Yup, you read right. Push Ups rock.

**Disclaimer: Check with your doctor before doing anything. Seriously.**

How To Do A Push Up

Step 1.

Drop into the standard Push Up pose. With your hands a little wider than shoulder width and palms facing down, tighten your body so that it’s as rigid as a board, with only your palms and toes touching the ground (you can make Push Ups less intense by putting your knees on the ground if you’d like).

Step 2.

Keep your entire spine in alignment and your eyes focused on the ground just below you, then slowly lower yourself to the ground. There’s a good amount of debate going on right now about how far you should go down, but that’s for another time. For now, go down as far as you feel comfortable. If your chest touches the floor, that’s fine, just don’t take the tension out of your arms – you must support your entire body weight with your arms the entire time.

It’s a good idea to breathe in as you lower yourself to the ground. You never want to stop breathing during any exercise, actually, unless you like the idea of CPR being performed on you by ambulance paramedics or greasy room mates.

Step 3.

Slowly push yourself back up to the starting position. Again, be sure to keep your spine in a straight alignment and don’t let the small of your back drop or bend.

Breathing out as you push up is another good idea. So is grunting and hollering if you’re looking to attract attention. Belching is optional.

Common Questions About Push Ups

Q: Are push ups hard?

A: Try one and find out. They are difficult for some, not so much for others. But like anything, the more you work at them the easier they become.

Q: Will I get buff by doing push ups?

A: Everybody is different, but most people notice much more muscle tone and even additional muscle mass after adding push ups into their routine.

Q: What if I don’t want to get buff? I want to lose weight?

A: You will lose weight. Push ups use lots of muscles in the body, and therefore burn plenty of calories. And because it’s a strength training exercise, you’ll be burning additional calories long after you’re done. And as for the not wanting to get buff bit, push ups will tone your arms more than buff them up.

Q: If push ups are so great, why don’t athletes do them.

A: They do.

Q: But they’ve got thousands of dollars worth of exercise gear, they don’t need to do push ups.

A: Well that’s not really a question, more of a statement, but I digress. Actually world class athletes do plenty of push ups in addition to using their expensive workout gadgets. Herschel Walker, an All Pro running back in the NFL, is said to have never lifted weights until he got to college. Instead he did push ups and become one of the strongest running backs in high school football history.