You may be asking yourself, “Why do pushups at all, let alone 1000 a
day?”
There is no simple answer other than perhaps “Because I want to”.
However, as any personal trainer or athlete can tell you, pushups are a
part of nearly every workout program.
Why? Because they are as simple
as it gets in terms of equipment and effort required to allow someone to do
them. Nearly ANYONE can do pushups. Perhaps not the pushups that are generally
thought of as standard, but anyone can do some variation of the pushup. This might be a kneeling pushup with your
knees on the ground or this might be a standing pushup against a wall, with
very little weight on the arms at all.
Only have one arm? You can still
do pushups.
One leg or no legs at all? You
can still do pushups.
There are very few legitimate reasons why one would not be able to do
something in the way of a pushup and begin the journey towards doing more and
more of them at increasingly more difficult stages until they are doing 1000
standard pushups a day.
Reason #1 – They are an exercise
that nearly anyone can do.
So great, now we are doing a bunch of pushups. What does that do for us??
Well, the pushup is one of the exercises that does so much more than
one might think it does. Sure, it exercises
your chest (mostly your pectorals or pecs), shoulders (deltoids) and upper arm
(triceps). But in order to maintain the
correct alignment of the body, you are utilizing many, if not most, of the
other muscle groups as well.
Have you hear of the ‘plank’?
The exercise where you hold your body straight while suspending yourself
on your forearms and toes? Most people
can’t hold this exercise for 30 seconds, due the strain on their
abdominals. Pushups require the exact
same muscles to be engaged to hold the proper position, so your abs are getting
a healthy workout as you begin to do more and more pushups in each set. 200 pushup sets will take about 5 minutes and
that is basically a 5 minute plank.
Your legs and butt will also be engaged for balance and holding the
plank position. While these muscles may
not be getting a huge amount of work, you will begin to notice the effects of
the isometric contraction of these muscles.
Your back, both lower and upper, is engaged to hold your body straight
and your head up.
Essentially you are working nearly every muscle in your body to some
degree or another.
Reason #2 – They work the entire
body
So now we have an exercise that someone can do regardless of current
physical condition, as well as an exercise that will provide results to the
entire body.
This sounds great. It must cost
thousands of dollars to purchase the equipment or gym membership in order to
take advantage of this, right?
Of course not. Pushups are a
body weight exercise that can be done nearly anywhere, without any type of
specialized equipment or facilities. You
don’t need a pool or a monstrous weight set or squat rack. Just you and a bit of wall or floor space
depending upon your specific physical ability.
Reason #3 – They are absolutely
FREE.
So there you have it, an exercise move that is as close to perfect* as
I can think of. A body weight exercise
that is FREE, works nearly every muscle in the body and can be done by nearly
everyone.
You also have an exercise that I have always believed in. Back in 1994, when I was in the United States
Marine Corps, I told people that simply by doing 200 pushups and sit-ups a day,
they could radically change their bodies and muscle tone. I lived this belief and once did 6372 pushups
over the course of two days in 500 repetition sets. I was in great shape, both physically and
mentally, but that was a long time ago and I fell out of my routine and let
myself waste away. Now is the time to
take back what I let slip away.
What was, can be again.
*Burpees are actually more of an entire
body workout that are also free, but they cannot be done by everyone, thus they
are a less ‘perfect’ option in my humble opinion. I will probably start doing these after I
reach my 1000 pushups a day goal, but that is the future and I have a goal in
front of me already.
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