Which Is Better: The Push-Up or the Bench Press?

One of the most common questions that I get asked is, are push ups better or is the bench press better? While both have been used to get great results, the question still gets raised, which is superior? To know more on this topic, and to know which exercise should be your priority, click on the link below:

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A guide to basic stretching

In all my years of training and observing people working out in the gym, I have often noticed that when it comes to stretching, people either overdo it or under do it, I unfortunately fall in the latter category. In general, young people tend to under do it, while those above 45 tend to spend more time on stretching and low intensity aerobics. Very rarely (excluding athletes) do I see someone who gives equal attention to stretching, strength training, cardio and is well balanced. In this post I would like to share a very basic static stretching routine that will cover the entire body, and one that will not take too long.

How to do T rotations

If you are looking to work your arms and core in one move, then T rotations is a great exercise that you can do. It is an exercise that I highly recommend if you love bodyweight training. With most beginners I observe that their arms vibrate a lot when doing this exercise as if there is an earthquake taking place, so yes, it does work you hard. Below is the video of the exercise, so have a look before we get into the specifics.

How to do split squats

Working the legs hard is always very rewarding and also very challenging. No wonder then that gyms are full of massive upper bodies on top of bird legs when it comes to men, and for women it is a case of never slimming legs because those dam Pilates moves just dont seem to work. There are indeed very few trainees who make the effort to work hard on the lower body and choose intense exercises that really payback in the form of strong, lean and muscular legs. And as usual bodyweight exercises are a great choice when trying to get a great leg workout. Thus in this post I will share you with you how to get a highly effective exercise the split squat right.

The split squats is a unilateral leg move that hits your legs hard one at a time. It also helps in developing your core muscles to some degree due to the unstable nature of the move. Now some people mistakenly refer to split squats as lunges, which it is not. Yes the two are almost similar, but the major difference is that when doing lunges you need to take a step forward and back with each rep, and with split squats you just plant a foot forward and squat up and down without taking any step back or forward during the set.

How to do bodyweight squats

One of the best exercises that you can ever do is the good old bodyweight squats for a lot of repetitions. They help build muscle, endurance and burn fat in record time. And in my opinion learning to squat your own bodyweight is a basic movement that all human beings MUST learn to be able to do unless they have some injury that prohibits it. It is often very correctly said that you can get a great workout by doing a lot of bodyweight squats and no other exercise if you are short of time. So lets learn more about this fabulous exercise.

Benefits of bodyweight squats

• Build muscle- One of the best exercises to build those lower body muscles. Your quads, hams, and calves will benefit from this exercise and look a lot thicker and harder

• Burns fat- doing a lot of bodyweight squats especially after your weight workout will help boost your metabolism enough to help you burn a ton of calories and lose unwanted bodyfat. You will shape your legs much better with this exercise than you can with those silly leg extensions

• Builds lung power- as simple as this exercise may look the fact is that it works your lungs hard and builds a great deal of lung power when you do a lot of reps. A great option for cardio for those who hate running

Basic joint mobility warm up

A good warm is always an ideal to begin your sessions with. Jumping into intense training with no warm up is an idea that you may be able to get away with in your teenage years, but once you are older and your body becomes more unforgiving you will have to give proper warming up more respect, if you wish to be able to continue training your whole life (which is what you should want if you want optimal health).

Movement specific warm is a great idea if you start light. For eg if you are going to bench press, then some very light sets of 3-5 reps to get the target muscles warmed up is a good idea. However on most occasions and definitely on some occasions like when you are too stiff, too tired, its too cold, etc you may want to start off with joint mobility work to get those joints ready for the heavier action that is to follow. 

Weighted push ups to add intensity

Lets face it, after a point of time simply doing countless number of push ups becomes boring. To keep motivating yourself at every session to do 100's of reps of push ups can take a lot of "pushing" to do, mentally. Having said that, an exercise like the push up is a great exercise to have in your training arsenal, especially if you happen to train at home or in a gym that has a more dinosaur or primitive look to it (such gyms are great to keep it simple and get results). 

So if you have become good at the basic bodyweight push up then now add some weights to this classic exercise to increase the intensity and make it once fun once again. To do this variation of the push up you will need a friend or a training partner to place the weight safely on your back. So check out the demo video of me doing a few reps and then I will share some more points to keep in mind when doing this exercise.

How to do Hindu push ups correctly

Everyone loves a strong, muscular, and flexible upper body! Even if you happen to be a "squats guy" or a "6 pack guy", the fact is that good looking arms, chest and shoulders are a must to have that complete look. Of course having said that I must admit that with most trainees the problem is to get them to train their lower bodies rather than train their upper bodies. After all gyms are filled with "bench press champs".

In recent years a very old and traditional Indian exercise has become very popular in the strength and fitness community all over the world. That exercises is of course the Hindu push ups. In recent years this exercise has traveled from the local Indian style gymnasiums in India to the far corners of the world, and all have been enjoying the benefits of this wonderful exercise. So without further delay have a look at the video below featuring my training partner Samrat Sen demonstrating how the Hindu push ups are done.