Many individuals under-estimate the power that push ups wield in building upper body strength and chest muscles. On the surface, pushups are plain and almost boring: up down, up down, up down -- that's it. However, most people, outside of physical fitness enthusiasts, only know about the military-style push ups that they endured in their Phys Ed class back in high school. Just as there is more than one way to climb a mountain and more than one way to skin a cat -- there is more than one way to do a pushup. Here are six types of pushups that you can do from home -- routines that will help you to build upper body strength and target your chest muscles. "Wide" pushups - Traditionally, pushups are performed with your hands being placed at shoulder width. Wide push ups, sometimes called "wide-stance pushups", require you to extend your hands beyond the width of your shoulders. Wide-stance pushups work your chest muscles more heavily than military-style pushups, so if chest definition is what you are looking for -- wide pushups are one exercise that will help you meet your goals. "Diamond" pushups - Diamond pushups, sometimes called "pyramid" pushups, require you to place your index fingers and thumbs together in the shape of a diamond during your push up workout. While diamond push ups tend to work your triceps more than your chest muscles, the benefits of modifying your hand placement during pushups, even if only a tiny bit, are undeniable. "Fist" pushups - Sometimes referred to as "knuckle" pushups, require the use of your fists, instead of the palms of your hands, to bear your body weight during the pushup. Fist pushups are beneficial because they target different areas of your body than traditional pushups, and may actually increase the effectiveness of your workout. Decline pushups - Instead of placing your feet on the floor, or using your knees, place your feet on a platform so that your head is lower than your feet. You can use a chair, a stepstool, or a bench -- pretty much anything that will allow you to raise your feet up so that they are higher than your head. These types of pushups work your upper chest muscles. Incline pushups - Incline pushups are the exact opposite of decline pushups -- instead of placing your feet higher than your head, your head should be higher than your feet for this exercise. Any sturdy surface that will allow you to perform the pushups unencumbered can be used. Incline pushups work your lower pectoral muscles. "Off the floor" pushups - If you are working out at home, you can perform raised pushups with the help of three sturdy chairs. By placing each of your hands on an opposite chair, and your feet on the third chair, you can increase the depth of your pushup and thereby increase the effectiveness of your workout routine. Tips to increase the effectiveness of your push up workouts: *Add weight during your pushups - If you are already strong, you can add weight to your back to work on increasing your muscle mass. However, this tip is only recommended for individuals who are already physically strong and can bear it. *Mix and match hand positions - Using the incline, decline, off-the-floor, or fist pushup positions, you can reposition your arms to target different chest and upper body muscles. Push ups are a great way to strengthen your upper body and build chest muscle at the same time. By mixing up your hand positions, and trying a few different styles of pushups -- you can increase the effectiveness of your at-home exercising and add a little bit of variation to your workout routine as well.
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