on the following day: stay active with low-risk activities (hiking, walking…) outdoors.
Power-nap (20 min max) around noon, go to bed early, no alcohol, no carb-excesses (seems to massively impair REM sleep for me).
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On Sept. 20, 2022, six-time Individual CrossFit Games Champion Tia-Clair Toomey shared a video of her first Team training session with Brooke Wells on her YouTube channel. The pair will compete together in the Teams division at the upcoming 2022 Down Under Championship on Nov. 18-20, 2022, in Wollongong, Australia. Ellie Turner is the duo’s third teammate.
It’s an in-depth look at the first steps for Toomey and Wells before the Australian contest.
Toomey and Wells’ training session followed a pyramid rep scheme — where the reps performed in each exercise increase, peak, and then decrease as the workout progresses.
Here’s a rundown of their complete workout, which took place over three rounds:
9 bar muscle-ups
18 calories on the ski erg
36 GHD sit-ups
18 calories on the ski erg
9 bar muscle-ups
Rest one-for-one — meaning an equal work-to-rest ratio
Notably, when Wells diagrammed the workout on a whiteboard, Toomey admitted to not having performed any muscle-ups since her historic performance at the 2022 CrossFit Games. While not explicitly stated, the pair also worked through some barbell overhead walking lunges and time on an Assault bike, and closed their routine with 40 minutes of “easy” cardio on a stationary bike. The purpose of the cardio is to help Toomey acclimate to her target heart rate as she tries to get back into top-notch shape following some time off after the Games.
Post-workout, Toomey noted she felt a degree of fatigue. That might have been related to both her time off and recovery from a back injury.
According to a recent September video testimonial, Toomey’s appearance at the 2022 Down Under Championship will be her first in a Team competition in over five years. Most of Toomey’s recent focus has been on winning the Individual CrossFit Games for a record six consecutive times, surpassing five-time Fittest Man On Earth® Mat Fraser. For the 25-year-old Wells, who finished in fifth place at the 2022 CrossFit Games, it will be her first Team appearance since a fifth-place Regional result with Team 540 Beefy in 2014.
Toomey is the defending Rogue Invitational Champion, and the 2022 edition of that competition is scheduled for Oct. 28-30, in Austin, TX. However, at the time of this writing, the athlete has not confirmed she would defend her title in Texas.
Whatever the near future holds in store for Toomey as a Team competitor, her past Individual precedent says she and her teammates could put on a show in Australia.
Featured image: Tia-Clair Toomey & Shane Orr on YouTube
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On Sept. 19, 2022, Larry “Wheels” Williams shared an Instagram video where he successfully locked out 15 reps of a 224.5-kilogram (495-pound) back squatraw with wraps. The athlete wore a lifting belt and knee wraps and used a safety squat bar — which can limit shoulder rotation and eases potential stress on them.
Wheels says he used the safety squat bar because of shoulder inflammation from some arm wrestling and traditional back squats with a straight barbell. Wheels set out for an AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) squat set but apparently “left a few reps in the tank” as an added precaution because he hadn’t squatted in a while.
Wheels’ leg endurance and power feat is related to his preparation for a “mock” powerlifting meet while on Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). While he hasn’t disclosed a concrete date for the mock, Wheels plans to test out his strength on the powerlifting staples of the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Wheels’ Switch to TRT
In a late August 2022 video on his YouTube channel, Wheels revealed that he would stop using steroids “indefinitely.” He maintained that he had been on some degree of performance-enhancing drugs for the last decade and wanted to see what he could accomplish without their assistance. As a substitute, because the athlete’s body no longer produces testosterone naturally, he started using TRT.
With a goal of using 175 milligrams of TRT per week, Wheels would continue pushing forward with his general fitness. If a future blood work appointment with a doctor makes clear that Wheels needs less TRT, he will then decrease the size of his doses accordingly.
Some early results from Wheels’ transition to TRT include the athlete showing off a noticeably leaner physique in September 2022 after apparently using the therapy for about a month. A week later, the athlete would simultaneously test his raw bench press and squat strength. He would cap his bench press routine by finishing a five-rep set of 224 kilograms (494 pounds). In the first instance that Wheels had squatted since injuring his back and withdrawing from the 2022 Middle East’s Strongest Man, his last set was 269.9 kilograms (595.1 pounds) for another five reps.
For context, according to Wheels’ social media, the most he’s ever bench-pressed raw was a successful 307-kilogram (675-pound) rep from May 2022. Meanwhile, Wheels once squatted 430.9 kilograms (950 pounds) during a September 2021 training session.
Editor’s Note: Breaking Muscle is not making a moral or ethical statement about the athlete’s actions. This article reports on what the athlete notes about themselves. Breaking Muscle is not a certified medical resource and does not endorse the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
In late July 2022, after revealing his back injury, Wheels noted that his long-term training goal was still to attain a 456.3-kilograms (1,000-pound) deadlift eventually. This might have been around when he started using TRT. At the time of this writing, without steroids in the picture, the athlete has not clarified whether he would still push for that hallowed mark in the immediate future.
For now, it seems Wheels wants to focus on what his body is capable of on its own.
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The 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC) UK will take place on Sept. 24, 2022, in Marston Green, England. It is a segment of the overall Arnold Sports Festival UK, which takes place over the course of the entire weekend.
