21 January 09 - 06:09Handstand Pushups or Shoulder Presses - Which is Better
What is the difference I hear you ask? For most people the answer would be nothing.
Whether you sit on a shoulder press machine and press your equivalent
bodyweight above your head or kick up into a handstand (against a wall
) and lower head to the floor and push back up again, there does not
seem to be a difference.
You would think that if you could do one, then you could do the other.
Well in 99% of cases, that is not the case. Surprisingly, for most
people and especially those who lift weights, handstand pushups are far
harder to perform than shoulder presses.
In a shoulder press movement, and especially on a seated press machine,
you do not use a single muscle to balance yourself. By using the
secondary muscles in the shoulders, you are working them a lot more and
from different directions as you keep balance in a handstand pushup.
More effort is needed and greater shoulder strength required to perform
a handstand pushup.
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21 January 09 - 06:06The Advantages of Doing Pushups
In my opinion, pushups are the single most effective exercise for
improving total body fitness. They offer the benefits of weight
lifting, stretching and cardio vascular training all in one exercise.
For a beginner, pushups can be very difficult because of how many
muscles are involved. Many of which are under trained in the body of a
beginner. In fact, even many seasoned bench press veterans have trouble
doing high-rep pushup workouts because their secondary and stabilizer
muscles are untrained.
Holding the proper form is a great exercise alone, without even
performing any repetitions. The pushup form benefits the abdominal
muscles in the same way that Arnold Presses benefit the biceps, by
simultaneously flexing and stretching. When the lower back muscles
contract to stabilize your form, your abdominal muscles are
inadvertently stretched. The quadriceps is also relied on heavily to
maintain proper form, giving your legs a decent secondary workout. ...
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13 January 09 - 06:20Leg Assisted Pull Ups vs Conventional Pull Ups
Here's a tricky question for you. In which instance are you doing more physical work?
1. When you perform 10 conventional pull ups *, or
2. When you perform 10 unconventional, leg assisted pull ups in which you're allowed to keep your feet flat on the floor while your legs help you move your body up and down through the pull up range of motion on the bar?
The answer of course is that you're doing precisely the SAME amount of physical work, moving the same exact weight through the same exact distance in both instances. Now the difficulty of doing that amount of work using only your arms in the conventional edition is much greater, because you're eliminating the leg assistance. And by adding your legs back into the equation the exercise becomes much easier. But in both cases though, the amount of physical work being performed is exactly the same.
With that said, why would anyone want to consider doing leg assisted pull ups instead of conventional pull ups? ...
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13 January 09 - 06:18Get a shaped Body From Pullups
t's been said that pullups are so good for a persons body, that if all they did was pullups they'd still have an amazing physique! It's true, if you want to gain strength while toning, pullups are the answer. Okay so you might not even be able to do a pullup. That's alright, considering that the vast majority have trouble doing pullups. It's an exercise like anything that you get better at.
The great thing about pullups is not only do they benefit you physically they also are extremely inexpensive to do. You really don't need any expensive equipment to do them. You don't need weights or a spotter or anything like that. The amazing thing is that pullups are just as effective if not more effective then any other workout routine you are doing right now.
With a pullup its all about keeping good form and doing as many as you can with good form. As soon as you find yourself getting tired and slipping into sloppy form you should immediately take a break or short rest and start up again ...
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