We have exactly one week left in our push up challenge. We all should be getting close to our monthly goal of 1000 push ups or more. Hopefully by now you all have found some form of a push up that you like and can continue to do.  Today I am going to show the last two variations of a push up. Let’s finish this month of right and continue to push up to the limit!!

Challenge Rules:

The goal is to get at least 1000 push ups in by the end of the month. That is about 33 push ups a day. If your more advanced I would aim for 1500 or more push ups by the end of the month. You can either perform your daily repetitions all at once or perform them in sets of 3. Just remember to challenge yourself!!

Close Stance Push Ups

• Start in the basic push-up position but place your hands on the ground about 2 inches apart with your arms at your sides.

• Lower your chest as low as you can to the floor and then return to starting position keeping your elbows against your sides.

• Raise up continuing to keep your elbows in tight.

• Repeat until your desired repetitions.

Burpees Push Ups

• Start in push-up position

• Lower yourself to the ground and perform a full push-up

• Return to starting position and then immediately stand or jump up and extend your arms overhead

• Return back to push-up position.

• Repeat until desired repetitions.

*You can modify all of these exercises and perform them on your knees if needed.*

Go ahead and add these new push ups in your routine. Keep me posted on how many push ups you finish with for the month either on the LMC Fitness fan page or on here.

We are half way through our monthly challenge.  Hopefully you are challenging yourself and working hard toward your goal.  Continue to push yourself to the limit. Today I am going to introduce three new variations of push ups you can add for the challenge.

Challenge Rules:

The goal is to get at least 1000 push ups in by the end of the month. That is about 33 push ups a day. If your more advanced I would aim for 1500 or more push ups by the end of the month. You can either perform your daily repetitions all at once or perform them in sets of 3. Just remember to challenge yourself!!

Medicine Ball Push Ups

• Start in traditional push-up position, with the arms placed a little wider than the shoulders and your toes on the floor to form a straight plank with your body.
• Place the medicine ball under one palm to create an uneven surface.
• Perform a push up normally, but focus tension on the chest as you straighten the elbows to return to the beginning of the exercise.
• Repeat

Tips: You can make this exercise more advanced by rolling the ball back and forth alternating sides between each repetition.

 Diamond Push Up With Medicine Ball

• Get into traditional push-up position but place your hands directly under your chest with your index fingers and thumbs spread and touching making a diamond.
• Keep your back flat throughout the movement.
• Lower your body until your chest nearly touches your hands.
• Push your body back up to the starting position.
• Repeat

 Decline Push Ups

• Place your feet on a bench or a raised platform and get into the push-up position with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders
• With your feet on the bench and your arms holding your body up, begin the exercise by lowering yourself down to the ground while keeping your entire body in a straight line. Make sure you’re keeping your core tight the whole time.
• Lower your chest as close to the ground as you can, pause, then push yourself back up to starting position.
• Repeat

 *You can modify all of these exercises and perform them on your knees if needed.*

These are some new and exciting push up exercises you can add to your workout. Next week is our final week of our challenge so I will introduce the last few new push up exercises. Keep me posted on how many push ups you get it on either the LMC Fitness fan page or on here.

Welcome to April! Hopefully you all enjoyed the March Abs Madness Challenge. How many did you all end up doing?  I hope you all were able to achieve your goal number of abs. I am very proud of myself and everyone who completed in last months challenge. I ended March with a total of 3,000 abs. But now it is a new month so that means time for a new challenge. This months challenge for April is push ups.

Push Ups are one of the most common exercise used to build primarily chest muscles but also triceps, deltoid, shoulders, and our abs. For most people push ups are one of the most dreaded exercises. I will be the first one to admit it is not one of my favorite exercises but it is a very beneficial exercise. So this month we are going to get our upper body strength up.  Throughout the month I will share several different ways you can perform push ups. A few of these exercises will be familiar and a few of them will be brand new. Don’t worry, no matter what your fitness level is you will be able to complete the exercises. I will show you a certain type of push up for each group.

Challenge rules:

The goal is to get at least 1000 push ups in by the end of the month. That is about 33 push ups a day. If your more advanced I would aim for 1500 or more push ups by the end of the month. You can either perform your daily repetitions all at once or perform them in sets of 3. Just remember to challenge yourself!!

Wall Push Ups

(For Beginners)

• Start by facing a wall with your feet close together and with your hands out a little more than shoulder width apart on the wall.
• Engage your core and then slowly push your chest toward the wall.
• Then push back out to your starting position while still keeping your core tight and your back straight.
• Repeat until desired repetitions.

 Regular Push Up

(All Fitness Levels)

• Start on a mat on the floor on your hands and knees.
• Put your arms in front of you and space your hands so that they rest on the outside of your shoulders.
• Press your hands into the ground flat with your fingertips pointing straight out away from you.
• Stick your legs out behind you with your toes on the floor. Your weight should be evenly distributed between your toes and hands. Keep your legs perfectly straight and spaced evenly apart.
• Stretch your neck out and hold it in place. Do not move it up and down or allow it to droop while engaging in the push-ups. Keep your eyes focused down or straight ahead of you.
• Keep your body straight and don’t allow any part of your shoulders, hips or belly to droop toward the floor. Pretend your body is a straight line. Keep it that way. Begin the push-up by bending your elbows and taking a deep breath.
• Control your body as you lower it toward the ground, feeling the tension in your arms and abdominals muscles.
• Breathe out, then push your body back up,  bringing your arms back to a straight position, but don’t lock your elbows.
• Repeat until desired repetitions while maintaining this proper push-up form.

Tips: Hand placement is key to targeting a certain muscle group. Spreading your hands beyond shoulder-width during a push-up generally targets the pectoral and shoulder muscles. Performing push-ups with your hands placed shoulder-width apart or closer in targets the upper arms. Another variation is to keep your elbows tucked in to your torso, bending back towards your lower body instead of out to the sides.

*You can also perform pushups on your knees which is just as effective as long as your form is correct.* 

Staggered Push Up

(Advance)

• Start either on your toes or your knees like you would when performing regular push ups.
• Place your right hand about 6 inches higher than your left hand.
• Then perform a regular push up like previous stated above.
• Repeat with the same hand up front until desired repetitions before switching hands.

*This is a more challenging variation of a push up. The lower hand is being forced to work harder than the higher hand. You will feel a great burn in your chest and shoulders.*

I hope you now have some new and exciting push up exercises to help start your push up challenge of right. We are all going to have some nice toned arms once we’re done. Next week I will introduce a few new push up exercises. Keep me posted on how many push ups you get it on either the LMC Fitness fan page or on here.