If you aren’t already incorporating push ups into your weekly routine, it’s about time that you start. 

The push up sits firmly at the top of the exercise food chain, as it is used for upper body strengthening, muscle gain, as well as in injury prevention and rehabilitation. 

Available for anybody willing to put a little effort into learning the movement, there are numerous push up benefits. 

Top 5 push up benefits

Continue reading as we break down the most noteworthy reasons for learning the push up and how you can benefit from including push ups into your routine.

Push up benefits for chest muscle and arms

The most noticeable benefit of any resistance training is muscle size and strength increase. The push up is one of the most effective bodyweight resistance exercises for building strength and size of the chest and arms muscles.

Research shows that the push ups are just as effective at building muscle as bench pressing at equal intensities. The authors of the research suggest that the key to progress should be finding more challenging push up variations. 

The number of muscles being activated makes the push up an instant testosterone hormone boost and a perfect muscle-building tool.

No gym, no problem

If you’re looking for convenience, the push ups are an unmatched upper body exercise. With only a firm and stable surface required, this exercise saves time, money, and energy you would normally spend on any other gym workout.

By eliminating the need for equipment and visit to the gym, push ups are a perfect stay-at-home exercise.

Push ups for a strong heart

Research conducted over a span of 10 years revealed a positive connection between push up capacity and cardiovascular health. The researchers categorized the subjects according to how many push ups they could complete. Subjects with a test score lower than 10 push ups were found to have the most risk of developing heart problems in the following decade. Subjects with a score higher than 40 had a 96% less risk of cardiovascular problems. 

As it turned out with this particular study, the push up was a better predictor for future heart problems than treadmill tests traditionally used in heart disease diagnostics. 

Shoulder stability

Joint stability determines movement efficiency and injury risk during certain exercises. Upper body exercises like push ups require a high level of shoulder joint stability.  During a push up, the chest and arms muscles are most active, but the load is shared amongst other active muscles. These include shoulders, upper back, and abdominal muscles. Also, the push up activates important stability related muscle, the serratus anterior, which the bench press, for example, does not activate.

This way, the push up increases exercise performance and prevents injuries. 

Unexpected benefits

This is actually a special group of benefits that are often overlooked aspects of bodyweight training. You can look at it like this: all of the abovementioned benefits are the reasons to start bodyweight training, while the unexpected benefits are the reasons to stay with it for the long run. Having more time, money, and fun does wonder for everyday quality of life.

Benefits of push up if you do them every day

Like all other things in life, everything works best in moderation. By keeping track of the pros and cons of frequently training with a single exercise, you can easily determine a healthy weekly dose of push ups.

The best way to taste the benefits of frequently doing push ups is to try it for a shorter time period. Test your push up capacity with a push up challenge to boost your upper body strength, muscle size, and stability. 

Push up benefits for ladies

Amongst many myths in the fitness industry is the one about women not being able to improve their strength and muscle tone with resistance exercises. Nothing is further from the truth. On the contrary, women have great potential for increasing muscle and strength levels by using resistance exercises like push ups.

Women tend to have a different distribution of muscle mass than men, the result of which is less proportion of muscle mass in the upper body. Push ups can strengthen the upper body, tone up the arms, shoulders, core, glutes, and legs. It’s a full-body exercise that can shape the physique and bring an extra esthetic element into your look.

Takeaway

Here is a brief push up benefit summation: 

• Chest and arms muscle development

• Upper body strength increase

• Core and shoulder stability increase

• Cardiovascular health improvement

• Lower expenses of time and money 

• A high convenience factor

With all things considered, the push up seems to be all about the pros, with a little of cons. Beginners can have instant results upon learning it, and someone with experience will find new details to master.  

Comment below and tell us some of your experiences on how to make the push up more efficient and beneficial.