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5 Unique Push-Up Variations to Help You Increase Strength & Size

July 14, 2015 By Todd Kuslikis 14 Comments

5 Push-Up Variations

It could be argued that the push-up is the most popular exercise ever invented. Before we had chrome plated dumbbells and Olympic sized barbells people had to rely on their own body weight for building strength.

Yet is the push-up outdated? Should it be used only as a simple conditioning exercise or as a “finisher” after the “real” weight-based exercises are completed?

Of course not.

There is still tremendous value to the push-up. It is the Godfather of all exercises so we must pay it due respect. Yet, descendants of this exercise have sprung up around the world to help bodyweight enthusiasts continue to improve their strength and build more muscle.

Today, I’d like to share with you my five favorite unique push-up variations to help you increase strength and size.

These exercises are super effective for three main reasons…

1. Challenge Different Muscle Groups

The typical push-up targets mostly the middle portion of the chest, front deltoids and triceps. In order to get stronger, you have to challenge your muscles from different angles and in unique ways. Some of these exercises you might have never heard of before, but after you try each of them, you’ll feel muscles you never knew you had.

2. Build Whole Body Strength

True bodyweight enthusiasts know that one of the greatest benefits to calisthenics exercises is that they build whole body strength. Isolation exercises can cause weak links in your armor that may eventually lead to an injury.

The exercises below surpass most other forms of exercise because they strengthen the entire chain (whole body) as a functional unit.

3. They Are Fun To Do!

Let’s be honest, haven’t you gotten tired of cranking out rep after rep of basic push-ups? When you add unique exercises to your normal routine it becomes fresh and exciting again. Which makes you WANT to do it!

That’s one of the most important aspects of fitness. Sure, getting a nice physique and becoming healthier is great, but we only get one life to live – why grudge through your normal routine? Have fun with it!

Changing up your exercises and adopting new and unique styles will help you do this.

Ok, now on to the exercises…

Variation 1: Barbwire Push-Up

The Barbwire Push-Up (also known as the Diver Bomber Push-Up) is great for developing strength through a large range of motion. You’ll work the upper, middle and lower portions of the chest along with the front, middle and rear delts.

One of the greatest benefits is that with each rep, you are improving spinal mobility. The spine is so important for keeping up your strength. As soon as your spine starts to stiffen you lose functionality which leads to poor performance.

How To Do The Barbwire Push-Up

Start off in a “Downward Dog Position”. Lower yourself down toward the floor as if you were sliding under barbwire. The more arc you can get in your spine the better. As you “slip under the barbwire” arch up while pressing down against the floor. At this point you should have a full arch in your back. Make sure to look up, too, which will extend the arch into your cervical spine.

Begin to arc back down “under the barbwire” while curving your spine the entire time. Press back to starting position.

Coaching Tips

1. The key to this exercise is getting a full range of motion. Make sure you that you are arching as much as you can.

2. To make the exercise easier you can do any number of modifications:

Perform the exercise on your knees (you won’t get much range of motion but it will still help you build strength).
Decrease the range of motion in your spine (i.e. don’t go down as far or arch up as high).
Do the first part of the movement normally but instead of arching back “under the barbwire” come straight to the starting position, which is also known as a Hindu Push-Up.

Variation 2: X Push-Up

The X Push-Up is one of the greatest exercises to develop whole body strength. Normally, with any exercise, you’ll have some muscles that are working much harder than others because the exercise targets a particular muscle group.

With the X Push-Up it seems that it targets ALL of your major muscle groups. In order to perform this exercise your chest, back, core, shoulders, and glutes will be firing on all cylinders.

How To Do The X Push-Up

From a normal push-up position, separate your legs so that your feet are 1.5x shoulder width. Then separate your hands 1.5x shoulder width and bring them up so they are NOT in line with your head. Your body will look like a big “X”. The further you separate your hands and the higher you bring them, the harder the exercise will be.

Lower yourself down until your nose gently touches the ground. Push back up.

Coaching Tips

1. It is important to maintain proper alignment when performing this exercise. One tip that will help you is to keep your glutes and core tight throughout every rep.

2. If the full X Push-Up is too difficult, bring your hands and legs in to 1.2x shoulder width. This will create less demand on your muscles and allow you to progress up to 1.5x shoulder width or even more.

Variation 3: Diamond Kiss Push-Up

The Diamond Kiss Push-Up is a go-to calisthenics exercise for developing strong triceps. It also helps to target the inner portion of the chest muscle and lats. You have probably heard that form is very important when performing any exercise. Well, when performing the Diamond Kiss Push-Up, it is especially important because you are putting tremendous demand on your shoulders. If you can not perform the exercise without your spine being perfectly in-line, then switch to an easier progression.

