This is one of the few Old School (Old School) multi-joint exercises that are left over from the old, classic school of bodybuilding. In the 50s. of the last century, when the choice of simulators was not as extensive as it is now, push-ups on the uneven bars had no alternative. Over the years, they have remained the base for training triceps and pumping the pectoral muscles. Their undeniable advantage is that the degree of load can be adjusted by the position of the body and arms, as well as the width of the projectile. Although this is not the only plus, thanks to which they have many adherents.
Operating principle
The first thing athletes want to know is what muscles work when doing push-ups on the uneven bars. They are a general strengthening exercise for the entire upper body. Deltas and trapeziums are actively involved. You will not find anything more effective for the pectoral muscles, the emphasis is also shifting to the triceps.
If you spread your elbows as wide as possible and lean forward more, the load will be focused on the lower chest muscles. If the elbows are pressed to the body, and the angle of the body forward is minimal, the work will be done mainly by the triceps.
About anatomy. Triceps in their mass fraction make up about 2/3 of the shoulder, and their size plays a very important role in the formation of inflated, beautiful arms. By focusing only on the biceps, athletes will never get a harmoniously developed forearm.
Advantages and disadvantages
If we take into account the training of the chest, then push-ups from the uneven bars have no equal. At the same time, the level of injury risk when performing this exercise also rolls over. Therefore, including them in the training program, you need to get acquainted with both positive and negative points in advance.
Advantages
- Targeted study of the necessary muscles;
- a powerful push to perform all the bench press exercises;
- the most effective exercise for training the pectoral muscles: as a result, they will be drawn very beautifully, the deltas will increase in volume, the shoulders will expand;
- the formation of an athletic posture: a straight back, deployed shoulders, chest forward.
Flaws
- A fairly good physical preparation is required; with untrained triceps, it is difficult to perform push-ups;
- during the exercise, a very strong overextension of the shoulder occurs, so there are contraindications for its implementation: chronic dislocations and pain in the shoulder joints;
- increased risk of injury.
If you master the execution technique, observe contraindications and avoid annoying mistakes, you may not notice the shortcomings.
Records. In 1998, the English athlete Simon Kent performed 3,989 push-ups on the uneven bars in an hour. In 2002, Lincoln College (also from England) did 140 push-ups in 1 minute.
Execution rules
Due to the high injury risk, the technique must be worked out at 100%. You can’t increase the load and take on the proposed training schemes without mastering it. Otherwise, not only will you not achieve any results, but you also risk injuring your shoulder joints and neck.
Technique
- The warm-up should be devoted to warming up the shoulder girdle. This will reduce the risk of injury.
- It is necessary to start push-ups from the top point, since at the bottom, the muscles are in a stretched state, and the body itself is relaxed.
- Choose a comfortable and desired grip width. Firmly clamp the bars with a straight grip. The palms should be turned towards the body. Press the chin firmly against the chest.
- Shift the weight onto the arms off the legs, which are now crossing. Pull your shoulders back.
- Take a deep breath through your nose. Start a slow descent. The lower the speed, the safer and more efficient the load will be.
- Lock in at a comfortable depth. Bring the shoulder blades together, do not slouch. Shoulders should not go in different directions.
- The angle at the elbow at the bottom should be 90° or slightly less.
- Feeling the stretching of the muscles, you can finally exhale the air with your mouth and begin to rise smoothly. The main thing is to avoid jerks.
- At the moment of lifting, it is important not to make any movements with the head, not to swing the body. To fully control and stabilize the position of the body, it is necessary to strain the abs and buttocks as much as possible. But it is necessary to work exclusively at the expense of hands.
- Many people ask how to replace push-ups on the uneven bars so that the load is equivalent. You can offer a bench for the bench press, but even this, despite its popularity with bodybuilders, loads the chest less.
- Gradually increase the weight of the weights.
- Start with triceps-oriented push-ups. And from the next month of training, start doing the chest exercise.
- Follow the correct breathing: lowering is done on inhalation, lifting - on exhalation.
- To avoid injury, make sure that the width of the bars is slightly more than the width of the shoulders.
- No need to strive for maximum speed. The slower you learn to do this, the better the muscles will be worked out.
- Girls better start with the gravitron. If before that you have not been engaged in pumping your arms and chest, it will be difficult to complete the exercise. It is better to engage in a complex, according to a special complex.
If you can’t do push-ups the first time, you need to prepare the body for the load. As leading exercises, experts recommend (regular and wide), from the bench (emphasis on hands from behind).
