by Brian Williams

Created on: April 03, 2009

Ask anyone who's ever done any basic training in the military or law enforcement cadet school if pushups work and let their ensuing laughter be your definite answer.

Forever the bane of many a high-school PE class, the pushup holds its own as a true test of one's strength, provided they're done with perfect form. Sure, the bench press sets its own standard as the measure of a man's (and woman's) strength, but many a gym rat that can lift some impressive loads on the barbell can't do a serious "real" pushup, let alone a series of them. Why? Although pressing undoubtedly has its merits, there's an overemphasis on the three incarnations of the bench press (flat, incline, and decline) in the modern gym that leaves no room for exercise practicality, instead focusing on the physiological impossibility of "isolation".Pressing from the benching surface requires very little core stability or overall body control; all one has to do is primarily be concerned with holding the bar and not getting their throat crushed. Not to mention many benching advocates fail to maintain the five necessary points of contact with the bench surface and floor that in turn exclude any real strength gaining benefits and increases exposure to injury.

The pushup is a fully functional dynamic exercise that has everyday applications. You may not always find yourself lying face up on a surface with feet flat on the floor, hands shoulder width apart and gripping a weight above your face. You will, however, find yourself at some point (and probably have already) having to pick yourself up from the floor, or pushing against an object to move it or you. That's where the pushup reigns supreme. Despite it being mostly considered a chest/upper body worker, the truth is, when preformed properly the pushup is and can be nearly a total body workout within itself.

So what constitutes as an honest pushup?

Pushups are an exercise of limitless potential and adaptive capability. Ideally, "real" pushups mean your entire body maintains rigidity while you raise and lower your chest to make contact with the floor. Your arms remain fixed, your legs straight and taught, your midsection neutral (neither arching up in the lower back or letting your abdominals sag). Once perfect form is mastered and one can do 10 honest pushups, try to shoot for 15, then 20. Or see how many you can do in one minute, or two minutes. Varying hand positions can be extremely taxing on your muscles as well. Bringing your hands in close to your

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