Fitness trends come and go, but a few exercises have stood the test of time over generations of fitness enthusiasts, and chief among them is the humble pushup. There’s a good reason this bodyweight exercise has maintained its popularity in pretty much every workout repertoire—it sculpts a strong, chiseled upper body, enhances your core stability, and promotes overall functional fitness.
In fact, there might be only one drawback to the pushup: For all its benefits, it’s only one exercise. It can get repetitive. After a while, a basic pushup might even get too easy. So, how can you still reap the benefits, stay challenged, never get bored, but still take advantage of the hassle-free simplicity of this exercise? The answer is to mix it up with variations.
Why Pushups?
If you’re not doing pushups as part of your workout, it’s time to start! Pushups have a ton of health benefits, targeting major muscle groups across your upper body. Doing a pushup will work your chest, shoulders, arms, back, and abdominals, helping you build strength and improve muscle definition. Pushups are also among a group of moves referred to as “compound exercises,” meaning they work multiple muscle groups at the same time. This is good for your functional fitness, helping you perform everyday activities with lessened fatigue.
One of the most attractive aspects of pushups though is the fact that they can be done pretty much anywhere. You don’t need any equipment to do a basic pushup—just a horizontal surface large enough for you to lie down on. Plus, because you’re moving your own bodyweight, there is less risk of injury that you might face when doing other strength-training activities.
Varying Your Pushups
Once you’ve mastered the basic pushup, it’s time to start mixing it up and doing the move in different ways. This will keep your workout interesting not simply because you’re avoiding the same exercise the same way over and over again, but also it provides you with new challenges that will help you grow stronger or even target different muscles. Note that some of these variations will require some basic equipment, but you’ll find most of them are still accessible and easily done from anywhere.
Wide Grip Pushups: The easiest way to vary a pushup? Just spread your arms and place your hands a little wider on the floor in front of you. Going beyond the basic shoulder width helps you target and challenge your chest muscles to a greater extent.
Close Grip Pushups: On the other hand, you can also try bringing your hands closer together, which will put most emphasis on your triceps. See whether you can bring your hands together so close that your thumbs touch, forming a diamond shape with your index fingers, and perform the pushup while still keeping good form.
Decline Pushup: For this one, all you will need is a slightly elevated surface, such as a bench or stairs. Balance your toes on the higher level while keeping your hands on the ground—this will increase the challenge, as it shifts more of your weight onto your upper body. The higher the elevation of your feet, the greater the challenge, so once you’ve mastered having your feet on one step, see whether you can go up a second step. (You can also reverse yourself and perform an incline pushup, where your upper body is elevated on your steps/bench and your feet are on the floor—this move is easier than a traditional pushup and a great option if you’re a beginner.)
Plyometric Pushups: You might dread the thought of these, but they’re a great exercise for building explosive power. Also known as clap pushups, the plyometric variation requires you to push yourself up off the ground so that your hands leave the floor for only a second. Quickly clap, then catch yourself by planting your hands back in their starting position before you can fall.
One-Armed Pushup: Just what it sounds like—see whether you can balance yourself successfully on one arm instead of both, then lower yourself to the floor and back up again. Using only one arm improves your sense of balance and provides a much greater challenge to the one side of your body. Once you’ve worked one side to fatigue, switch and do pushups from the other arm.
Spidermans: In this variation, you’re going to move your legs like a spider climbing a wall. As you lower your body to the ground, draw one leg forward, bringing your knee as close to your elbow as you can. Return your leg to the starting position as you push your arms back up, then repeat using your other leg.
Archers: Assume a basic pushup position but place one hand farther in front of you and the other hand slightly closer to your waist. Perform a pushup, shifting your weight as necessary to stay balanced. Switch the positions of your hands and repeat.