Exercises
By slightly changing the execution technique, you can distribute the load in a different way and shift the focus to the desired muscle group. For complex development, work a month - in one style, a month - in another. Start with triceps, then move on to exercises with a wide grip for the chest.
- Focus on triceps
The body and spine should be as vertical as possible at any time during the push-up. Do not allow the neck to tilt back. The gaze is directed strictly forward, the chin looks at its lowest point on the floor. The legs are either straightened or crossed (as you prefer). The top point is a lockout - full extension of the elbows. The grip should correspond to the width of the shoulders or be slightly narrower. Hands are tightly pressed to the body. The elbows during the exercise move back, but not to the sides. Lowering - to an angle at the elbows of 90 °. With the right technique, the contraction of the triceps will be felt in full force.
- Emphasis on the chest
Change the position of the body - and instead of triceps, the chest will be pumped much more powerfully. Tilt your torso forward, and the lowest point at the time of lowering should be as deep as possible. Here you already need to do push-ups on wide bars that exceed (but not much) the width of your shoulders. Elbows are bred at an angle of 45 ° to the body. To ensure the correct tilt of the body, you need to press your chin to your chest, cross your legs, bend your knees and slightly move them forward. Going down to the maximum depth, you should feel the stretching of the pectoral muscles to the limit. At the top point, the arms do not fully straighten out so that there is no shift to the triceps.
- With weights
You can perform push-ups on bars with weights only after you have worked out the classic with your own weight in the scheme of 3 sets (1 minute interval) of 15 repetitions. To do this, you can use special weighted belts or vests. It is important to perform the lowering and lifting correctly - slowly, without jerking. The bottom point is the most dangerous, so you need to be extremely careful. Correctly draw up a training program with weight: start with minimal loads (in terms of kg and repetitions), gradually increasing them.
Weighted bar push-ups are considered the best alternative to barbell exercises.
- Partial Reps
Assume a partial lowering of the body (about half), not reaching the bottom point. It is recommended for experienced athletes to perform after the usual scheme in order to “finish off” the muscles.
- In the simulator
A good alternative to street bars can be a simulator, which is available in almost any gym. Push-ups in the gravitron will be distinguished by the presence of a counterweight. Even beginners can make them. The biceps and triceps are actively working here, but the pectoral muscles will receive a slightly smaller load. The required weight is set, the handrails are wrapped around with brushes, the legs are placed on a special step. Bend the body back. Elbows form a right angle. Shoulder blades as close as possible to each other. Straighten your arms at the elbows so that the muscles tense. This exercise is called the reverse push-up.
- Pronated grip
Experienced athletes who want to increase the load on the triceps can be advised to do push-ups on the uneven bars with a reverse grip (it is also called pronated). The main "trick" is to grab the bars with your palms away from you (it seems that your arms are turned out).
Schemes and training programs
You need to understand that training programs aimed at developing triceps strength and pumping up the chest will be different for beginners and more trained athletes.
General scheme
Both beginners and experienced athletes will need the following push-up scheme: 3 sets (the interval depends on physical fitness: from 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes) for 15 repetitions. During this time, all the target muscles will have time to tire. As soon as you feel an increase in strength, you can take on weights. But then you have to reduce the number of repetitions to 8-10 and increase them gradually along with the weight.
For newbies
For the more experienced
If physical fitness allows, you can use a more complex scheme. Include push-ups at the beginning of your triceps workout and at the end of your chest workout. It is not recommended to put the bars before the bench press, as you will tire the triceps. You can use the following techniques to limit the increase in the total load.
- Partial repetitions after the usual interval repetition pattern.
- Forced repetitions, when after regular push-ups you need to do 4-5 more times, but at the same time, your partner must insure your legs, helping with lifting.
- Drop sets. Do not pause between sets of push-ups with weights. Instead, reduce the weight each time.
- negative reps. Very traumatic, but at the same time effective. You need to take the maximum weight with which you can do 5 push-ups. Lowering should be very slow (at least 4 seconds). The rise is done with the help of the legs: just stand on any elevation (bench or stops) and return to the top point.
Approximate training program for 2 months:
If you want to work your chest and triceps well, you don't have to stress your body with a bench press. It’s difficult, and still you won’t get such a powerful load, as they give her body push-ups on the uneven bars. This is a universal exercise that can be performed both in the gym on a special simulator, and on the street in the yard; both men and women; both for gaining muscle mass. So, when compiling the next training program for the near future, do not ignore it.