The one-day contest will see 14 different top-notch strongmen tackle respective events such as the Super Yoke and the traditional closing Atlas stones. Here’s the confirmed roster of competitors for the 2022 ASC:
Notably, the defending champion of the Arnold Strongman Classic UK, Evan Singleton, will not return to defend his title this year. Singleton toppled Oleksii Novikov (second place) and Trey Mitchell (third place) to win the inaugural edition in 2021.
Here’s an overview of the competitive events in Marston Green.
Super Yoke
Each competitor will have to move a 500-kilogram (1,102.3-pound) yoke during this event as fast as they can. Athletes like Novikov and Hooper might be the favorites for this portion due to their unique combination of agility and strength. In particular, Hooper seemed to thrive with speed events during a 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) early-round blitz.
Deadlift
The 2022 ASC’s Deadlift event is for reps. Athletes will attempt to successfully lock out a 370-kilogram (815.7-pound) deadlift as many times as they can. While it’s different from a traditional deadlift with a barbell, Novikov could again be one of the favorites after pulling 15 reps of a Car Deadlift during the 2022 WSM.
The Bar Over Bar event will also be predicated on speed. The athletes that can move their respective implements the fastest will be in a far more favorable position.
Dumbbell Press
During the Dumbbell Press, the competitors will attempt to complete a 100-kilogram (220.5-pound) dumbbell press. With a dumbbell press of 153.2 kilograms (337.8 pounds) from an October 2021 training session, Novikov is once more in a quality spot. That mark would have surpassed Mateusz Kieliszkowski’s official record by 3.2 kilograms (7.1 pounds) if it occurred during a sanctioned competition.
As one of the closing events of the 2022 ASC, the Arnold Stone Carry might be about the heavier athletes utilizing their power and who will still have energy after a grueling contest. Some of those competitors like Žydrūnas Savickas, for example, could elect to concede a degree of points on agility-related events so they can perform better during the carry.
Atlas Stones
A strongman tradition continues to push ahead. The Atlas Stones, once more, close a strongman competition. Every athlete’s Atlas Stone run will be determined by their cumulative score from the previous five events. Those scores will have more weight and might determine who wins the final segment. With their agile builds, Hooper and Novikov could be the favorites here, but that will only be clear once most of the dust settles on the 2022 ASC.
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Derek Lunsford is the reigning 212 Olympia champion but won’t be defending that title at the 2022 Mr. Olympia after recently getting a special invitation to the Men’s Open division. The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFFB) Pro League member and his coach Hany Rambod recently had a candid conversation about what went into the division transition. Plus, they quickly diagrammed how the athlete will approach his upcoming training for the contest.
On Sept. 19, 2022, a video of their discussion was posted to Rambod’s YouTube channel.
According to Lunsford and Rambod, the pair initially thought of shifting the bodybuilder to the Men’s Open division in May 2022. After the athlete had guest-posed — and held his own — at the 2022 Pittsburgh Pro alongside names like two-time reigning Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, Nick Walker, Brandon Curry, and Hunter Labrada, Lunsford and Rambod began to consider the possibility.
Notably, Rambod had concerns that Lunsford wouldn’t be able to make weight for the 212 category again. When Chief Olympia Officer Dan Solomon suggested that Lunsford was “nowhere near 212 pounds” in a July episode of Olympia TV on YouTube, the writing might have been on the wall for Lunsford’s eventual special invitation.
To explain his rationale behind moving to the Men’s Open, Lunsford maintains that he had a desire to keep building mass.
“I could just feel my body wanting to grow,” said Lunsford. “After earning the 212 Mr. Olympia title last year (2021), I took a break for a little bit, but I just wanted to keep getting better every single day. For me, it was like we achieved something, and now I want to see how much better I can be. So, I just didn’t want to stop.”
In the aftermath of his 212 Olympia victory, Lunsford noted that he kept training hard and gaining weight no matter what he did to mitigate the growth.
“After the Olympia, I kept training, eating clean, doing cardio, and feeling good, but I started to gain weight,” Lunsford said. “I tried to keep my weight under 240 pounds, and if we could max out at 240, we’d be good.”
Lunsford and Rambod know they’ll face tough sledding in a competitive division with Elssbiay, Walker, Labrada, and Curry. To prepare for the slate of elite peers, Rambod clarified the bodybuilder’s next steps, which will focus a lot on preparing his upper body.
“For him [Lunsford], it’s going to be about his back, his chest, his shoulders, his arms, and continuing to grow his outer sweep,” Rambod said. “His legs are going to look stronger now.”
As for why Lunsford ultimately wanted to move up to the Men’s Open, weight fluctuation wasn’t the only reason per Rambod. The answer is simple — Lunsford wants to be in the company of all-time greats.
“Derek [Lunsford] wanted to win the Sandow Trophy [in the Open division] and be like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Haney, Jay Cutler, Phil Heath — all of them,” Rambod said. “It’s about what your end goal is and what your dream of winning is.”
If Lunsford were to win the Mr. Olympia, he’d be the first man to win two Sandows in two Olympia divisions. The 2022 Mr. Olympia is set to occur in Las Vegas, NV, from December 16-18, 2022.
