Are most people losing out? The secret points to make your push-ups 10 times more effective

The trap of the "push-up" that everyone goes through at least once.
In fact, the effectiveness changes drastically depending on how you do it.

I think everyone has done a "push-up" at least once, whether in school club activities or during home workouts.

It is a very easy and simple muscle training exercise, but did you know that the difference in its effectiveness can be like heaven and earth depending on "how you do it"?

"I do 50 reps every day, but there's no change in my body at all..."
"It's just painful, and I don't know where it's supposed to be working..."

If you have such worries, you can achieve surprisingly effective results just by changing how you do it a little.

This time, I will explain the secret of the "correct push-up" that brings dramatic effects to toning the upper body and lifting the bust!

First, a basic check: Is your "starting posture" okay?

First, let's review the starting posture for push-ups.
Please try to get into position while being conscious of the following three points.

Hand width:
With your elbows extended, place both palms on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.

Core:
Keep your body in a straight line from your head to your toes.

Fulcrum:
Support your body at "three points": both palms and your feet together.

A push-up is the act of bending and extending your elbows from this state to move your body up and down.

Because you try to keep your body straight during the movement, it has the wonderful benefit of strengthening not only your upper body but also your "core muscles" at the same time.

The part that changes the most is the "pectoralis major"!

For men, a thick chest; for women, a bust lift...

The muscle most strongly trained by push-ups is the large muscle on the front of the chest called the "pectoralis major".

When the pectoralis major is firmly toned, there are many happy effects.

For men:
You get a masculine, thick chest that looks great in a T-shirt.

For women:
You can expect a "bust-up effect" that keeps the chest position high and creates a beautiful décolleté...

However, to efficiently develop or tone the pectoralis major, it is essential to "firmly contract the muscles."

Keeping your left and right shoulder blades pulled together is super important

Actually, just by doing push-ups and moving your body up and down normally, you cannot fully utilize your pectoralis major muscles 100%.

As shown in the illustration above, the pectoralis major muscle starts from the chest and connects to the arm bone. (Origin and insertion of the pectoralis major)

Many people tend to think that "if I move my body up and down significantly, the muscles should move properly"...

However, there is a big pitfall here.

The more you bend and extend your arms and perform push-ups with a large range of motion, the more you naturally end up moving your "shoulder blades" to support the movement.

The secret to drastically changing the effect lies in "fixing the shoulder blades"!
Let's compare two states here.

The shoulder blades also move forward, and the elbows are fully extended.

At first glance, it looks like it is moving a lot, but in reality, the chest muscles are not being fully engaged.

Super effective push-ups: A state where the left and right shoulder blades are pulled tightly toward the center of the back (keeping the chest out) and the elbows are fully extended.

It is obvious which one causes the pectoralis major to contract more strongly, isn't it?

Only by performing the movement with the shoulder blades firmly fixed can you contract the pectoralis major to its limit.

The golden rule for efficiently training the pectoralis major...

It is to "always keep the left and right shoulder blades pulled toward each other and maintain a chest-out position while performing the movement."

This rule of "fixing the shoulder blades" applies exactly the same to the "bench press," the king of weight training.

The bench press is an exercise where you lie on your back on a bench and raise and lower a barbell, but even here, maintaining a "form with the chest out and shoulder blades pulled together" is an absolute requirement.

If the shoulder blades move together at the moment you push the barbell up, not only will the stimulation to the pectoralis major escape, but it will also become an extremely dangerous situation.

As a result, the risk of damaging the inner muscles of the shoulder increases dramatically.

Summary: The golden rule for efficient body sculpting

The trick to training muscles most effectively...
is to physically bring the origin and insertion of the muscle as close together as possible.

This allows the muscle to contract to its maximum extent, delivering the strongest possible stimulus.

From your next workout, stop just counting repetitions and instead,while keeping your shoulder blades retracted,try performing your push-ups slowly and carefully.

You should be able to feel an amazingly effective sensation in your chest!

※※Author information for this article:

The content of this article is based on the essence of the book "7-Second Reverse Stretch" (PHP Institute) and has been reorganized to be easy to understand for the web.
I primarily share information on safe and effective body sculpting methods based on anatomy for seniors over 60.