Bars are a great way to build chest muscles. The ideal option would be sliding bars, the distance between which can be changed. If there are none, ordinary ones will do, we will adapt due to the position of the hands.
The main points when pumping the chest on the uneven bars
Warm up and stretch
The first is always a warm-up approach. And this is correct when your weight is not too large. Guys over 90 kg can easily hurt their deltoids. Therefore, they need to warm up with push-ups from the bench. You need to perform 10-15 push-ups, starting at a low speed and ending at a fast pace.
Before pumping your chest, you need to stretch. To do this, grab the bars as if you were going to do the exercise. At the same time, you slightly lean your feet on the floor or the ground so as not to injure the ligaments with the weight of your body.
From this position, we go down as much as possible and at this point there are several oscillatory movements. Feelings should be on the verge of pain, but not sharp, but barely noticeable.
If your weight is small, warm up by doing 10-12 reps on the uneven bars, or more if your fitness allows you without compromising the main workout.
Before training, do not forget to warm up well. The minimum is intensive rotational movements of the arms in the shoulders, elbows and hands. The maximum is a five-minute run in the fresh air, and then local warming up of the joints.
burdening
To pump up muscles on the uneven bars, you need a progressive load. You can work out in the gym, and on the street, and at home. In the hall there is a special belt on which you can hang pancakes. At home and on the street, a knapsack is suitable for you, in which pancakes from dumbbells are neatly stacked.
If you do not have dumbbells, plastic bottles from various drinks will do. Fill them with water - so you can gain 10-15 kg of weight. Someone puts weights in a knapsack. We recommend using pancakes: they take up little space, and it is possible to conveniently dose the load by changing the number of pancakes in the backpack.
The only problem is how to carry this load to the training site. It's good if you're at home. We recommend buying a weight belt. So be prepared to carry the weight to the site.
It is desirable that the satchel has additional fixation straps - then it will not hurt you to spank on the back while walking and push-ups.
At first, a weight of 10-15 kg is enough for you. Then the body wants more. With constant training, you can reach up to 60 kg. Remember that it is convenient to carry no more than 20 kg with you. Heavier weights can harm your backpack and back.
Do not experiment with how much weight you can push out 1 time. This is dangerous for your collarbones. Let's pump strength, not test it at once.
The position of the bars and hands
Do not forget that the shoulders and triceps also work on the uneven bars. To maximize the chest, you need:
- Slightly lean forward and stoop, reducing the pectoral muscle. The back becomes round.
- You can make “diving” movements and arch your “boat”, then the middle part of the chest will work.
- With a smoother performance, it works.
- We place our elbows to the sides, or we move the bars away from each other. Then the load will go to the pectoral muscles.
Number of workouts per week, sets, reps
To build muscle, you will need to come to 4 sets of 6-8 reps with weights. And in the beginning, if you have not previously done push-ups, you need to regularly perform this exercise 2-3 sets of 10-15 times. Every time we try to increase the number of repetitions.
For those who can’t do 10 reps in one set, you need to work to the maximum. Do the first set as much as you can. To failure. It's okay if during the last repetition you can't finish it. Take a rest.
Do the second approach to the maximum. Then the third. It is permissible to pump the pectoral muscle in this way 2 times a week with a break of 2-3 days.
Example: a person does push-ups on the uneven bars without weights 20-25 times, depending on how they feel. He does the first approach 22 times, the second - 17, the third - 11. This is normal - the muscles get tired.
Rest between sets and workouts
Forget all the standard 1–1.5 minutes. In addition, this is most likely advised by people who are actively taking pharmacological drugs. Their body recovers much faster, and they can easily complete the entire training plan with such a temporary regimen and pump the body quickly.
When you are working on strength and mass, you need to rest as much as your body requires. But no more than 5 minutes. Usually athletes have 2-3 minutes between sets.
While you are resting, you do not need to stand still. Walk back and forth, wave your arms, breathe deeply. It is important to rest, not cool down.
When you rest between workouts, be mindful of proper recovery. Without it, you won't be able to download anything.
Technique
Now you know almost everything about push-ups. It's time to pump your chest:
- Stand next to the bars. Sometimes the bars are high, sometimes low. It is important that you can get down on them as low as possible without touching the floor or ground with your feet.
- Firmly grasp the handles and take the starting position: stoop a little, you can take your legs back, lower your head a little down. If you look strictly straight ahead, the load will go to the triceps.