Hey folks, Board-Certified Health Coach Erin Power is here to talk about social media triggers and tidying up your feed. If you find social media hurting your well-being, we’ve got strategies, tips, and backup! Have a question you’d like to ask our health coaches? Leave it below in the comments or over in the Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook group.
Annie asked:
“I switched to Primal a few months ago, and it’s going pretty well. Before that, I had a long history of on-and-off-again dieting and calorie counting. FINALLY, I’m starting to feel like I can just eat real food and let the weight watching go (without gaining weight in the process). The problem: Part of what helped me go Primal was following hashtags on Instagram like #paleo #primal #keto, etc. This actually helped me stick with it and feel part of a community of people eating this way and loving life. BUT lately I’ve noticed myself getting super triggered by certain posts. Usually these are women who are super thin (maybe anorexic) using paleo and keto hashtags. While I’ve come a long way, I don’t look anything like that. It triggers old habits around food and body image. How do I deal with this but keep the good parts of social media inspiration? Sorry for the long question lol.”
First, welcome to the Primal eating crew, and congratulations on your conscious efforts to surround yourself with supportive messaging and community. Creating a supportive environment is HUGE when it comes to implementing and sticking with habit shifts and healthy change efforts.
I’d like to acknowledge you, as well, for noticing what’s NOT working when it comes to social media and your well-being. That awareness is an overlooked first step of self-care. In the end, we are our number 1 caretakers. By recognizing what is helpful and what is not, you can take steps to choose what truly nourishes you.
Tidy your feed, tidy your mind.
As you mentioned, social media can be a tremendous support for Primal eating and living. In a world where so much messaging (online and IRL) is NOT health conscious, it’s nice knowing you can go online and see or even connect with the many people embracing healthy lifestyles and having fun along the way. Good for you for seeking out community as you make supportive shifts.
That said, social media is a mixed blessing. You never know who or what might enter your feed. This is the case whether you follow certain hashtags or if the platform feeds you “recommended” or “suggested” posts and ads based on your previous activity.
As a Primal Health Coach, I work with many clients who have a history of eating disorders or other unhelpful patterns related to food, eating, and weight loss culture. One of the first things I do is recommend that they take a close look at what content and messaging they’re consuming on a daily basis—including on social media. Is it helpful? Or not so much?
I notice this myself on Instagram from time to time and take immediate, proactive steps to edit out what’s triggering or not serving my best interest. I even have a saying: Tidy up your Instagram feed. Tidy up your mind.
If Instagram is recommending posts that you find triggering and unhelpful, make sure to flag them as “Not Interested.” You do this on the post itself, by clicking the three dots in the upper-right corner to see your options. Of course, if you follow the triggering account, unfollow! You can do so on the person’s profile page or by simply clicking those dots up top for the “Unfollow” option. If a particular hashtag seems to bring lots of triggering posts your way, unfollow that too. If the post is “sponsored,” you’ll see an option to stop seeing the ad.
Put simply: Anytime anything or anyone makes you feel badly about yourself or is derailing your healthy change efforts, take the power back and simply make it disappear. We’re focusing on Instagram, but this applies to all social media as well as other content you’re consuming online or in person. Unfortunately, you will have to do it again and again because this stuff always seems to creep back in. But there is something intentional and empowering about this exercise! If you do this often enough your feed DOES change.
Say no thanks, with care.
Current beauty ideals have come far but still have a long way to go. A lot of social media content tries to convince us to be as lean and light as possible (whether through overt messaging or through what’s implied in images and captions).
Since you’re already embracing a Primal lifestyle, you know that achieving a particular size or shape is not what we’re about. Yes, many folks reach their ideal body composition by eating a nutrient-dense diet comprised of real, whole, minimally processed foods; high-quality protein; healthy fats; fruits and veggies; and high-fat dairy. But the bigger picture is enhanced health, longevity, and vitality inside, regardless of how we look on the outside.
This is true, AND, so long as there are not underlying health conditions and so long as the 10 Primal Blueprint Rules are generally applied with at least 80% consistency, desired changes in body composition tend to happen naturally—without calorie counting or struggle.
As a Primal Health Coach, I see this as the norm with my clients, rather than the exception. I also see it as something that helps many step out of old, unhelpful patterns around food: At long last, they can eat delicious, healthy food in abundance and not worry about unwanted weight gain or trying to fight their body and biology. For most, this is the definition of food freedom.
I want to mention this, in part, because we can never know what people posting on social media are actually going through. I suspect many who post “triggering” content around weight and dieting are actually caught in their own places of suffering and struggle. They have not found the sort of “accidental food freedom” that comes along with the Primal approach to eating, moving, and living.
Rather than blame or shame them (or leave unkind comments), I try to send compassionate thoughts, remove them from my feed, and move on. I’m NOT saying this is easy or that I don’t stay triggered or even angry at times. Truthfully, it can be so, so hard to let a triggering image, caption, or comment go.
But the more we manage to remember that these are humans too, with their own vulnerabilities and places of struggle reinforced by widespread diet and beauty ideals, the more we are actively contributing to changing the current culture.
But back to you, Annie: You’re your number 1 caretaker and need to first and foremost take care of you. I just find considering the wider context helpful in softening the power of triggers, taking empowered action, and moving on.