How To Do The Diamond Kiss Push-Up

Start off in a normal push-up position. Place your thumb and pointer finger together creating a diamond in-between. The diamond should be in line with your head. While keeping your spine perfectly straight lower yourself down until your nose touches the ground in between the diamond. Then press back up.

Coaching Tips

1. As mentioned before it is very important to keep your spine straight.

2. Elbow positioning is also important. While performing this exercise the more you flare your elbows out to the side, the greater likelihood of injury. Try to keep your elbows tucked close to your body as much as possible.

3. Easier Variations: If you can’t complete 5-6 reps of this variation I recommend separating the fingers so that there is more space between your hands. This will decrease the emphasis on your triceps and rely more upon your chest muscles. As your triceps get stronger you’ll be able to bring your hands in close.

Variation 4: Spider Push-Up

The Spider Push-Up is an exercise that incorporates abdominal specific training into the normal push-up. If you have a strong upper body this is a great exercise to incorporate into your training because it will help tighten not only your abs but also your obliques.

How To Do The Spider Push-Up

Start off in a normal push-up position. Lower yourself down like normal while simultaneously bringing your left knee up toward your left elbow. This may take some flexibility but eventually you’ll get it. After you reach the “down” position, press up to starting position while simultaneously bringing your left leg back. Repeat on the other side.

Coaching Tips

1. Maintain proper spinal alignment while performing this movement. You may find yourself arching up to get enough space to get your leg up. Don’t do this. If you don’t have enough flexibility to get your leg up high than just bring your leg up as high as you can (while maintaining form).

2. While performing the movement, consciously contract the abs. This will help you engage more muscle fibers and get more out of the movement.

Variation 5: Dolphin Push-Up

This is one of my favorite conditioning and strength movements. Is it the hardest progression? No. But it targets muscles you don’t normally work, which makes it challenging (especially when you get into high reps) and is very fun to do. Also, I’ll teach you a variation to make the exercise even harder.

How To Do The Dolphin Push-Up

Start off in the plank position, resting on your forearms and elbows. Lower yourself down a bit further (you won’t get a ton of range of motion but the little bit that you get will help to engage the middle rhomboid muscles in your back), then press your butt up into the air. Go as high as you can. You’ll feel muscles in your shoulders that aren’t normally targeted, which is great for developing a healthier shoulders.

Coaching Tips

1. Just like the Barbwire Push-Up, this exercise is focused on spinal mobility as well as developing strength. You don’t need to perform this exercise quickly. Keep a strong, steady pace and try to get as much range of motion as you can.

2. How To Make It Harder: Instead of resting on your forearms, start off on your hands. This is the “Horse Push-Up” variation and is harder than the Dolphin Push-Up. You’ll perform a normal push-up but instead of maintaining a straight spine up to starting position, you’ll lead with your butt and come up all the way to a downward dog position. This will increase range of motion in your spine and shoulders as well as put greater demands on your chest.

The traditional push-up is the Mac Daddy of all calisthenics, yet performing endless reps of the same exercise will eventually lead to diminishing returns. You must challenge your body in unique ways in order to get it to grow. You must apply the principles of Progressive Calisthenics so that it adapts and gets stronger. All of the above exercises are unique variations to the normal push-up. They’ll not only challenge you in new ways but also add more enjoyment to your routine.

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Todd Kuslikis is the founder of a bodyweight exercise blog called AShotofAdrenaline.net. He teaches men how to build muscle using only calisthenics. You can download his free 3 month bodyweight training program by clicking here.

Building an Indestructible Body with “Outside the Box” Exercises

August 12, 2014 By Logan Christopher 32 Comments

Al Kavadlo Back Of The Wrists Push-Ups

Push-ups. You move in one plane of motion, up and down.

Squats. The same thing. Pull-ups too.

Everyone here will agree that bodyweight exercises are great, but it’s important to realize that there are many, many different ways of doing them.

If all you ever do are one dimensional exercises, even if you build a lot of strength in them, your overall fitness and athleticism will remain one dimensional.

It’s a sad fact that one of the biggest things holding people back from hitting their training goals are injuries. Yet, with smart training these can largely be avoided. And if you do suffer from pain currently, there are always things you can do to work to improve your situation.

Whether you are rehabbing or pre-habbing (doing work that aims to prevent injuries), these exercises generally are the same.

