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Hi, David Weck here. Today, I'm going to teach you a variation of the push up that integrates exceptionally well with our WeckMethod 45 Squat to help you run, jump, and be more agile on the ground. So, this is an upper body exercise that integrates with the whole body to make you better at ground based movement.
Before we get to this variation of the push up [Functional Strength Training], I want to quickly review the WeckMethod 45 Squat. I turn my feet out 45 (that means out to what's most balanced and comfortable for me). I'm going to balance on the green circles on the diagram on the screen. I'm going to match the spine angles with the shin angles, and I'm really squeezing and launching from the 'haunch.' I pull myself down with hip flexors, and I use the "glutes" and upper hamstrings to power that movement with tensional balance.
Now, for the push up, we're going to be on the inside balls of the feet. That's the big toe, second toe and third toe. That's where we're going to be loading. We'll really be extending those toes, and we're going to be squeezing the "glutes" as hard as we possibly can throughout the movement. We're going to do these push ups very slowly, and you'll feel how strong and integrated it feels, and then when we come up off the push up, now we want to feel that haunch and the ability to really connect through it and move with the power of the posterior.
So, here's what the push up looks like: I'm going to put my feet at a comfortable distance, and I really want to be loading through the big toe, second toe, and third toe. So, I really engage that medial arch, and I'm squeezing the "glutes" now as hard as I possibly can. You do them very slowly, and you feel that connection through the "glutes," and how it's going to make your push ups feel very very strong and integrated through your whole body. As you come down, you're still squeezing all of your intent. Rather than thinking up and down, you'll do fewer repetitions. Really, your intent is to squeeze the "glutes" as hard as you possibly can. And like I said, you're going to feel like it takes some of the stress out of the upper body, because you really engage the "glutes." That's the largest muscles in the body. We want to really be able to "launch from the haunch."
Now, you're going to come up. We like to combine them with the WeckMethod 45 Squat. Now I'm out on the 4th and 5th metatarsals. Knees are going wide, spine and shin angles are the same. I'm not flexing the toes, and I'm getting that very powerful bodyweight squat. "Launch from the haunch." And then I'll come down, get another set on that push up. Set it up. Big toe, second toe, third toe engagement. Big extension. Squeeze through the "glutes," and very slow, very deliberate so that I never lose the focus. I'm squeezing the "glutes."
When you come up, you're going to feel that connection. That's what's going to help you move better on the ground.