Social Media Strategy & Support
To sum up:
DO follow accounts and hashtags that are supportive of your health, lifestyle, and food choices. They are a great source of inspiration, motivation, and community!
DON’T follow accounts or hashtags that make you feel bad about yourself or otherwise undermine the empowering, healthy changes you’re making.
Edit your social media feeds regularly, keeping what’s helpful and removing the rest.
Remember our shared humanness and proceed from a place of compassion and kindness whenever possible. We have no idea what others are going through behind the filtered lens of Instagram and other social media channels.
For anyone needing extra backup amidst the diet culture and unhelpful messaging, consider working with a health coach one-on-one. Imagine if you could take all the tips in a post like this and allllll the information that you’ve been gathering over the decades…and reliably and consistently implement them. That’s where coaches help!
External accountability truly is a game changer, and we can help you stay the course with your goals and navigate tricky social situations online and off. Visit myprimalcoach.com to learn more and get started!
Do you find social media helpful or harmful in your wellness journey? Have any tips to share? Let us know and drop your favorite, most supportive Instagram accounts in the comments!
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Most people will probably celebrate their birthday with a big, festive cake. They might even get some candles, presents, and confetti. And maybe Norwegian athlete Magne did all that for his 80th birthday, but he also deadlifted 150 kilograms (30.7 pounds).
On Sept. 19, 2022, an Instagram post from SATS Norge in Oslo, Norway, featured Magne — whose last name and body weight wasn’t publicized — completing the pull. Per the caption of the post, it’s a new personal record (PR) for the athlete. Magne managed the eye-opening feat by using an overhand grip and a conventional stance while wearing a lifting belt.
After completing a successful lockout, Magne walked his loaded barbell back into his rack instead of dropping the weight. He notably took several steps while fully locked out before finally releasing his pull. Magne’s accomplishment seemed to be met with universal praise by onlookers who uproariously congratulated him for reaching the impressive milestone as he started another decade on Earth.
According to the translated caption of the post, this deadlift benchmark was a long-standing ambition of the athlete’s. Magne and his physical therapist had previously wanted to time out this massive pull so that he would notch it when he turned 80. That’s because, the considerable strength aside, this deadlift had additional sentimental meaning to it for the athlete.
His wife is physically handicapped. Magne is training to be strong enough to help her so that she can continue to live at home.
Magne is an official member of SATS Norge, a Norwegian gym that emphasizes full-body workouts. According to the organization’s website, the gym offers different extensive programs ranging from indoor running and cycling to strength training and demanding HIIT routines. Members can work out on their own, with a certified personal trainer, or even sign up for collaborative group sessions in the confines of the gym’s complex.
At the time of this writing, it is unclear how long Magne has been training with SATS Norge. Judging by these noteworthy results, it seems apparent he’s getting precisely what he wants out of his commitment. If this is the high standard the newly-minted 80-year-old establishes with his deadlift, it might only be a matter of time before he reaches even greater heights.
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Jonathan Cayco is one of powerlifting’s more accomplished and decorated active competitors. After falling just short of defending his International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World title in June 2022, he’s starting to look like a strength sports athlete on a mission.
On Sept. 19, 2022, Cayco shared an Instagram video of himself completing a 260-kilogram (574-pound) raw back squat for eight reps during a training session. Per the caption of Cayco’s post, it’s a new personal record (PR) for the athlete. Cayco wore a lifting belt, wrist wraps, and knee sleeves to help him notch the milestone.
At the time of this writing, Cayco’s PR doesn’t appear to be connected to any sanctioned competition on the horizon. However, it seems to be the latest in a line of noteworthy training feats and progress that he regularly makes a point to share on social media.
While it isn’t a PR per se, the man called “Mr. Bench” in his Instagram bio did complete a high-level bench press of 205 kilograms (452 pounds) for four reps just two days before this new squat PR. It was undoubtedly a routine befitting of a competitor with the current IPF World Record in the 93-kilogram division (238.5 kilograms/525.8 pounds). Cayco set that record at the 2022 IPF Worlds in an overall third-place finish.
Just a week prior to this new leg power performance marker, Cayco matched his former 250-kilogram (551-pound) eight-rep squat PR with ease. Then, in early September 2022, the athlete finished a deadlift of 295.3 kilograms (651 pounds) for a six-rep PR.
Here’s a rundown of Cayco’s all-time raw competition bests:
Cayco’s recent training blitz might be partly motivated by his third-place results at the 2022 IPF Worlds. While he did take home the new bench press IPF World Record, Cayco didn’t successfully defend his 93KG World title. In a record-breaking appearance in Sun City, South Africa, Chance Mitchell vaulted ahead of his peer for first place instead.
Cayco reflected on what’s next in a candid Instagram post after the fact.
“It’s a weird pill to swallow for how it went down, but at the end of the day, it is my job to lift what is loaded on the bar,” Cayco wrote in a June 13 Instagram post. “I do not blame anyone but myself for my lack of performance. I am ashamed but also transparent. But we roll with the punches!”
Those “punches” might be what the 29-year-old Cayco needed to push forward through the next phase of his continued hopeful fruitful career. Judging by his early output following the defeat, it seems he’s making good on his commitment to coming back better and stronger than ever when he does compete next.
