of a particular Thanksgiving food. In other words, according to their research, a set of "Jiggle Buster Jumps" could work off two slices of turkey (100 calories a slice). Three sets of "Pumpkin Pie Push Ups" might burn off not (as I'd first assumed) a slice of pie, but rather a half cup of stuffing (250 calories). The pie business (350 calories), it turns out, promises to be taken care of with three sets "Second Serving Squats." Should I want to wind things down with a glass of wine (95 calories), I'd be in for three sets of "Football Runs."
In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit I didn't actually eat the foods in question on the day I tested these, but I ate a whole lot of other bad-for-me things. In other words, the will was definitely there.
Burpees: The Perfect Exercise?
Burpees. The name's not pretty, but the results sure are!
A combination of squat, push-up, and vertical jump, the burpee has a somewhat nasty reputation for being the exercise of choice in prisons. But you should consider adding burpees to your routine for the same reasons inmates might: The burpee requires no equipment and can be done just about anywhere. Plus, it works your entire body, including those important core muscles, while increasing your cardio endurance.
So how do you do a burpee? The basic version is a six count move. Begin in the standing position, then:
- Sit into a squat.
- Kick your feet behind you so you're in a push-up position.
- Lower your chest to the ground.
- Press back up to complete the push up.
- Pull your feet back in so you're in squat position.
- Jump up in the air while clapping overhead.
The Perfect Pushup
The Perfect Pushup is a fitness product sold in several countries that is designed to make traditional push-up exercises simpler and more effective. It consists of two padded handles that swivel on the floor. The Perfect Pushup has three primary aims.
First, it eases tension on the wrist. Next, claims it will improve the exerciser's form. Finally, it promises to increase the range of motion of the arms, and therefore work muscles that traditional push-ups may not. Push-ups done using the Perfect Pushup use the pectoral (chest), tricep, bicep, abdominal and shoulder muscles.
To use the Perfect Pushup, form a traditional push-up position with your hands, holding the handles with your palms facing towards your feet, your back straight and your arms extended over your shoulders but slightly bent. Lower your body to the ground while rotating the Perfect Pushup handles. As your elbows reach a 90-degree angle, the handles should move to a 90- degree angle where they will become parallel with your body. To complete the push-up, exhale and raise your body while rotating the handles back to their original position.
Once you've mastered the Perfect Pushup, try hitting a treadmill for a great cardio workout.
First, it eases tension on the wrist. Next, claims it will improve the exerciser's form. Finally, it promises to increase the range of motion of the arms, and therefore work muscles that traditional push-ups may not. Push-ups done using the Perfect Pushup use the pectoral (chest), tricep, bicep, abdominal and shoulder muscles.
To use the Perfect Pushup, form a traditional push-up position with your hands, holding the handles with your palms facing towards your feet, your back straight and your arms extended over your shoulders but slightly bent. Lower your body to the ground while rotating the Perfect Pushup handles. As your elbows reach a 90-degree angle, the handles should move to a 90- degree angle where they will become parallel with your body. To complete the push-up, exhale and raise your body while rotating the handles back to their original position.
Once you've mastered the Perfect Pushup, try hitting a treadmill for a great cardio workout.
Bear Crawl for Tight Abs
How would you like one exercise that works your whole body, requires no equipment, is easy to learn and is fun to do? Consider the bear crawl.
"The bear crawl engages many muscle groups including the shoulders, core and quads," said Crystal McReynolds, a coach at CrossFit Central.
To do the bear crawl, simply drop onto all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders, then rise up onto your feet. Now you're in the bear position! You can move forward and backward more quickly than in a standard crawl, and you'll work every major muscle group in the process.
Army Names First Female Top Drill Sergeant
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| Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa L. King of the 369th AG Battalion discusses issues with privates during their batallion duty in her office at Fort Jackson, S.C. Photo: Nicole Bengiveno, The New York Times / Redux |
King said she's proud to be breaking an Army barrier, however, "It really doesn't matter if you're male or female. If you ... enforce standards, people will respect you," she told the American Forces News Service.
