Military pushups are a very strict and regimented form of the popular and commonly performed pushup exercise. Each repetition of military pushups must be performed identically. Military pushups utilize a shoulder-width hand placement, each repetition starts with your elbows at full extension and you must lower your chest to within 1 inch of the floor. Military pushups are primarily an upper body exercise although numerous core and lower body muscles are involved to a lesser degree.
Agonist Muscles
The term agonist describes the muscles that are doing the majority of the work in a given movement or exercise. The agonist in military pushups is your pectoralis major or pecs for short. Your pecs are essentially your chest muscles and work alongside your anterior deltoids or front shoulder muscles to extend your shoulder. The shoulder-width hand placement utilized in military pushups means that your pecs and anterior deltoids share the workload quite evenly. A wider hand placement would shift the emphasis of the exercise more onto your pecs.
Synergist Muscles
Synergists are helper muscles that are responsible for aiding the agonist. The main synergist in military pushups is your triceps brachii muscle which is located on the back of your upper arm. Because your triceps are smaller and weaker than your pecs, many people find that their triceps fatigue first when performing any form of pushups.
Antagonsist Muscles
Muscles are arranged in pairs on opposite sides of your joints. As one muscle contracts, the opposite muscle must relax to allow movement to occur. This phenomenon is called reciprocal inhibition. The main antagonist that must relax to allow you to perform pushups are your middle trapezius and rhomboid muscles in your upper back. Secondary antagonists include your biceps and posterior deltoids. Knowledge of the antagonists is useful as it can help you identify what exercises you need to perform to ensure that opposing pairs of muscles are all trained equally.
Fixator Muscles
Fixator muscles hold your body in the correct position so that you can perform your chosen exercise correctly. Weak fixators would result in a lot of unnecessary joint movements. The main fixators during the performance of military pushups are your core, thighs and deep shoulder muscles. These muscles work isometrically to ensure that your spine, hips, knees and shoulders are held in position. An isometric contraction describes how a muscle generates tension but no joint movement occurs.
References
- "You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises for Men and Women"; Mark Lauren; 2010
- "Strength Training Anatomy"; Frederic Delavier; 2010
- "Principles of Anatomy and Physiology"; Gerard J. Tortora and Bryan H. Derrickson; 2008
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