What are the health benefits of pushups?

And what muscles does it work on?

What are the safety considerations for this exercise?

Australian Daniel Scully set a world record of 3,182 push-ups in one hour, and here we learn about the most prominent benefits of push-ups and Scully's story.

What muscles do push-ups exercise?

Pushups may seem like a basic exercise that only works the upper arms and chest, but when done the right way, it uses muscles throughout the body, WebMed reports.

This exercise is characterized as one of the exercises that can be done anywhere, as it does not require equipment or membership in the gym, and it can also be modified to suit your physical ability or to target specific muscles.

Push-ups work many muscles, including:

  • the chest

  • the arms

  • stomach muscles (abdomen)

  • flankers

  • legs

Benefits of push-ups

This exercise offers many health benefits including:

  • burn calories

  • Protect your shoulders and lower back from injuries

  • Improve your balance and posture

  • improve your flexibility

  • Improve your performance in sports activities

How do you do push-ups?

If you don't know how to do pushups, you may feel a little awkward at first, but it will get easier. As with any exercise, form is key to getting the most benefits:

  • Start in a plank position, face down with your body straight, palms of your hands flat on the floor and arms straight in line with your shoulders.

  • Keep your feet together or about 12 inches (30 centimeters) apart.

  • Make sure your back is straight and your weight is evenly distributed.

  • Look down as you do the pushup to make sure your spine is in a straight line from your neck down.

  • Lower your body toward the floor using a controlled motion until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle, then push up into a plank position.

  • For best results lower slowly and push quickly, when you start try taking two seconds to lower and then one second to press.

  • Remember that form is more important than speed or the number of push-ups you do, if that helps, take a video of yourself to see how you can improve your form.

Push-ups for beginners

If regular push-ups are too difficult, you can make changes so that you can boost your strength. Try leaning against a wall to perform this exercise. Place your hands on a wall with your feet on the floor slightly away from it. This puts less weight on you than your body weight.

Push-ups to target different muscles

By changing your position you can focus on different muscles, for example if your hands are close to each other, you will work out your chest muscles, but if your hands are apart, you will work on the triceps more, switching between the two gives a full-body workout.

No matter how you do pushups, always tighten your core muscles and pay attention to your form.

Safety considerations in pushups

Remember that all exercises have some risk of injury. Listen to your body and know your limits. If you do get injured from pushups, take a break until you feel better. If you have any concerns, talk to your doctor before adding pushups to your exercise regimen.

Breaking the world record for push-ups

Australian Daniel Scully (28 years old) broke the world record for the number of pressure repetitions in one hour, as he set a new record on June 19 of 3182 pressures, according to a report in "Newsweek" NewsWeek by Simona Kitanowska.

His total number was officially confirmed, and he became the second Guinness World Record to bear his name.

Scully from Australia, also holds the record for the longest abdominal plank position, clocking 9 hours and 30 minutes in August 2021.

Incredibly, he did all this while suffering from a condition that could cause excruciating pain.

"I've had a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) since I was 12 years old," Scully said.

Compound regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a type of chronic pain that typically affects an arm or leg, the Mayo Clinic says. Compound regional pain syndrome typically arises after an injury, surgery, stroke, or heart attack. The pain is not proportional to the severity of the pain. primary injury.

She adds that "compound regional pain syndrome is uncommon, and its cause is not fully understood, treatment is more effective when started early, improvement is possible in such cases."

Scully's struggle with complex regional pain syndrome

Scully says, "It developed when I broke my arm in a bad accident, and my brain was telling my left arm that the pain is there, anything from a soft touch, wind or slight movement can cause unbearable pain, so I take a shower without getting my left arm wet, water - on the face The special - it's like a razor blade running through my arm."

He adds that compound regional pain syndrome had a significant impact on his daily life. Growth was not easy for him, and often he could not get out due to the constant and incurable pain caused by this condition.

Scully was hospitalized for several months, and a local anesthetic had to be administered to his left arm to ease his suffering.

"I wanted to put a purpose behind what I went through, and to continue dealing with this syndrome," he said. "I wanted to prove to myself that I had learned how to manage and deal with the pain that led me to my attempts."

The pain wasn't enough to stop him from passing more than 3,000 presses in just one hour, and he worked hard to complete 3,182 presses on his third attempt at the challenge, making him a two-time world record holder.

While breaking both records, he also raised a whopping $61,300 for the Australian Pain Management Association.

"You have to convince yourself that pain is fuel to keep you going," Scully said. "I've convinced myself that pain is a weakness leaving my body."