Push-ups generally work your chest, shoulders and arm muscles, but they also strengthen your abdominal muscles, spine and hip-stability muscles, according to Juan Carlos Santana, director of the Institute of Human Performance. Your triceps and biceps, which are the major muscles in your upper arms, assist your shoulders and chest to produce and reduce force when you push yourself up and lower yourself down and also get a workout when you do push-ups.
Functional Anatomy
Your chest, arms and shoulders are connected to your back, abdominals and hips by layers of connective tissues called fasciae, which hold them and other organs together. Since fasciae connects all muscles in your arms and shoulders to your chest, back and abs, push-ups will stimulate muscle growth in your triceps and biceps, according to manual therapist Thomas Myers, author of "Anatomy Trains."
Muscle Movement
Your muscles move in three different phases, which are the concentric, isometic and eccentric phases, Santana explains. The concentric phase is where your muscles contract against gravity or tension, which is known as acceleration. In the isometric phase, your muscles are under tension but do not move. The eccentric phase is when your muscles stretch while under tension, which is known as deceleration. When you push your body up during a push-up, your chest and triceps undergo concentric contraction while your biceps undergo eccentric extension. When you lower your body down, your chest and triceps stretch eccentrically while your biceps and back muscles contracts eccentrically.
Santana recommends that you focus on eccentric strength when you do push-ups because this movement phase stimulates the most muscle growth. For example, lower your body down toward the ground at a rate of three or four seconds, and push your body up at a rate of one to two seconds.
Recovery
Eat a meal consisting of lean protein and carbohydrates within 30 minutes after your workout, recommends sports dietitian Ellen Coleman, who is the author of "Ultimate Sports Nutrition." This is the time frame when your body needs protein and carbohydrates the most for building damaged muscle tissues and replenishing nutrients to your cells. If you do not eat within this time frame, your body converts a lot of protein from your muscles to glucose for energy. This would defeat your goals of getting more muscle mass.
Prevention
Too many push-ups can cause excessive tightness in your chest, anterior shoulders and triceps. This causes your shoulders and upper back to round forward similar to a gorilla. Physical therapist Chris Frederick, co-author of "Stretch to Win," recommends that you stretch the fasciae in the front of your body, shoulders and triceps after your workout.
Expert Insight
Physical therapist Gray Cook, author of "Athletic Body in Balance," recommends you do a set of pulling or back exercises with a set of push-ups. This method is called a superset, where you do two exercises that train opposing movements consecutively without rest. When one muscle group works, the opposing group rests. For example, do one set of push-ups followed by a set of pull-ups or rows. This method saves you time, stimulates more muscle growth and burns more calories.
References
- "Anatomy Trains;" Thomas Myers; 2008
- "Athletic Body in Balance;" Gray Cook; 2003
- "Ultimate Sports Nutrition;" Ellen Coleman; 2004
- "Essence of Program Design;" Juan Carlos Santana; 2004
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