- Slowly go down to the maximum. Legs crossed and slightly bent at the knees. If you start swinging hard, stop. Inertia does a thankless job of helping you do push-ups.
- You can not unbend to the end of the arm. Thus, your arms are bent all the time. This takes the size of the load off the triceps, but at the same time increases the tension in them. For the normal execution of the approach, you will need good endurance.
- Some of the bars are at an angle to each other - this is very good for the chest. Stand on them so that your elbows look to the sides, and not at each other.
- We do the required number of repetitions. Next, we hang the weight.
Stretch after exercise. This will help build muscle faster.
Runtime problems
Let's talk about the difficulties that may arise:
- Shoulder hurts. Forget about bars for now. Try to push yourself off the floor. The higher the bench on which you rest, the less will be the load on the shoulders and arms. Experiment. If it hurts, and so - while downloading nothing will work.
- Collarbone hurts. We recommend taking a break of 2-3 weeks. Then a month to do without weight. Such pain occurs when your trapezium is not ready to hold the body with weights in such a hanging position.
- Elbows hurt. Use a warming ointment (quite a bit, less than what is written in the instructions) and wrap your elbows with an elastic bandage. If it doesn’t help, you can’t do push-ups on the uneven bars yet.
You can pump your chest in different ways. One of the most effective is to perform push-ups on the uneven bars. Find out more!
You can pump your chest in different ways. One of the most effective is to perform. However, it is not enough just to do this exercise, you need to adhere to the correct technique. Only then will you be able to pump up your chest on the uneven bars, and achieve impressive results in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, much more training will be required. And it is far from a fact that their quantity will make up for the quality and lead to the desired effect.
Push-up technique on bars
Rest your palms on the bars, keep your torso on straight arms. Don't start from a low point, it's risky.
Lean forward. Bending your elbows, slowly lower yourself. Avoid sudden movements, otherwise you can injure muscles. For the same reason, prevent the inert lowering of the body.
Take a two-second pause, during which make sure that you are in the correct position now. Since the exercise is aimed at working out, the elbows should be directed to the sides, the hands should be towards the body. In this position, the lower and middle sections of the chest are involved. It is also important to keep the lean forward.
Return to starting position. Do not press your elbows to the body. The first few workouts, while honing your technique, keep it smooth. Later, you can do this part of the exercise at a faster pace.
Repeat as many times as needed.
The effectiveness of the exercise will be much higher if the following conditions are met.
The distance between the bars should be slightly more than the width of the shoulders. If it exceeds it significantly, you risk injuring your shoulders, and if the value is insufficient, you will not be able to practice.
First, get used to your weight, and only when you learn how to work with it confidently, resort to additional weights.
With partial lowering down, the load on the pectoral muscles is reduced. Therefore, to pump up the chest on the uneven bars, bring the exercise to the end, and sag as deep as possible. Ideally, your hands should be at armpit level. If this does not happen, then there are flaws.
How many pushups do you need?
Do the exercise as follows:
- 1 set - 5 repetitions;
- 2 set - 6 reps;
- 3 set - 7 repetitions;
- 4 set - 8 reps;
- 5 set - 9 reps;
- 6 set - 10 reps;
- 5 more sets with a decrease in the number of repetitions to 5.
Additional loads
With the help of push-ups on the uneven bars, you can train different muscle groups, mainly chest ones. If you feel like you can lift more than your own body weight, use extra weights. Just do not take them right away, first train to lift the torso, and only then add weight.
The main advantage of push-ups on the uneven bars is that this exercise helps to involve not only the pectoral muscles, but also the secondary stabilizing muscles that are important for the formation of correct posture. In addition, the chest during push-ups on the uneven bars is worked out from a fundamentally different angle, in comparison with and.
Among other things, dips develop and strengthen the neuromuscular connection between the brain and musculature - in fact, this exercise "trains" the athlete in the ability to consciously involve the muscles of the body in the work. Ultimately, this leads to an acceleration of the processes of muscle hypertrophy, as a result of which the strength indicators in basic exercises are significantly improved.
Push-ups on the uneven bars: what muscles work?
The main muscle groups that work when doing push-ups on the uneven bars are the pectoral muscles, triceps, trapezium and the muscles of the shoulder girdle. Subject to the correct technique for performing the exercise, the abdominal press () and the upper back are also actively involved in the work.