“It is kind of refreshing to lose,” Cayco wrote. ” … It really reignited something in me that may have settled as I got older alongside winning for the past four years.”
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Push-ups might be one of the few exercises that most people on the planet have performed (or attempted to perform). Whether it’s as part of physical education in school, in a fitness test, or as a quick and simple way to get into better shape, many people are familiar with hitting the deck and pressing away.
Credit: LightField Studios / Shutterstock
The push-up is one of the most fundamental bodyweight exercises, accessible to anyone, anywhere. Its usefulness as a test of upper body strength and core stability make it a mainstay for physical fitness assessments. Unfortunately, lifters sometimes regard the exercise as being “too basic” and not challenging enough.
Here’s a refresher on why the classic push-up should be part of your training plan, whether you’re new to fitness or a lifelong lifter.
The goal of a push-up is to lower yourself down towards the floor, graze the ground, and then push back up. Keep in mind the phrase “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” from the levitating game from classic kids’ sleepovers or classic ’90s teenage witch movies.
For an efficient push-up, your whole body has to work together. It’s not just “a chest exercise.” All of the muscles — from your head to your toes — are going to work to keep your body in a powerful and stable position. When all of your muscles are working together, you’ll be at your strongest and the movement will be at its most efficient.
Step 1 — Begin in a Tall Plank Position
Credit: Morit Summers
Get on the ground and support your body with your hands and the balls of your feet. Keep your arms and legs straight. Set your hands directly under your shoulders, just about shoulder-width apart. You may need to be a little wider depending on your frame and arm length.
Squeeze your glutes and tuck your hips toward your belly button. This will help keep your core from sagging. Keep your ribs and hips in alignment. It’s okay if your back ends up slightly rounded, because that’s more stable than having a sagging core.
Form Tip: For increased upper back stability and a stronger shoulder position, pull your shoulders toward your feet, away from your ears. For so many exercises, it’s important to lock your shoulders into place. Drilling this habit with the push-up is one effective way to learn a strong pressing posture.
Step 2 — Pull Yourself to the Ground
Credit: Morit Summers
Don’t just drop into the bottom position. Think about pulling yourself down toward the ground. You want to be in total control of your movement. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lower yourself toward the floor. Maintain a “stiff as a board” plank position from your torso through your legs.
As your body descends, aim your elbows at roughly 45-degrees between your feet and shoulders. Feel muscular tension increasing in your chest, shoulders, and triceps as you approach the bottom position. Lower yourself as far as your mobility allows, with the goal of touching the floor.
Form Tip: Don’t allow your elbows to flare out as you lower yourself because it can increase stress on your shoulder joints. You may need to adjust your hand position to allow proper elbow tracking. If your fingers are pointed towards each other, your elbows will be more likely to flair. Position your hands with your fingers pointed straight ahead or slightly outward.
Step 3 — Press to Return to the Top Position
Credit: Morit Summers
Once you graze the ground with your chest, or reach your lowest possible depth, push through your hands and feet to bring your body away from the ground. Keep your legs straight, but use the muscular tension stored head-to-toe to make your body “light as a feather.”
Apply steady force until your arms are fully locked and you’ve returned to the starting position. Pause briefly in the tall plank position and re-engage your core before beginning the next repetition.
Form Tip: You can change the tempo (rep speed) to adjust the difficulty of the exercise. Moving at a slower pace will increase the total time under tension and increase muscle recruitment, which can increase the muscle-building stimulus. (1)(2)
Push-Up Mistakes to Avoid
There are many different mistakes that can happen in a push-up because the movement involves coordinating your entire body from head to toe. However, the most common mistakes usually occur at your arms and in your core. Here’s what to watch out for.
Elbows Flaring Out
One frequent mistake is allowing your elbows to flare out during the exercise. For better results with less joint stress, be sure to keep your elbows at about 45-degrees. Don’t allow them to point sideways toward the walls.
Credit: Patricia Perez R / Shutterstock
Your elbow position can vary slightly depending on your individual arm length and leverages, but letting your elbows spread out toward your shoulders shifts more strain to your shoulder and elbow joints.
Avoid It: When you set up to begin the exercise, lock your shoulders into place by “un-shrugging” and pulling them away from your ears. When your elbows flare, it can drive your shoulders up toward your ears. By securing strong shoulders, your shoulders help to keep your elbows in position. Also be aware of maintaining this strong shoulder position as you begin pushing from the bottom of the movement.
Sagging Core
Another major mistake is your core sagging down toward the floor. Instead of falling out of core alignment, keep your rib cage and hips stacked evenly. This is the same fully engaged position you need during many standing exercises, like the overhead press.
Credit: Dmytrenko Vlad / Shutterstock
When your core sags down and breaks the stable plank position, it’s an indicator that you’re not holding tension in your core. With this unstable position, the rest of the movement will be out of alignment. It also puts unwanted pressure on your spine, which can potentially lead to injury.
Avoid it: Many people have been told too many times that their butts are “too high in the air” while doing planks, so they try to compensate and the opposite occurs — they end up sagging to the ground.