The 48-year-old has certainly worked hard enough on her own physical fitness to warrant respect. At her recent semiannual physical training test, she scored a perfect 300, according to The New York Times. King completed 34 push-ups and 66 sit-ups, each in under two minutes, then ran two miles in 16 minutes 10 seconds, well within the maximum time of 17:36 for her age group.
Get in the Swing With Parallettes
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| A perfect L-sit Photo: CrossFit Oakland |
Some of your favorite old-school exercises, like push-ups and triceps dips, can be made more effective and more fun by moving them from the floor to parallettes.
"A push-up becomes an entirely new movement when your hand is positioned on top of the parallette," says Melissa Byers, owner and trainer at CrossFit 603. "The parallettes demand greater wrist and forearm strength and stability, and your potential range of motion is greatly increased."
Push-Ups are Illegal in Santa Monica
This may sounds like an April Fool's joke, but I kid you not: In Santa Monica, a man was recently arrested for doing push-ups and sit-ups on a popular running and jogging path. What's the problem here? There's just one issue -- a sign that clearly states that running and jogging only are allowed on the strip of land.
OK, I guess the better question is: Why? Years ago, the running-only rule was established to keep homeless people and vagabonds from camping out on the strip of land so legally speaking, the police do have a right to stop people from exercising. Still, it's awfully silly to arrest someone for doing something good. Couldn't they implement some sort of 'no stopping' rule?
(via Calorie Lab)
New Baby in the House? Try These Baby and Me Workout Moves
When there's a new baby in the house, your whole schedule can be thrown out of whack. You're probably not getting much sleep and just keeping up with your day-to-day tasks is a challenge. If you're finding that workouts are hard to squeeze in, why not try a few of these baby and me fitness tips?Fitness instructor and mom, Erin Kurdyla, has a great blog called Fresh Fitness Tips on Self magazine's site. Kurdyla has some creative ideas for incorporating strength moves while getting some quality play time with her baby. My favorite idea is holding the plank position while your baby lies beneath you on the floor -- it's great face-to-face time. You can also do push ups and give your baby raspberry kisses on the belly.
What to Expect has eight more ways you can exercise with your baby in tow.
Love Hewitt picks planks, push-ups
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment
I like the plank. Don't so much like the push-up. Jennifer Love Hewitt loves them both, though, she says. And they're key for her new diet and fitness routine. "I'm perfecting my pushup right now," says Love Hewitt. "And the plank pose is very inspiring -- where you're up on your elbows and your legs are out, and it's just your stomach holding your body up. Very cool."
Why is the almost-30-year-old working on these moves? Well, because she's almost 30, that's why.
"I'm getting ready to turn 30 and get married and all those things," she says. "This year was my year to try to glow from within and feel better."
The girl is looking good, thanks to workouts that come four or five times per week. She loves cardio, especially running, but adds a mix of strength moves too.
100 push-ups in 6 weeks
How many push-ups can you do? I'm guessing you probably can't do as many as you want to be able to do. I feel your pain -- push-ups are hard! It took me months of training before I was any good at them.
What would you say, then, if I told you that in 6 weeks, you could do 100 consecutive push-ups? I'm being serious here -- The Hundred Push-Ups Training Plan is a detailed plan that will have you cruising through the push-ups portion of your workout in no time ... even if you can barely manage a few at a time.
Head over to the website for more details on the plan ... and then get to it!
(Via Fitsugar)
What would you say, then, if I told you that in 6 weeks, you could do 100 consecutive push-ups? I'm being serious here -- The Hundred Push-Ups Training Plan is a detailed plan that will have you cruising through the push-ups portion of your workout in no time ... even if you can barely manage a few at a time.
Head over to the website for more details on the plan ... and then get to it!