So, what makes one of these exercises different than a regular exercise?

The focus on building flexibility and/or mobility along with a strength component.

The more mobile you are (up to a point), the more likely you can fully exert the strength of that joint and the surrounding tissue.

The more flexible you are (once again up to a point), the more likely you can fully exert the strength of that joint and the surrounding tissue.

When you recognize that strength must be used in combination with mobility and flexibility, then you see why you need to do more than just “straight line” and conventional exercises. The effects of this type of training help you to build an indestructible body.

Before we begin it is important that you move into these exercises slowly. While they will help strengthen your weak points, remember that you are still working on weak points! The difference between something that is good for you and something that is not, can be separated by very little intensity or volume, so you must ease in slowly. Be smart!

Cross Leg Squats

The knee is a simple hinge joint. As such, so many personal trainers and coaches become deathly afraid if it ever does anything outside of that ability. “If the knees go past the toes in a squat you’re going to wreck yourself!” they say.

But here’s the truth: If your body can move in a way, that ability can be strengthened. And if it is strengthened then you’ll have less of a chance for injury. Not only do cross leg squats work the knees, they stressing them in a plane of movement they don’t normally go—and the ankles get worked too.

Begin by sitting with your legs crossed, then rock your weight forwards and press on the sides of your feet, extending your legs until you come to a standing position. Make sure to try it with your legs crossed both ways.

For assistance you can grab onto a doorknob or other solid object to help. You don’t need to do a lot of reps, but instead work to make this an easy way you can get up from the ground at any time.

Logan Christopher Demonstrates the Cross Leg Squat

Sit to Cossack Squat

Was that last one too easy for you? I’m guessing that’s the case for many people reading here. So try this challenge.

Do a Cossack squat to one side while keeping the heel flat on the floor. Once at the bottom, sit back until your butt is sitting on the floor. Now rock back up to Cossack squat, switch sides and repeat.

If you need assistance use your hands to get back up, but the challenge is to do it without them, while trying to use as little momentum as possible. This takes some deep flexibility, and you may notice that your knees don’t necessarily track your toes.

This video shows it in action as well as the secret I found to performing it after much frustration and failure to do it.

One Arm Twisting Bridge

Let’s move onto the upper body. This is a fairly advanced move that I covered before here on the PCC Blog: One Arm Bridge, Twists, and the Valdez.

It’s so useful I’m bringing it up again. The twist in particular builds shoulder stability and strength in an extended range of motion. It even works the wrists in a flexible manner.

At the same time the spine is in full flexion and then twists. A big “no-no” that I say yes to!

If you can do this, there’s a good chance you don’t have issues with any of the joints mentioned above. If you can’t do it right now, but take the time to build up to it, your body will be that much more indestructible from your work.

Back of the Wrist Pushups

An important thing to realize when doing these “outside the box” exercises is that you can still follow the same rules of progress as you would in all your other training.

Back of the wrist push-ups are a great complement to doing lots of push-ups and handstands. In regular push-ups and handstands, your wrist is extended back. But here, you flex your wrist fully and put the weight on the back of the hand. This builds strength and toughness in the wrists, but also works the elbow joints in a big way.

Start slowly with these, as in kneeling push-ups. You can hold for time or rep them out. Progress to regular push-ups when you’re able to. Remember to go slow.

I decided to see just how far I could progress with this and worked my way up to a back of wrist handstand push-ups.

Adding Indestructible Exercises to Your Program

Here’s the great part about these exercises and the hundred, if not thousands, of other moves like them. You don’t need a whole lot to get the benefits.

Doing a few of these exercises, like a few reps in a single set, will be enough to get better at them, and reap the benefits.

Any of the following will work:

Add them to your warm-up.
Add them to your cool down.
Add them to your stretching program.
Add them to your mobility work.
Do a few on your off days.
Do them as part of a morning wake up routine.

You can work through your entire body or just focus on one area at a time.

If you enjoyed this article let me know in the comments section below. I’d love to share more exercises with you in the future!

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About Logan Christopher: Logan Christopher has been called a physical culture renaissance man as he is accomplished in a wide range of strength skills from kettlebell juggling, performing strongman stunts, and bodyweight exercises. He is the author of numerous books including Secrets of the Handstand and The Master Keys to Strength & Fitness. In addition, he’s spent the last several years going deep into mental training to find out what it takes to really excel and tactics that can help people instantly improve their exercises. You can find out more about all this at http://www.legendarystrength.com/.

