Time Under Tension Push-Ups

 When it comes to Push-Ups, they're one of the top essential forms of Bodyweight Training. Been used for as long as before the Roman Empire and has more variations than we can even care to count. Learning dozens of them myself over the years. The amount of variations is not what's important, what is important is how valuable are they to you and what you want to do for various goals. 

The military uses the standard push-up mainly in all branches and are a cornerstone for testing a man & women's upper body strength. In sports, push-ups have been a part of programs since the early days of Kushti, a style of wrestling from India. They would what we today call the Hindu Push-up. Some call it cat push-ups, others call it judo push-ups (or a variation of it) but all in all, its a pretty damn good one. Karl Gotch made this a primary next to the squats for his wrestlers.

Push-ups can be used in all sorts of ways...You can do them one handed, slow, fast, elevating the feet, using a wall, do them on balls, using handles such as the Push-Up Grip Spikes, use your fingers, your knuckles, your wrists and many others in between. In reality however, you can know all the variations but which ones work best for you?

One of the big methods of doing push-ups is doing them in high reps like hundreds to a thousand a day. People like Gotch, Herschel Walker, Ray Lewis, even the legendary actor Charles Bronson would do their training that way and were successful. Now, they did multiple variations with a rep/set scheme to build up to those high numbers and would do them throughout the day, at times in one workout. High reps or leading up to a certain number by the end of a workout or day are good and can build muscle, strength & endurance, but it's not meant for EVERYONE!!! Is it required from a general POV to do a high level of reps? No, unless you're in a sport, the military or have a certain goal, you can do them in different formats and still get great results. High reps are an option, that's really it. Is it impressive, hell yes. Shit I've done as many as 600 in one workout, not that many since and at times would up to 250-300 but 100 or so is more than even I will need since I got other ways to make things interesting.

When it comes to form, people debated what looks like the perfect push-up, crisp, sharp and keeping things smooth. The trouble is, people have different body types and not every form of a push-up is going to look like you're building muscle like a Dragon Ball Character. It depends on what you're shooting for. Some will do them in a shorter range of motion to build muscle in specific areas. Form can be a complex ideal but the objective is to utilize what gives that individual benefit and helps prevent injuries as much as possible.

It is very possible like any other method that injuries occur with push-ups if you don't respect the exercise and your form is so freakishly bad that tendonitis, rotator cuff issues, joint problems in the wrists and elbows can happen either over time or even during/after a workout. Pay attention to what you're doing. You don't need to set a record every fucking time. Be aware of how your body operates during certain variations.

Now, the point of this article is to not show several variations or tell you you shouldn't do push-ups in high reps, this is another option to look into especially for those who are over 40 and beyond and need something that doesn't always require killing yourself in order to get results. One way to go about them is doing what's called Time Under Tension in an Isometric format....

You hold a push-up let's say military style for example in the top position for a period, then hold at parallel but your chest doesn't touch the ground and hold that for a period. Simple really but the longer you hold either way, you're going to feel things not from typical repetition push-ups. You're building a different level of strength and control. It's not about speed, it's about precision and focus. This is constructed as a yielding isometric or in other words fighting gravity. You can do them on your palms, your knuckles or even on your fingertips if you're feeling ambitious but this style of TUT has incredible benefits for maintaining strength & endurance especially for older folks. You don't need to do a ton of them to feel it. 

Different ways to do this would be....

The 90 Second Push-up where you hold for 45 Seconds at the Plank Position and then 45 Seconds with arms bent staying in the middle point as best as possible and not letting your sternum touch the floor. 45 seconds may not seem long but when you're fighting to stay in alignment as you turn those muscles on, the contraction becomes the biggest entity. You're not flexing at 100% but you're using enough tension to where you're whole body is one unit. You can go longer if you wish or it it's possible for you but you catch my drift.

The other is doing Push-ups at different times without dropping to the floor. Let's say you want to do something for 2 minutes; you hold the top for 30 seconds, mid point for 30 seconds, top for 15, mid for 15, top for 15 & mid for 15 without ever having your chest or knees touch. That's 3 Push-ups in 2 minutes. May not seem like that long but again, you're fighting to stay aligned and you're not just building strength but endurance, control and teaching the body to act as one. 

These two alone can be done with different variations but I like them because they can be used as part of a workout in between other exercises. I'll do a 60-90 Sec Push-up in between Isometric Exercises where I would do 3 positions and then a push-up and repeat that a few times before calling a day. This works in unison focusing on Strength & Stamina at the same time and going from a Overcoming to a Yielding to challenge my body with little rest. I feel lighter on my feet, have energy, feel stronger and it works as prehab/rehab form as well keeping my joints healthy. 

