Almost everyone knows how to do a basic push-up, but there are a lot of variations. Army Times recently sat down with John Peterson, author of several fitness books, and Mark Lauren, a former fitness instructor for Air Force special operations, to discuss the wide variety of push-ups used around the world.
"Push-ups, when properly performed, do not beat up your joints and connective tissues the way that machines do," Peterson told the Army Times. A favorite of his is the "Atlas" push-up, where you place your feet on a chair and can put your hands on chairs too.
The Atlas stretches pecs, builds endurance and lung capacity, and can sculpt and improve your range of motion while strengthening the muscles. Performing push-ups on your fists can toughen knuckles and strengthen wrists more effectively than standard open-palm push-ups.
Remember to support muscle growth with enough protein, and look into supplements to boost your performance. For example, studies by the Kansas State University Dept. of Anatomy and Physiology have shown that nitric oxide may help skeletal muscle building by dilating blood vessels to allow greater flow of oxygen during endurance training workouts.
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