BUILD STRONG SHOULDERS WITHOUT TOUCHING A WEIGHT!

 

Pike Push-Ups: The Ultimate Bodyweight Exercise for a Powerful Upper Body 

Looking to amp up your upper body strength training at home without any fancy equipment? Look no further than the pike push-up. This one compound bodyweight exercise is a game-changer when you don't have access to barbells, dumbbells, or resistance bands. 

What makes the pike push-up so effective is how it vertically loads the body, shifting the weight to the fronts of your shoulders (the anterior deltoids) in a way that mimics an overhead press. It's a step up from a standard push-up in terms of intensity and muscle activation.

Regularly incorporating pike push-ups into your routine helps build the foundation for advanced moves like handstands and handstand push-ups. At the same time, it improves your mobility, shoulder stability, balance and flexibility. The key muscle groups targeted are the anterior deltoids, triceps, pecs, and core.

So how do you perform a pike push-up with proper form? Here's a quick step-by-step:

1. Start in a push-up position with arms extended and wrists under shoulders 

2. Brace your core and lift your hips up and back, like a downward dog pose

3. Press through your hands and walk your feet in a few steps, shifting your weight forward 

4. Rise up onto the balls of your feet, keeping your legs straight (or soften the knees if needed)

5. Pull your elbows in toward your ribs as you lower your head toward the floor

6. Pause at the bottom, then press back up. Aim for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps.

As you build strength and want an extra challenge, try elevating your feet on a box or step to increase the load on your upper body. You can also hold light weights in your hands or place your feet on an unstable surface like a swiss ball.

On the flip side, if you need to scale it back, you can bend your knees more and focus on reaching your head closer to the mat. Elevating your hands on a step helps decrease the difficulty as well.

The beauty of bodyweight training is that it improves your relative strength and overall movement quality, which translates to better performance when you do load up the weights. But as with any resistance exercise, make sure you nail down the form using just your own bodyweight before adding external resistance.

Give pike push-ups a shot in your next upper body workout and let me know what you think! It may just become your new favorite push-up variation for building shoulder boulders and upper body power.