It would be more effective to have your butt “too high” while you are gaining strength with the movement, rather than have your core sag down and compromise spinal stability. Tuck your pelvis and rib cage toward your belly button, as if doing a basic crunch. Hold this strong core position as you focus on lowering your body as one unit.
Benefits of the Push-Up
Push-ups have several benefits including general muscular strength, muscular endurance, core stability, and longevity. Here’s a closer look at why you should work on this simple and effective bodyweight movement.
Upper Body Strength
Push-ups are one of the most complete upper body, bodyweight exercises you can do. Without needing any training equipment whatsoever, you can challenge your chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles, as well as your core and hips.
Credit: antoniodiaz / Shutterstock
Your legs, and even your back muscles, are also recruited as stabilizers to control your body’s movement during the exercise.
Versatility
Push-ups can build muscular size, endurance, or general strength. Each goal may involve different volumes (sets and reps) or intensity techniques, but the push-up is a quick and effective option to train for nearly any goal without any training equipment.
Relative Strength
The push-up is an efficient way to build, maintain, or monitor relative strength — being “strong for your size” or having a high degree of functional strength. Because it requires you to lift your bodyweight, the push-up can help to ensure or monitor relative strength gains as you build muscle. This may also be one reason why push-up capacity has been associated with general cardiovascular health. (3)
Muscles Worked by the Push-Up
Push-ups are most commonly known for working the pectoralis muscles (your chest), but push-ups work several other muscles throughout the body.
Pectoralis Major and Pec Minor
The pec major is the primary “chest muscle” and it is responsible for pulling the arms toward the body’s centerline. The is composed of two separate heads — the sternocostal and the clavicular — which work together during most movements.
Credit: oleksboiko / Shutterstock
The pectoralis minor is a supportive, stabilizing muscle located beneath the pec major. It plays a role in joint stability and is heavily recruited as the shoulder blades move during the exercise. The pec muscles are stretched as you descend toward the ground and they strongly contract as you push up from the floor.
Serratus
The serratus are found alongside your ribs, sometimes considered “armpit muscles” because they run near your underarm. This stabilizer muscle aids in keeping your shoulders and scapula in a strong, locked-in position as your arms press and extend during push-ups. They are significantly recruited as your approach lockout at the top of each repetition.
Triceps Brachii
Your triceps are made of three separate heads — the lateral, the long, and the medial. Because the triceps are responsible for straightening your arms at the elbow joint, they are recruited during all pressing exercises, including the push-up.
The triceps are more significantly activated if you perform a relatively close-grip push-up, as opposed to using a shoulder-width or greater hand position, which recruits more pec muscle. (4)
Anterior Deltoid
These muscles are found on the front of your shoulders. The anterior deltoids help to control arm movement in front of your body. During push-ups, the muscles lengthen as they aid in controlling your descent. They contract when you apply force to the top of the movement.
Abdominals
Your abdominals, running along the front of your torso, act as a brace and provide upper body strength and support in conjunction with your hips and lower back. The abs are recruited to maintain a stable and efficient total-body pressing position. They are not put through any significant range of motion during push-ups. They work statically, holding one position from start to finish.
Who Should Do the Push-Up
Push-ups are for everyone — from bodybuilders and strength athletes to the general population who just want to be able to lift their kids. The simplicity and versatility of the push-up make it an useful exercise for the majority of people in the gym.
Bodybuilders and Physique-Focused Lifters
While the push-up may not offer relatively heavy loads, unless you add a weighted vest or other external resistance, its convenience and practicality make it an effective choice for supersets during a chest workout — immediately performing a set of push-ups after a set of dumbbell flyes, for example.
This is a simple way to increase total training volume and intensity during a workout, which can lead to improved muscle growth.
Strength Athletes
Lifters who continuously move heavy loads with barbell or dumbbell exercises can achieve comparable strength-building benefits from push-ups performed with added resistance. (5)(6) This allows load-focused lifters to increase their strength while reducing wear and tear on their shoulders and elbows from repetitive exercises.
General Trainees
Because push-ups are a fundamental bodyweight exercise, they are an excellent way to build functional, real-world strength with quick, efficient training. (7) The ability to perform push-ups anywhere there’s room on the ground (any room of the house, for example) makes it an ideal exercise for people who find it difficult to schedule consistent gym time.
How to Program the Push-Up
The beauty of bodyweight movements is that the range of volume (sets and reps) and intensity can be very broad. The volume and intensity depends on your goals and ability. If you are more advanced, you can either do more volume or you can make the push-up more challenging. If you’re still learning the movement, focus on racking up quality repetitions instead of pushing your limits.
Unweighted, Low Repetition
When you’re first learning the push-up and establishing basic strength in the movement, you don’t need to do a ton of repetitions because your form will start to break down from fatigue. Three to four sets of four to six reps is a good place to start.
You’ll benefit from performing a few solid repetitions with perfect technique to create good movement patterns, and slowly increasing the volume.
Unweighted, High Repetition
High-repetition training can be an effective way to build muscle without putting your joints under any significant load. (8) Once you’ve mastered push-up technique, aiming to reach muscular fatigue for two to three sets of 25 or more repetitions can be a unique muscle-building stimulus for the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
In this high-rep range, your abdominals are also significantly challenged from holding the static support position for the duration of each set.
