1. Certifiably Hardcore
There is no doubt that push ups are one of the best exercises to strengthen the arms and chest, but fly push ups target the oblique muscles of the torso as well. Although impressive looking, they aren't that hard to perform as long as you've mastered the basic push up. They can help you reach the oblique muscles, a difficult area to isolate for training and are better than regular one armed push ups because they add an element of motion that challenges the supporting arm. A quick warning that these push ups can create extreme soreness in your obliques so start out slowly.
2. Obliques are Sexy
The obliques are the muscles that run across the abdominal wall in a diagonal line. Football players train obliques intensely because of all the twisting they do. A great benefit of working these muscles is that they can actually pull the rest of your abdominals to be flatter and sexier. Core stability is important for almost any sport however, and provides overall support for the back and posture and even the hip flexors.
3. Warmup to Head off Injury
As with any weight training, the muscles should be warm from 5 to 10 minutes of cardiovascular activity. A transporter, precorp or elliptical machine will work especially well as a warmup since you're moving your arms and warming the obliques. Do some bicycle crunches first by lying on the floor with your knees bent and one arm behind your head. Lift your shoulder blades off the floor and do a bicycle motion by bringing the opposing elbow to toward the knee. Don't do too many or you'll compromise your intensity on the fly push up.
4. Control Yourself
Start in a regular push up position looking at the floor and palms solidly on the mat. Lower down until your stomach almost touches the floor. Extend all the way up. Don't lock your elbows. With a controlled explosive movement, lift one arm out to the side keeping your shoulders in line with each other. Reach toward the ceiling while keeping your abdominal muscles tight and your legs straight. If you're doing it right it should be fluid and void of any jerking or swinging. Remember to breathe in on the lowering and out during the fly movement.
5. Push for Intensity
Start with 3 sets of 5 on each side until you have mastered the movement. Gradually increase the reps to 10 to 15 for 3 to 5 sets. To increase the intensity, do one rep of a regular push up in between each fly. To really work the obliques, superset with bicycle crunches in between each set. Abdominals are muscles that can be worked every day, but your arms and chest are not. Make sure you have 1 to 3 days of rest between each session.
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