(Via Fitsugar)
Working in the Workouts: Kids can count your reps
My daughter loves to count. She can get beyond 20 these days. "Helping" is another thing she adores. "Mommy, I help you cook." "Mommy, I help you fix that." And on, and on.So I was delighted to come across a great tip today that makes use of both of these favorite activities. It comes from a special section of Workouts for You devoted to exercising with kids. Most of the ideas on the list are actually things I've written about in this series already. But here's the new one: involve your kids while you strength train at home by letting them count your reps out loud for you and/or clock your rest time in-between sets. You can incorporate the task into doing a few push-ups or sit-ups or while using dumb bells. Squats or leg lifts too.
Sometimes our old brains forget the simple things kids find fun. And it's a big bonus when that fun truly translates to "Mommy, I help you work out!" And it's the truth!
Superhero fitness
Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Men's Health
Superheroes are all the rage these days, which is not surprising since they embody qualities we as everyday people yearn to possess. Integrity, honor, power, strength -- they're all a part of what makes superheroes, well, super. So, what's a better way to build the body of a superhero than to mimic the moves of your favorite comic book character?This time around, we'll use two upper-body-building moves modeled after everyone's favorite web crawler: Spider-Man.
The first exercise is known as the knee raising pull-up. To do it, grab a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, keeping your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Next, pull yourself upward in typical pull-up fashion, only in this case you will also raise your right knee toward the bar until it just about touches your elbow. When your chin is above the bar, lower yourself back down and repeat on the other side with your left leg.
One hundred push-ups challenge -- Going strong into Week 3
I've completed the first two weeks of my hundred push-ups challenge, and I'm happy to say that I'm still going strong. It's a challenge, to be sure, but it's really broken down into manageable sets and I haven't had any problems yet.As I mentioned before, my husband is joining me in the challenge, and together we have faced a few location-based challenges (as you can see in the picture). After our vast two weeks of experience, I'd have to recommend that, if you have dogs or children, you take turns with the push-ups and keep them out of the way. Unless, of course, you like the extra challenge of 60 extra pounds on your back ...
Before beginning Week Three, I had to complete another exhaustion test, and I'm pleased to report that I was able to complete over 50 push-ups in a row, so I'm (sort of) half-way there (which is a good thing, because this week looks haaaard). Those of you doing the challenge, speak up -- how are you coming along?
One hundred push-ups challenge -- I'm doing it. Are you?
The program is designed to help anyone reach a goal of doing 100 consecutive push-ups. I mean, I can do 100, but it's broken down into five or six (or more) sets. It lasts six weeks, and you do a push-up workout three times a week. Shoot, I can do that. I can do that so well that I'm making my husband do it with me.
Anyway, we started yesterday, and at the beginning of this, I was able to do 40 in a row. I'll keep you up to date on my progress. If anyone else out there is joining in the fun (and I hope you'll consider doing so), I'd love to hear from you -- drop a comment and let me know!
Naked push-ups
Healthy Aging, Healthy Habits, Healthy Home, Work/Home Balance, Womens Health, Celebrities and Entertainment, Cellulite, Obesity, Healthy Events, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Motivation, Alternative & Green Health, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
How do naked push-ups sound to you? Well, let me tell you, I just got off the phone with a colleague and friend, Dr. Jose Antonio, Ph.D., FACSM, CSCS, Chief Executive Officer of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) and one of its co-founders. We were talking health and fitness when he brought up something a fellow fitness pro, Suzy Favor Hamilton does and recommends on a regular basis.
You got it. Naked push-ups.
Before showering each morning, Suzy -- an elite athlete, makes a habit of dropping and doing 20 push-ups. It's simple and it may sound silly, but getting down and earning a good shower each day seems like a great idea to me!
Naked push-ups are smart for two reasons. They create a habitual time and place for you to make push-ups happen. Second, it seems as they would force you to get in touch with your body at least once each day. Do you like the way your legs hold firm as you go through the motion? Could you work on trimming down your tummy so it doesn't touch the ground first? I imagine that naked push-ups would give most of us the motivation to choose the right foods and pursue even more exercise as the day progresses.
