[Article] The Push Up!

[Drifter]

The push-up is quite possibly one of the best exercises athletes can do. Most athletes and coaches only associate push-ups with the chest and triceps, but they’re a great exercise for upper back strength and shoulder proprioception as well as for ingraining proper torso stability patterns.
Reaping the benefits of the push-up means focusing on correct technique first and foremost. I believe throwing athletes should have push-ups in every phase of their program. At TCU, our baseball athletes and quarterbacks incorporate some form of the push-up year round in their training. At various times, we even eliminate all forms of pressing in lieu of the push-up and its many variations....

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/what-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about-the-push-up/

What's everyone opinion on the humble push up?

I've found adding pushups has helped my elbow tendon issues and increased my max bench.

 

[spartacus]

along with dips, push ups are a great exercise that also conditions chest, delts and triceps.

I did just these exercises for a year, and lost little bench press strength when returning to the gym after a long break.

Boxers, who used to do little weights, also build impressive strength and musculature through such an exercise.

 

[Big Mick]

Push ups are a staple if you you do martial arts/boxing/kick boxing etc, so I used to do lots and lots of these, often several hundred per day.

Doubt they do anything to build size though or strength to be honest, as once you can do one push up you are strong enough to do push ups, anything after that does not get you any stronger, it just builds endurance and conditioning.

I used to teach and grade fighters and often some would complain to me saying that they are not strong enough to do the required 50 or 100 or 150 etc push ups required to qualify for a certain grading/level. I used to explain to them that once they are strong enough to do one, the rest is just endurance.

I used to be able to do 200-250 push ups in one hit, at this time I benched may be around 70kg, now I bench 130kg, so I am way stronger and bigger yet I can only do about 50-70 full push ups in one hit.

I think push up are a great conditioning tool for athletes and everyone should be able to rep out 50-100 push ups at any time, but I doubt they are of much use to build size and strength unless you are half dead already. I also believe they are a great tool for children to train and condition their bodies, both my children 8 and 10 both do push ups as part of their routines, my 8 year old son can easily do 15-20 full correct form push ups.

 

[spartacus]

There is a case of one top NFL footballer, 100kg , 186cm, who has only ever done pushups.

http://sealgrinderpt.com/navy-seal-workout/herschel-walker-pushup-workout.html/


Of course you can build strength doing pushups without weights. If you work a muscle and eat, you will get bigger. Body does not distinguish between exercise done with bodyweight or with barbell. that is why some farmers and labourers are stronger than a lot of people on this site. It is intensity that matters, and overloading a muscle can be done in many ways.

There are ballet dancers who also have great legs and associated strength, just from doing ballet exercises.

There was also a champion skier who did reps on 400 pound squat without doing much weights.

There was a so a guy, alan Wells, 100m Olympic winner, built up with callisthenics.

 

[Felixflex]

they are a staple in my upper body routine, I have my gym partner place weight on my back to increase the difficulty