Slow Moving Push-Ups

 Every now and then I like to test my strength in various ways and with the training or demo videos I've put up on tik tok recently it's starting to slowly get noticed which I'm grateful for. I'm not big on push-ups these days but it's cool to see what's possible and how much strength it takes to do something you normally don't do. 

I test myself in how slow I can do a push-ups in a variety of ways and one of them was to see if I can do one push-up within a minute or so on my fists. For some, it's not that difficult but for others, it takes a lot of strength and patience to keep the tension going and I'm happy to say I've done it. You can view it HERE. Another video I tested myself on was doing a Fingertip Push-up and seeing if I can even do a minute, after a few attempts, I did in just over a minute. That one hurt (discomforting not painful) and still feeling some of the effects just in my thumbs but I'm glad I did it. You can view it HERE. This was more about how strong my tendons are and how far I've come in my training. Safe to say, I'm not doing this again anytime soon.

Doing push-ups slower builds a different level of strength and endurance that might actually be safer than doing dozens to hundreds of push-ups a day. Doing them slower tests your not just the muscles but the structure itself and learning to control your body in a different manner. Think about it, if someone can do 100 Push-ups in a row and someone can do just 1 Push-up that takes just as long as 100 Push-ups who's stronger? Either one has awesome strength and endurance but when it comes to control, that 1 Push-up might have to take the cake. It's basically a Dynamic Tension exercise where you create tension as you move. 

I've always believed in challenging yourself to see what is possible and if you never do it again afterwards, that's awesome and you know that at one time or another you made something possible and nobody can take that away from you. I started doing slower push-ups when I was doing DDP Yoga for a period and doing 9-30 count Push-ups were hard but I loved the challenge. It tested me in a way that still makes me work hard to this day when it comes to a challenge. After doing thousands of Push-ups over the years, doing them slower actually feels better and seeing strength from a different point of view. 

That one minute plus Fingertip Push-up however, was one of the hardest I've ever attempted and although I didn't think or a second my fingers would dislocate, I still felt the discomfort from pressing that hard into the mat and trying to control my body, as you see in the video, I start shaking really hard during that last part of the ascent, I didn't want to fail so I kept going. I even made it a challenge on Tik Tok and only one person took it, it was a female welsh fighter and she did her damndest, I applaud her for even attempting, it takes a toll on someone and you need very strong fingers to pull it off. 

So, even if you don't go after that kind of push-up, just doing regular push-ups slowly and see what is possible. You'd be surprised how much strength it takes to do one so damn slow that muscular strength isn't the only thing going into play. Give it a try and see how you do.