The pushup hack that Special Forces soldiers use to build true strength
There’s no simpler, more functional and effective upper-body movement.
It’s possible that I’ve done more pushups than any man alive.
I’d fire them off throughout my days in high school and college, when I was a high-level wrestler. I did them non-stop while preparing for physical tests and staying in shape as a police officer on the gang squad in Toronto. I cranked them out to prepare for big fights when I was in the UFC.
Now, even though I work in a gym that has all kinds of weights, I do them every single day. There’s no simpler, more functional and effective upper-body movement.
The problem: Many guys don’t do them correctly. Improper pushups - where you don’t lower your chest all the way to the ground - don’t give you as much of a strength or muscle-building stimulus.
I work with a lot of tactical athletes. Many arrive at the gym having recently failed a Special Forces or SWAT team selection course.
When we analyze what went wrong, a common issue is bad pushups. They’d been doing incorrect pushups. Then come selection day, they were required to do proper pushups, which they didn’t have the strength to crank out.
I teach these guys my method to fix bad pushups (shown in the video above) and take them through my three- or six-month fitness program.
They usually pass their next selection course. You can find those fitness programs in my new Men’s Health book Maximus Body - they work for regular guys, too.
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