There are plenty of benefits to be gained from adding pushups to your daily routine besides looking buff. Whether you’re doing standard pushups, a wide version, narrow version or backwards pushups, incorporating the exercise into your daily routine can help your body in a number of ways.
Strength and muscle tone
Perhaps the most obvious of the improvements, daily pushups can help activate a variety of muscles, depending which form you choose.
A 2015 study found that backward pushups (with hands shoulder-width apart but behind your shoulders) activated the greatest number of muscle groups, while narrow pushups (with your thumbs touching each other) provided the greatest improvement for pecs and triceps.
If you’re looking to strengthen your back muscles and abs, opt for either backward or forward pushups.
Joint support
Although pushups can be a great way to strengthen the muscles around your shoulder joints, it’s important that you start slowly.
To avoid tearing a tendon or muscle, start with a few pushups and gradually add more with time.
Cardiovascular health
In 2019, research published in the journal Nutrition, Obesity and Exercise showed a link between the number of pushups a man can do and his risk of developing a cardiovascular health problem a decade later. The study found that men who could do 40 or more pushups were 96% less likely to have experienced any kind of cardiovascular health issue than men who couldn’t do at least 10 pushups.
Although the research only looked at middle-aged men, it was a decent-sized study with more than 1,100 participants.
Risks of injury
With any type of exercise, there’s a risk of getting hurt if you don’t use a proper technique or you overdo it by trying to crank out too many pushups.
To help avoid hurting your back, elbows, wrists or shoulders, consult with a fitness expert who can show you how to properly do a pushup.
