subject: Your London Personal Trainer Recommends The Press-up! [print this page] The well-loved and well practised press-up is an old favourite among exercise fans the world over. In this article Your London Personal Trainer explains why this simple exercise can be so
effective for beginners and exercise junkies alike.
The press-up incorporates the use of many muscle groups all working in a coordinated manner to achieve the result. The
easiest version will be with the knees on the floor at a right angle to your body, and the arms slightly in front of you, a
little bit wider than your shoulders. Then move your chest down towards the floor while keeping your stomach tight and your
back in a neutral curve.
The further you move the knees back, the harder the exercise becomes. This is until you reach the point where your knees are
off the ground and you are balancing on your hands at the front and your toes at the back. This is known as the full
press-up. There are many variations on the full press-up and the degree of difficulty can be adjusted in some simple ways.
For example;
To make the muscles work harder, slow down the motion by going up and down in four movements. The movement would go like
this, halfway down (pause) then fully down, halfway up (pause) then fully up.
To make the triceps work harder, simply bring the hands closer together in the middle.
To make the pectoral muscles work harder, simply move the arms wider.
