Training for Stronger Push-ups

Showing your shoulders some love!

Jul 31, 2023

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Team! 
Show your shoulders some love today! The featured movement of this workout is the hand-release push-up. The goal is to target the most challenging point in this movement - the bottom - for the purpose of strengthening this "weak spot" and taking your push-ups to the next level. The other movements indirectly target the muscles of the shoulder and shoulder stabilizers.
Have fun with this one! ... and if you are STILL on vacation, there are no-equipment options. 
Cheers!
-Carla

The Push-Up is a foundational functional movement that requires a great deal of upper body strength. It involves the muscles of the chest, shoulders, upper back, and core. The most challenging part of this movement is pressing from the point that your chest touches the floor upward to the high plank position. Sometimes, in the heat of a workout, we might cheat a little and not quite make it low enough to touch our chest to the floor. This is the first thing that goes when fatigue sets in, followed by “inchworm-ing” when the hips drop and the back arches in the struggle to get back to the top of the movement.

The hand-release push-up targets this “weak spot” building strength throughout the entire range of motion.

Oh.. and did I mention that this workout has some other fun movements as well? Enjoy!

Warm-Up

AMRAP 5 (as many rounds as possible in 5 minutes)

Movement Practice

Take 5-10 minutes to practice the kettlebell swing and dumbbell thrusters to find your weights/options where you can perform all movements unbroken and move with confidence and reasonable speed for the first 3-4 rounds. As fatigue sets in, slow the pace of the repetitions. If no equipment, see the options below.

For the push-ups, choose either the hand-release or strict push-up option. Watch the video and pay close attention to good technique! Break up sets of each movement as needed (ex - by the last few rounds you may be doing reps one or two at a time - that’s ok! This is supposed to get really hard toward the end).

Workout

AMRAP 20 (As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes)

12 Kettlebell Swings (modification: Swing to eye level instead of overhead. If no kettlebell, try 12 mountain climbers -R+L = 1 repetition)
9 Dumbbell thrusters (if no dumbbells, substitute jumping air squats)
6 hand-release push-ups (modification: Strict push-up)

* Challenge yourself with the hand-release push-up today! If you have issues with shoulder pain or mobility, stick with the strict push-up or a modified push-up from the “easy push-up” video in the warm-up.

Target number of rounds: 10-15