Weighted, Moderate Repetition
Advanced lifters, in particular, can benefit from adding resistance with a weighted vest, loaded backpack, or other alternative, and performing three to four sets of 10 to 15 repetitions. This is a time-tested approach, similar to traditional weight training, which challenges the muscles with significant time under tension to promote muscle growth.
Push-Up Variations
The beauty of push-ups is the incredibly long list of variations, which make push-ups suitable for just about everyone. Understanding the ability to regress, progress, or just have other options available will help you be able to learn push-ups or incorporate them into your existing program.
Incline Push-Up
Incline push-ups allow you to do a full range of motion push-up using a “decreased” body weight because you shift the leverage.
Credit: Morit Summers
While incline push-ups are a regression (easier version) of the standard push-up, it can still be progressed by gradually lowering the height you use. You can start by leaning on a wall at a very high, nearly upright, angle and slowly progress your way to the floor.
Credit: Morit Summers
At home, you can use sturdy countertops, couches, or stairs to adjust your incline over time. At the gym, using a flat bench is a simple solution. A Smith machine is also an excellent way to make the exercise incrementally more challenging as you slowly move the bar down the rack toward the floor.
Negative Push-Up
Negative push-ups are another effective favorite because, not only are they great for beginners, but they can also provide a fantastic challenge for more advanced lifters.
Credit: Morit Summers
A “negative push-up,” simply means that you only focus on performing a slow, controlled descent (eccentric, or negative, phase) without trying to press yourself up to the starting position. You can “cheat” yourself back to the top by kneeling and resetting between each rep.
Credit: Morit Summers
Advanced lifters, however, can add a regular-speed press to the top position or perform a press using the same slow tempo for an increased challenge.
Negative push-ups help to learn control of the movement, they help to work on core stability and strength. Take at least five seconds to complete the negative phase of the repetition. The longer it takes, the harder it will be, which in turn helps to build upper body strength. When using a slower slow speed, simply focus on using proper form with full core engagement and stability.
Single-Leg Push-Up
If you want to make push-ups more challenging without throwing weights on your back, just remove a limb from your base of support. By keeping one leg raised in the air throughout the exercise, you’re focusing your core to engage even more drastically to stabilize your entire body through your hips and working leg. Alternate the raised leg with each set to ensure balanced strength development.
Once you’ve mastered single-leg push-ups, keep both legs on the ground and work on single-arm push-ups — arguably one of the most advanced bodyweight exercises. If/when the time comes that single-arm push-ups aren’t tough, it’s time for single-arm/single-leg push-ups. Really. Lift your right arm and left foot off the ground, perform reps, then switch sides.
Push-Up Alternatives
Some lifters still might not be ready for push-ups. Maybe they live where there’s no ground to press from. Who knows? Let’s talk about alternative exercises that work muscles similarly to a push-up.
Dips
Dips are right at the top of the list with push-ups, as far as bodyweight chest exercises go. In comparison to push-ups, dips are typically harder because you can’t push through the floor with your legs. It’s also a slightly more “vertical” body position, making you lift a higher percentage of your bodyweight. To make dips more accessible to a broader range of the population, the exercise often needs to be modified.
Credit: Morit Summers
Bench dips, using a flat bench or sturdy chair, let you brace your legs similar to performing incline push-ups. It will help to decrease the amount of your body weight being used, but the altered body angle will emphasize your triceps more than your chest.
Credit: Morit Summers
Performing dips with resistance bands is a very effective way to reduce the percentage of body weight you lift during the movement, allowing you to progress gradually. Dips do require a higher degree of upper back mobility and shoulder joint stability, so take your time progressing the movement and always work within a controlled range of motion.
Dumbbell Chest Press
The dumbbell chest press is a free weight alternative to the push-up. This basic exercise challenges all of the same muscles — chest, shoulders, and triceps — with the straightforward progression of added weight.
Credit: Morit Summers
The exercise is adaptable and can be performed on a flat, incline, or decline bench. Dumbbells also allow the wrists to rotate freely, which can adjust hand position for altered muscle recruitment or increased comfort on the wrists and elbows.
Credit: Morit Summers
You can even do dumbbell presses while lying on the floor to limit the range of motion, reduce shoulder strain, and increase triceps recruitment.
Bench Press
The big, basic, barbell bench press might be the most popular upper body exercise around. It’s a very effective alternative to the push-up and allows the use of potentially heavy weights.
Credit: Morit Summers
This staple exercise can be adapted, like the dumbbell variation, with multiple angles and adjusted ranges of motion (like lying on the floor instead of a bench).
Credit: Morit Summers
Many people jump to the barbell bench press as one of the first exercises they perform in the gym. But if they’ve ever practices push-ups at home, they’ve prepared themselves for the bench press without even realizing it.
FAQs
Why are push-ups so hard?
Push-ups challenge the whole body and require coordination and strength from head to toe — from your upper back and neck across your torso through your legs and into the ground.
Push-ups are hard for many people because it requires lifting your body weight off of the floor using the direct strength of your chest and arms, which are often undertrained, especially in beginners. With time, practice, and inevitable strength gains, the exercise can start to feel easier, more controlled, and much more natural.
Can I do push-ups every day?
