55, 56, 57.. Are you tired of counting endless reps of push-ups? 

Get more out of your push-ups by developing your skill of creating tension during the push-up.

Why is tension important? 
Because the skill of developing body tension will take you far in your pursuit of strength, well beyond just push-ups.   Without me switching into my fitness nerd and boring you - I'll just say this:  the best lifters (the ones that get the most out of their potential strength ability) know how to get tight.  That goes for body-weight, barbell, kettlebell, etc.

Tension specific to the push-up
Visualize that you are getting ready to do 50 push-ups.  You don't really think about what it requires, you just use your minimal strength/energy requirement needed to go through a push-up motion 50 times (by the time you get to 50, it probably looks a bit different than the first rep). 

Contrast that with creating tension in all your muscles and squeezing all the energy possible out of each rep.  Imagine summoning the all the energy of your body creating a super rigid tight body while touching your nose to the floor.  Then rise back up as one unit. 

When you are good at it, you can turn your push-up into a total body exercise.

The cool thing is you are in control of your volume of intensity.  So in theory after you develop the skill you could crank up your intensity and get 1 or 2 super tight crisp push-ups and then have to take a break because you squeezed all the energy out of your nervous & muscular systems.

Beyond just making your push-ups more challenging, you are formulating a strong core unit built for pressing.  This skill will transfer over to your overhead presses , your bench presses, and if you dare, single arm push-ups.

The set-up
Hands just outside the chest, feet are shoulder width or slightly wider if needed.
Hands push hard into the ground (often this will help you find your triceps), create torque by twisting right hand counter clockwise while left hand twists clockwise (often this will help you find your lats/back).  Brace mid-section, as if a kick to the guts is on it's way (these are your "core muscles").  Dig your feet hard into the ground (often this will help you find your leg muscles).  Now squeeze your butt muscles as tight as you can.  Now "keep" that tension and do a push-up (don't forget to breathe, to stay tight & still breathe takes practice).

If you need more help to find tension, have a partner poke you in your mid-section, lats, legs, glutes - that can help bring "awareness" to where you are lacking tension & help to create it.

It often helps in the beginning to practice dialing in each of these cues one at a time.  But the goal is not to focus on a specific muscle.  It is to practice generating and collecting all this tension.  Keep the tension while performing the movement, & still breathe while you keep tight.

Demo video below:

Yes, there is a lot going on.  But think of the implications.  You could turn the push-up into a total body workout, get a tough current session, and help to improve the tension generation of your pressing movements (bench &/or overhead press).


Play with it - have fun.  It is a skill and takes practicing to make better.  The beauty of it, is YOU have control of the intensity dial.  You can make it harder or easier with your ability to generate tension.  And the more you practice the better you will get at it.

Scale-able
If push-ups are NOT easy for you yet.. No Problem!  You can still practice tension and scale the difficulty level. 
If you need to scale down the difficulty level raise the hands to a higher elevation.  



Closing Tips: 
1. Practice 1 cue at a time, and when that makes sense add another.
2. Always bring your elbows in towards your ribs on the down of the push-up.
3. Do not allow your butt to fly up in the air.
4. Upper body & lower body should move up & down as a unit (no one should think you are trying to do the worm).
5. If you catch your self not breathing, take a break.
6. If you feel like you are successfully generating a lot of tension shake it off or rock to loosen your systems back to a resting state.

If you are interested in starting a minimalist home body-weight program check out previous blog (here).

Valentine's Day is next week.  Why not practice flexing your love muscle this weekend!? 

Of course, I am speaking of your heart muscle.

Why is it important to flex your hear muscle?
The CDC reports the #1 leading cause of death is heart disease (#5 is stroke).

We  all know being active is a way to reduce our risk of many diseases. 

To lower your risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke, The American Heart Association has the recommendation of 30 minutes of activity per day for 5 days per week. 

You don't have a lot of discretionary time?  No problem!  If intensity is the same your body doesn't differentiate between 3 brisk walks of 10 minutes or a 30 minute brisk walk.  So break it up however you need to.

Take into consideration where you are starting.  You don't have to start by running or jogging.  You can start by walking or just consciously increasing your daily steps.  And you can track your steps with a pedometer (most smart phones have one built in). 

Now I am not saying you need to go to a gym and hop on the hamster wheel.  That sounds boring to me.  And I'm not preaching that you need to go run a marathon either.  That's sounds more work than fun (to me). 

But if at all possible, go do something fun this weekend.  Depending on your location you could bike, hike, ski, snow sled, play a pick up game.  The closer that activity is to what you deem is fun.. the more likely you are to do it. 

Don't forget about the kiddos! 

If you can spend 60 minutes playing with (a/some) kid(s) great things happen. 
My 2 favorite are:
1) If you let them, they'll teach you how to play again.. how to have fun again.
2) If you wear them out, they will sleep/nap amazingly!

Provided it doesn't rain, I am going to play with some kettlebells on the beach Saturday & walk a 1K with my son on Sunday.  What will you do?

Always Get Better
Always Get Stronger

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"Ok campers rise and shine!"

"Don't forget your booties because it's cold out there today."  Happy Groundhog's Day to you!

What's the big question on my chapped lips? 


 What are you going to do for the fitness of your 2017 self?

Are you going to hibernate for another 6 weeks?

Or are you ready to spring forward with your fitness goals?

If you are ready to awaken from the winter dormancy, great!  Don't worry about doing anything drastic.  Keep it simple and consistent.  Consider where you are staring (no need to burn yourself out in the beginning, before you really start).  Find something that you can make a habit that will align with your end goals.  Make sure it fits into your lifestyle (your available time).

If you are interested in starting, but have no equipment, check out my previous blog on an at home body-weight routine (here).  It is free

If you have recently joined a gym, but not really sure to do in the gym, check out the Exercise Tutorial Kindle book series (here).  It is free on kindle unlimited.  Otherwise under $10 each.

If you already have a routine, how long have you been doing it?  When's the last time you modified it?  Are you still experiencing results?  What are you missing?  If you want to take your training to the next level check out our Online Personal Training PDF option (here).  This is the advanced version and is $250 for 4 weeks.

Ever since I got married and had a son, I have become very fond of simple, minimal, effective programs.  If you have a busy life (kids, work, school, all of the above, etc) and your schedule feels full, check out our online pc/smart phone personalized training programs (here).  Together we can forge a program that will fit your schedule.  4 weeks for $199

If you already have a program that you enjoy - terrific!  Keep it up & pass this information along to a friend or family member that may benefit.

Always Get Better
Always Get Stronger

*Please share & like*
‪#‎followus‬ on instagram @alwaysgetbetterstronger
‪#‎likeus‬ on facebook Always Get Better Stronger