There are many options and these two are another style you can do to make your training interesting. Is it the fountain of youth? Maybe, maybe not but none of us want to go through that "I've fallen and can't get up" phase of our lives and I believe Isometric Training is a great way to minimize or even prevent it even. Find what works for you and benefit from it. The way you train will indicate what your capabilities are later in life. Be amazingly awesome and kick ass. 

Important Aspects Of Overcoming Isometrics Creating Neural Strength

 The specific style of Isometrics isn't just working the tendons and ligaments, not to mention making you incredibly strong in the long run but it programs you to have an advantage of what's called Neural Strength. What does this mean? It means the strength of the signal to your brain that goes directly to the muscles. The stronger that signal is, your muscle fibers will be engaged a lot more in a given time next to the contraction of the muscle. The advantage you receive is due to what's called, Force-Velocity or something along those lines in the realm of Physiology. The idea is your basic format of, the more contraction you create, the slower you move. 

Excessive Tension that is used in sports can make or break within that sport. Say with Boxing or Sprinting, if you use excessive tension, it's not going to bold well because those sports are not meant to be used in a slow manner, they're more on the lines of Speed which downplays the tension to an extent. On the other hand, something like Powerlifting or some Strongman Lifts require a lot of tension which in turn creates a slower movement in order to move a great amount of weight.

 To challenge your strength, the method needed is to not be allowed to go at a high rate of speed. The slower, the more tension utilized in the muscles. The slowest however, is to not move at all, in other words, Isometrics. The elimination of moving through space, you throw limitation out the window to see how much you can contract a muscle. Feel free to find out what is possible (without heavy risk of injury) to squeeze just about everything which in turn will condition your neural strength. 

Overcoming Isometrics is one of the safest forms of exercise and comfortable ways to learn how much tension you can build. Doesn't matter of you're a beginner or a seasoned veteran, you can create heavy tension that pushes new levels of strength you didn't think were possible. Be amazingly awesome and work on your Isometric Training. 

One Of The Fastest Fat Burning Methods

To burn or not to burn? That is the question. The way certain people train, they try different things like weight lifting, bodyweight exercise, aerobics, sports specific strength training and/or Yoga. We don’t always look to finding ways to not only build muscle but burn the fat off as well like a furnace. If I had to pick one of the fastest methods to burn fat faster than just about anything else is the use of Isometrics.

            When it comes to Isometrics, when done properly they torch the fat as if it was being cooked on a grill. There are many ways to use Isometrics and you can do them just about at any given time. Some look at them as just positions or holding a plank. Isometrics incorporates the 2 structured links that bring harmony to the Mind/Muscle Connection because if you try to do one or the other it’s not going to fit right so using the two is like bringing PB & J together or Fruits & Veggies, The bat and the Baseball or a football to a quarterback that kind of connection. Anybody can hold some kind of position but when you hit the muscles in a specific position whether you do it all out for a few seconds or easing the tension and hold for more than a minute the way your mind fights, the body will follow.

            I've experimented with many types of isometrics including various postures, holding in an arm Wrestling position, parts of a body weight exercise like the Hindu Push-up and tried unusual types of Isometrics from the Nebraskan Wild-man Steve Justa. When you a hold a position, your nervous system shifts into overdrive and your working more than a specific muscle, your whole body comes into play. I've held positions ranging from 5 seconds to 10 straight minutes and the same principle applies no matter what you do.

            I've been experimenting holding and pulling in various positions for Arm Wrestling and what I've noticed is how the muscles begin to tire after a bit but the power is still there. No matter what you want to work on, I would bet Isometrics will help you get that little edge you need. Fat Burning using isometrics will strip fat off your body because when you hold a position, the body builds internal heat and because of the strength to hold the position all the fibers start firing and that causes the body to burn fat. 

            Isometrics when you apply them with intensity and using specific breathing patterns, they can make you feel lighter and move better with speed. Ease up on the tension of a specific hold and hold for 1 min. You will that after that one minute you work that position with a dynamic movement and your body moves with a bit more speed and power but you feel lighter at the same time. Steve Justa uses one particular method doing Jerk Reps which means you’re still contracting but using very little movements to the point where an inch or so is all you need. This still gives you that lighter feeling and your body feels good and relaxed afterwards. Keep your mind open and remember that when you practice Isometrics, your body will begin to change, kind of like natural reconstruction, your muscles will be more defined, your tendons will feel like steel rods and your strength will increase and fat will pour out of your body like crazy.