It is precisely the fact that push-ups on the uneven bars allow you to involve almost the entire musculature of the body in the work, which is their main difference from such a classic exercise as a bench press on a bench. After all, even when the load falls only on the pectoral muscles and on the shoulders, practically excluding the stabilizing muscles of the body from the movement.
How to do the exercise correctly?
Performing push-ups on the uneven bars with a slight inclination of the body will allow you to properly distribute the load and involve not only the lower chest, but also the shoulders, muscles of the arms, back, and also the stabilizing muscles of the body.
The key to the correct technique of doing push-ups on the uneven bars is that the weight of the body in this exercise does not move along a strictly vertical path, as most people imagine. The weight during push-ups on the uneven bars is concentrated not at one point (the stomach and the center of the body), but at two points (the top of the body and the legs bent at the knees).
In other words, while lowering the body down, the torso should not be strictly perpendicular to the floor, but should be at an angle of 15-30 degrees to the vertical. Among other things, for additional involvement of the abdominal muscles during the exercise, it is recommended, and at the lowest point, gently pull the legs to the belt.
Push-ups on the uneven bars: the mechanics of movement
At the top of the exercise, you seem to push upward as much as possible - arms are straight, elbows are slightly fixed, chest is open, body is as perpendicular to the floor as possible, gaze is directed in front of you. When lowering, you should take the pelvis back, while tilting the body forward. At the bottom point, the elbows are parallel to the bars, the shoulders are slightly below the level of the elbows.
When doing push-ups on the uneven bars, be careful to complete a full cycle of movement without reducing its upper or lower part. If you find it difficult to perform the exercise slowly (the ideal rhythm means counting to 5 with each lowering and lifting up), use the Gravitron machine or a special platform with a counterweight.
Typical mistakes in the exercise
The most common dip dip mistake is doing it partially (that is, doing it without fully lowering the body at the bottom), resulting in the shoulders remaining above or at the level of the elbows. Since this exercise is simpler, the chest muscles are only partially included in the work.
Another common mistake is pointing the elbows out to the sides instead of back. Care must be taken to ensure that during push-ups on the bars, the elbows are as close to the body as possible, and at the lowest point of the exercise, the movements of the shoulder blades are brought together. Otherwise, the shoulder joint will receive an excessive and completely unnecessary load.
Video Push-ups on the uneven bars for girls
Analysis of the exercise
Anatomy of exercise - what muscles work
The main focus of the load:
Accessory muscles:
Advantages
Flaws
Preparing for the exercise
The first step before doing push-ups is to perform a warm-up for all joints involved in the exercise - shoulder, elbow and wrist using swing movements and amplitude rotations.
The second stage is to conduct targeted training of the extensors of the forearm (triceps) and pectoral muscles. To do this, you can perform 1 set of push-ups from the floor with a narrow and classic setting of hands. If the triceps training was preceded by a set of exercises for the pectoral muscles, this stage of preparation can be omitted.
The exception is for athletes using additional weights. In this case Necessarily perform warm-up sets of push-ups with your own weight.
Proper execution
- Optimal for most athletes is the "average" setting of the hands - at the width of the shoulder joints in the case of working out the triceps, and wider than the shoulders - for the chest.
- The triceps will only work at full strength if the elbows are straight back, stable and close to the body.
- In the correct performance of push-ups, the movement of the body occurs without swinging and shifting back / forward.
- When doing push-ups, the core muscles (longus and abs) are in constant tension, helping to stabilize the core and keep the spine in a neutral position.
- Correctly selected depth of "lowering" is determined primarily by the absence of discomfort in the shoulder joint. As a standard, it is recommended to bring the shoulder to a horizontal position or slightly lower and make a reverse upward movement.
Efficiency Tips
Inclusion in the program
As a technically complex and energy-intensive movement, push-ups are included, as a rule, at the beginning of the training program. Only with fresh strength and maximum concentration can the movement be carried out safely and efficiently.
The volume of approaches when working without weight (and it is always necessary to start studying the exercise with this option), you can vary from 10 to 20 repetitions depending on the training goal and training "experience". In a given rep range, 3-5 sets should be performed.
Training with additional weights is usually switched to when the technically accurate execution of high-volume approaches has already been mastered. When working with weight, the number of repetitions in sets should be adequately reduced to 4-8.
Contraindications
Interesting facts or observations
J. Cutler considers dips to be the #1 exercise for triceps. The Olympia medalist has identified some movement patterns that help make target muscle training more effective.
