The Push-up!

The push-up seems like the world's oldest known fundamental exercise.  I don't know if that's true or not, but at least in my lifetime, its definitely the oldest exercise I remember learning about.  But there may be a great reason for that!

When the push-up is done correctly, it provides an excellent workout for your upper-body (including your abs!).  While there are a ton of different variations of the push-up, we must start with the basics. 

The push-up (for those who may have missed the proper education of the exercise): first begins in what I term as the "bridge" stage, which is the hands (shoulder-width apart) and feet (together side-by-side) on the ground and chest off of the ground (reminder to keep your body straight and tighten your abs!).  Second movement is lower (in a controlled motion) your body towards the floor (using your upper-body muscles).  Third, once you've lowered your body to a point about an inch off of the ground, use your upper-body muscles to push yourself back to the starting point.

I know for those who already have much experience with exercise, that was a long explanation, but one thing I have learned from teaching and coaching...there's always one person who  doesn't know! Important tips for performing the push-up that many tend to forget when fatiguing is
(1) Keep the abs tightened throughout the entire motion
(2) Don't touch, or bounce, your chest on the ground (this takes away from your muscle development)
(3) Be sure to complete the exercise by extending your arms to the top (this allows your shoulders to fully benefit from the exercise.

I hope this was helpful to someone. I will continue to add and discuss many variations of the push-up, as well as other things in the future. As for now, try to do as many push-ups as you can a day. You don't have to do push-ups in one setting. I tend to just do push-ups during commercials on tv or when I feel like I need a break from the computer. Take care!

http://www.cbmall.com/to/pushups