Health and Wellness: Your Friend the Push-up!

As long as you can do a push-up, you'll never have to worry about gym fees or standing in line to use your favorite weight machine or crowds or any other minor annoyance than can interrupt your workout. When it comes to health and wellness, there are enough variations of the push-up that you can perform that will hit your major muscle groups hard and fast while still allowing you time to enjoy other interests.

Truth be told, the conventional push-up - the one you did in grade school is really one of the worst things you can do. Because the basic push-up puts strain on your lower back, compresses the spine and stresses the lower abdomen. Much better to do decline push-ups on your knees (see photo) or half push-ups on your knees (see photo) or vertical push-ups against a wall or raised platform. Any of these variations reduce the pressure on your lower back while concentrating on your biceps, triceps and pectoral muscles.

I have written before about the positive benefits of the push-up (you can read all about it here) and although it's true I lift a lot of iron, I can always push-ups at home in a hotel or where ever my writing pursuits tend to take me.

Back in grade school, performing a push-up on your knees was often called a "girl's" push-up or worse. But I'm here to tell you that the trick to building muscle -- one of the tricks anyway -- is to push or pull your own bodyweight. If you can do that without stressing the rest of your body (namely your spine and lower abs) you will make decent gains. You don't think about this type of thing when you're in your 20's but you tend to feel these aches once you're in your 40's and beyond. And if you're already in that magic age group, doing these kids of push-ups will start you off on the right foot.

My favorite push-ups for health and wellness:

1) Push-ups on your knees: Think these are "sissy" push-ups? For starters try doing 50 push-ups. Keep your hands/arms at shoulder width apart. I wish I could be the proverbial fly-on-the-wall after your first set. Notice I said first set. Take a 2-minute break and do another 50 push-ups, this time with your hands together. Remember these should be easy - because after all, we're doing "girl's" push-ups! Gimme a break! After 100 push-ups your arms are going to be pumped! It may be a new feeling if you haven't worked out before, but I know plenty of seasoned athletes who have trouble with this. You goal is 4 sets of 50 push-ups on your knees. Alternate with your hands apart and together. If 50 is too many then aim for 4 x 25 push-ups.

2) Decline push-ups on knees (see photos): I recommend you start out with a small decline and then increase as needed. As you continue raising yourself up (remember to keep your legs bent at the knees) the focus of the push-up will shift more from your biceps and triceps and segue into your pecs and shoulders. Again - your goal is 4 sets of 50 push-ups and don't forget to alternate your hands.

I recommend doing push-ups on your knees twice a day, three days a week for two weeks. For example in the morning and evening (but not too late in the evening). Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After two weeks start with declines and do those exclusively for two weeks.

After your first month of "two-a-days" your goal is to combine the two techniques: four sets of regular push-ups and four sets of declines. That is a whopping eight sets of 50 push-ups, twice a day and 3 days a week!

By all means send me a photo of yourself "before" and "after!"

Currently my push-up routine is part of a larger workout but you can build up to something more intense or stick to these basics. The big goal is longevity: you want to workout and KEEP working out throughout your life.

When it comes to health and wellness, the simple push-up is one of the best things for you. They can be done anywhere and at any time and you will definitely see progress in your overall health and physical appearance.