Push ups???

Question

Hey, im just wondering, how much of your weight are you actually lifting when you correctly perform a pushup? And should your hands should be placed around shoulder width? What are some other chest exercises besides pushups and bench presses?

oh yeah and i'm also wondering how to properly stretch your chest. THe only way i know is lightly placing your fingers on the back of your head and moving your elbows back.

Answer 1

if the body is basically symmetrical then the push up would utilize about 60% of the total body weight. to start shoulder width is fine, you can adjust the hand spacing accordingly to suit your physique. not many exercises to stimulate the chest, it's a small muscle. pressing exercises with db and bb at various angles and some flys is about it. remember to stretch throughly after training and practice flexing the muscles to improve muscle control which helps greatly in training

Answer 2

don't know how much weight you are pushing with a pushup but it doesn't matter. Amount of weight does not matter. What matters in weight lifting is fatigueing the muscle while using good form.

In my humble opinion, push ups are great. They are another way to hit the muscle and variety is good. as far as how far apart your hands should be...well it depends. the narrower your hands the more concentrated on your chest, the wider the hands the more you bring your back into it.

As far as other chest expcercieses, there are many incline, decline and flat bench presses with dumbbells or bars (I prefer dumbbells). chest dips, dumbbell flyes, cable crossovers...and many many more

Answer 3

i am not sure about the weight ratio of a push-up, but i do know the correct form is to have hands shoulder width apart, but keep your elbows in, such as parallel to your side, on each rep, this will alleviate stress on your shoulders and still give you the same benefit

Answer 4

I second the previous answer regarding the weight. As for the hand positioning, shoulder width is good, as you go wider and thinner in your positioning, it gets harder and is a better workout. Also, try using a ball to do them on....a medicine ball

Answer 5

moving your hands farther in or out just changes where on your chest the power is coming from. moving out puts more strain on your chest in general, moving your hands in father will put more strain your your triceps as well as your chest. other suggestions: dumbell flys.

Answer 6

Puts your hands on your scale while pushing up. The weight is not consistent all the way up, but it will give you and estimate.