There’s no better all-around upper body exercise than a push-up. But for some reason, people stop doing them. Oh, you think you’re too “advanced” for push-ups? Think again. Push-Up Complexes To build muscle you need to produce tension, metabolic stress, and tissue breakdown. But if you’re able to knock out fifty reps or more, you’re rendering traditional push-ups useless for muscle or strength building. It’s not enough of a challenge at that point. You’ll develop some endurance and maybe even get a good poolside pump, but that’s about it. That’s where complexes come in. They’re highly effective for stimulating muscle growth. You’ll start by choosing a challenging variation, then extending the set using easier variations – a mechanical drop set. The hardest exercise always goes at the beginning. It’s the one you can get the smallest load or do the fewest number of reps with. Then as you reach failure, you’ll move to an easier version. You might even drop again (and again). So let’s look at six examples. 1 – The Chest and Triceps Builder Exercise Sets Reps A1 Close-Grip Push-Up on Medicine Ball 2-3 4-10 A2 Switchover Push-Up on Medicine Ball 2-3 4-10/side A3 Offset Push-Up on Medicine Ball 2-3 4-10/side Hat tip to Coach Nick Tumminello, for this one. Starting with the hardest one – close-grip and squeezing the ball – you’ll then switch to a switchover variation either walking the ball across or hopping yourself over a static ball. Finally, you’ll stay on one side to squeeze out some extra reps before blurting out a few curse words. This medball push-up complex makes a great finish to your chest workouts. The ball also challenges those oft-neglected shoulder stabilizers. If you can do more than 10 reps in the close-grip position, then use a weighted vest to add some load. 2 – The Jacked Shoulders Complex Exercise Sets Reps A1 Vertical Press Push-Up 2-3 6-12 A2 Hand Release Push-Up to Y-Reach 2-3 6-12 A3 Y-Reach 2-3 6-12 A4 Y-Reach Iso Hold 2-3 20 sec. The vertical press push-up is a great variation on its own. It’s like a pike push-up but more comfortable for those who struggle with tight hamstrings. Placing your body in a more vertical position with feet on a bench changes the pressing angle to bias your shoulders in a joint-friendly position. When going from the hand release push-up to Y-reach there should be some external rotation of the shoulder since your thumbs are pointing up towards the end of the reach. You’ll be asking quite a bit of your delts and shoulder external rotators by this point, as well as getting some extra shoulder range of motion. Next, you’ll be dropping the push-up component and just doing the Y-reaches to really burn out the shoulders. You’ll then finish with an isometric hold. Simply hold for 10-20 seconds, stay tight, and think of America (or respective homeland). This is good combination of exercises to hit the entire shoulder complex while improving overall shoulder health. Plus, it burns like a MOFO! 3 – The Strong Shoulders encrypted-media” allowfullscreen> Exercise Sets Reps A1 Pike Push-Up 2-3 6-12 A2 Reverse Yoga Push-Up 2-3 failure A3 Yoga Push Up 2-3 failure This complex also has a shoulder emphasis. If your hamstrings have seen better days then use the previous one instead. If you’re only a little tight then see these as a good opportunity to gain some upper body strength and size, while bringing out your inner yogi. A few sets at the end of your next upper body workout would be a great way to finish. 4 – Simple Mechanical Drop-Set Exercise Sets Reps A1 Feet Elevated Push-Up (loaded or bodyweight) 2-3 8-12 A2 Push-Up 2-3 6-10 A3 Hands Elevated Push-Up 2-3 4-6 This one’s the most simple complex, so if you’re lacking the coordination to do any of the others, try this. Elevating your feet is the hardest variation. Once your feet are on the floor it gets a little easier, then the hands-on-bench variation is the easiest. This sequence reduces the percentage of bodyweight you’re lifting by adjusting the leverages. A resistance band works well here since you get the benefit of accommodating resistance. A weighted vest is excellent too. Try to complete one extra rep of each move every workout, or gradually add a little weight each week. 5 – The Triceps Finisher You might be thinking these are more like bodyweight triceps extensions than they are a push-up variation. Well, whatever you want to call them, they work. There are a few ways you could do them and using a weighted vest is always an option too. Harder Exercise Sets Reps A1 Decline Bodyweight Skull Crusher 2-3 6-10 A2 Bodyweight Skull Crusher 2-3 6-10 A3 Decline Narrow Grip Push-Up 2-3 AMAP Easier Exercise Sets Reps A1 Bodyweight Skull Crusher 2-3 6-10 A2 Incline Bodyweight Skull Crusher 2-3 6-10 A3 Narrow Grip Push-Up 2-3 AMAP Skull crushers do a great job of hitting the long-head of the triceps brachii. Doing them
Origin: 6 Push-Up Workouts for Hypertrophy