Progressive Calisthenics: Like Riding A Bike

June 17, 2014 By Wayne Salter 2 Comments

Wayne Salter At Minneapolis PCC With Instructors

This past April, I was fortunate enough to attend the fifth Progressive Calisthenics Certification in Minneapolis, MN. I was a bit nervous about attending: I had recently undergone hand surgery, which kept me from working out for several months. Furthermore, just one month prior to PCC, I was diagnosed with a torn meniscus. At the age of 45, I was wondering if I was biting off more than I could chew. Leading up to PCC, I actually had dreams that would wake me at night of my knee giving out during the PCC’s final physical test, The Century…but luckily the knee held out and so did I!

As a police officer on a SWAT team, my fitness goals include getting in the best physical shape that I can and maintaining it for a lifetime. That means staying lean, strong, flexible and injury free. Unlike many commercial gym-goers, I don’t chase numeric goals or take expensive chemicals. I’m certainly not against mainstream fitness, but there is more to it to me than increased external poundage. Sadly, for a lot of people, it’s all too easy to get caught up in numbers or obsess over one single muscle. Many lose track of the purity of exercise and the unity of the human body, which is made to function as a whole.

Something I love about calisthenics is that just about all the moves require total body tension—elimination of perceived “isolation”. If you are questioning what I’m saying, try knocking out some one-arm pushups. If you can’t do them on the floor yet, then lean against a table, or even the wall, and try some. Seriously, go ahead and give it a shot! You will see that you MUST engage your whole body from your shoulder to your feet, or else you will end up in a twisted heap on the floor!

PCC helped me understand how bodyweight exercises can be adjusted in difficulty from beginner to advanced levels, even to the super-cool bodyweight feats of strength that Al and Danny Kavadlo are becoming famous for. Anyone can jump into the world of bodyweight training at whatever level is appropriate for them.

I’m finding a lot of people think PCC is just about learning some “cool” moves, but it’s much more. It’s learning techniques to use your body weight to do functional-type exercises and to be able to adjust the level of difficulty to fit a person at any fitness level – plus body weight exercises improve your body awareness, balance and flexibility.

PCC Instructor, Wayne Salter, Demonstrates a Clutch Flag I love analogies. The following is how I see calisthenics:

Calisthenic progressions can be compared to the use of a baby’s walker or even a circus performer’s unicycle, not to mention many things in between, all of which apply the principles of PCC. A baby’s walker is short and close to the ground, with several points of contact to the floor. This is similar to a modified push up on your knees – making the body shorter puts leverage in your favor, hence creating an easier regression. It is also similar to how a wide stance makes for an easier squat when compared to a narrow one.

Next, a toddler can progress to a tricycle – a little higher and with three points of contact. After a while, a child can ride a bicycle with training wheels – still three points of contact, but the points are closer together and the body is positioned higher, just like with the mighty pushup, which can be made easier by placing your feet farther apart and, conversely, tougher by bringing them together or even lifting one foot off the floor. Placing your feet on an elevated surface adds to the challenge as well.

Next is the classic bicycle. Even higher still, and with only two points of contact. A bicycle requires the rider to maintain balance. Many bodyweight exercises incorporate this element… Do you see a pattern? Handstands and Gecko Push-Ups are great examples of how balance affects the challenge. I tried and loved (and bought) a pair of Neuro-Grips at the PCC. If you really want to step up your game, try experimenting with push-ups, planks, or even L-Sits on these bad boys! You’ll see what I mean.

Wayne Salter PCC Neuro-Grips L-sit

I believe anything is possible. If a person has the desire, they can progress to the unicycle, one-arm pull-ups, pistol squats, elbow levers, and more. Like a unicycle, there is only one point of contact in these advanced variations.

A person can approach any particular exercise and pick it up at an appropriate level for them. The exercises and all their variations continue to make me stronger, leaner and more flexible – plus I’m strengthening my joints which goes a long way towards injury prevention.

Although I was partially attracted to PCC because of how physically impressive some of the advanced moves are, I also took home more practical knowledge and experience than I could have previously imagined. With a Progressive Calisthenics Certification, I’m not just looking forward to sharing the information with others, I’m looking forward to having a great time doing it, which is also what it’s all about. Working out shouldn’t be a chore – it can be fun… just like riding a bike!

Danny Kavadlo On Bicycle

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Wayne Salter served in the Army in the 82nd Airborne for four years and was a full time personal fitness trainer before becoming a police officer. He can be reached at: wayne0218@yahoo.com. He can also be reached through his website: www.exercise-guide-to-lose-weight.com