The simple answer is: Yes. The more complicated answer is: Yes, but… don’t forget to listen to your body and rest your muscles as needed. When you’re just starting to learn how to do push-ups, performing five to 10 reps a day can help to build good patterns.
You can even do very low-rep sets multiple times throughout the day to benefit from “greasing the groove,” or building strength and technique with high frequency training.
However you need to make sure that you don’t train every day with high intensity and you don’t train to muscular failure. You need to rest the muscles and allow them to recover so that you don’t overtrain.
Get Pushin’ with the Push-Up
Everyone can do push-ups, anywhere, anytime. From young lifters to competitive athletes to elderly adults, push-ups can help to keep your training plan convenient and accessible so your body stays strong. You’re never too strong, too experienced, or too new to hit the deck and gimme 20. Or 10. Or even five perfect reps.
References
Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
Hsu, Hsiu-Hao & Chou, You-Li & Huang, Yen-Po & Huang, Ming-Jer & Lou, Shu-Zon & Pei, Paul & Chou, Hsi. (2011). Effect of Push-up Speed on Upper Extremity Training until Fatigue. Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering. 31. 10.5405/jmbe.844.
Yang J, Christophi CA, Farioli A, et al. Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(2):e188341. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.8341
Kim, Y. S., Kim, D. Y., & Ha, M. S. (2016). Effect of the push-up exercise at different palmar width on muscle activities. Journal of physical therapy science, 28(2), 446–449. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.28.446
Calatayud, J., Borreani, S., Colado, J. C., Martin, F., Tella, V., & Andersen, L. L. (2015). Bench press and push-up at comparable levels of muscle activity results in similar strength gains. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 29(1), 246–253. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000589
Kotarsky, C. J., Christensen, B. K., Miller, J. S., & Hackney, K. J. (2018). Effect of Progressive Calisthenic Push-up Training on Muscle Strength and Thickness. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 32(3), 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002345
Harrison, Jeffrey. (2010). Bodyweight Training: A Return To Basics. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 32. 52-55. 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181d5575c.
Schoenfeld, B. J., Peterson, M. D., Ogborn, D., Contreras, B., & Sonmez, G. T. (2015). Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 29(10), 2954–2963. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000958
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
William “The Conqueror” Bonac has been a regular fixture in the competitive bodybuilding scene for over a decade. After finishing in the top five in five of the last six Mr. Olympia contests (2016-2021), the Men’s Open athlete’s latest mass-building update might say he’s finally ready to climb the Olympia summit this December.
On Sept. 18, 2022, Bonac’s nutritionist Chad Nichols shared a picture on Instagram where he said the bodybuilder weighed 120.3 kilograms (265.2 pounds) at the end of his training off-season. (Note: Nichols appeared to make a typo with the precise numbers of Bonac’s weight details.) According to Nichols’ caption, Bonac’s initial off-season body weight goal was 120 kilograms (264.5 pounds).
Bonac plans to take his newly-bulked physique to the 2022 Mr. Olympia this late fall. The contest will take place on Dec. 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV. According to NPC News Online, like some of his peers in other competitions, Bonac earned automatic qualification for this year’s Olympia by winning the 2022 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League Boston Pro. In other notable results from this year, the Ghanaian competitor finished second at the 2022 Arnold Sports Festival to former Olympia winner (2019), Brandon Curry.
As a bodybuilder, Bonac has been on the doorstep of greatness at the Olympia for a little while now. It wasn’t always this way, which might speak to his commitment and growth as an overall professional.
In 2014, Bonac finished in 15th place at the 2014 Mr. Olympia — his debut at the competition. Just a year later, in 2015, Bonac cracked the top 10 with an eighth-place result. By 2016, Bonac had a top-five Mr. Olympia placing to his name. That figure is more or less where Bonac has hovered around since sans the arguable peak of his career when he took home second place at the 2019 Mr. Olympia. Curry won that edition of the prestigious contest.
Here’s a rundown of some of Bonac’s more noteworthy career results to date:
William Bonac | Notable Career Results
2014 Golden State Pro (Men’s Open) — First place | First career victory
2014 Mr. Olympia (Men’s Open) — First place | Competition debut
2015 Dayana Cadeau Pro (Men’s Open) — First place
2015 Mr. Olympia (Men’s Open) — Eighth place
2016 Mr. Olympia (Men’s Open) — Fifth place
2018, 2020 Arnold Sports Festival (Men’s Open) — First place
2019 Arnold Classic Australia (Men’s Open) — First place
2019 Mr. Olympia (Men’s Open) — Second place | Best Olympia result to date
2021 Mr. Olympia (Men’s Open) — Sixth place
2022 Boston Pro (Men’s Open) — First place | Earned 2022 Olympia qualification with victory
For Bonac to finally stand on top of the Olympia podium, he’ll have to overcome a cadre of elite competitors. With two-time reigning Olympia champion Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Ellsbiay leading a list of names that also features Curry, Nick Walker, Hunter Labrada, and Hadi Choopan — the Men’s Open division isn’t lacking for top-notch talent this year.
Such a field of athletes might make it tough sledding for Bonac in Las Vegas. Then again, with Bonac’s past consistency in the account, this could only be the culminating cap to a long and winding journey.
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