Dispelling a myth
Despite what someone may think, the hardest part in performing knuckle push-ups is maintaining a correct core posture. Secondly, in order of difficulty, comes the feeling of pain on knuckles, and lastly – of course – the exercise itself. Please get out your head that arms are the only part involved in this exercise: it’s like saying that a bicycle is such just because of its wheels: totally wrong.
Imagine a pushbike with a rubber-made frame: of course, when idle, it will still look like a push bike, but the moment you start using it – no matter how heavy you are – its frame will just start deforming and bending, making the effort of its wheels pretty much useless.
A steel bar is 100% steel all along its length, not only where it’s needed
In order to perform knuckle push ups, and this is valid for all kind of push ups out there, you have to imagine your body like a one piece steel frame. This is achieved only through a concurrent training plan that involves lot of abs training – all types – in order to make your body just like a piece of steel.
Correct breathing means double Repetitions
Every time you push up remember to coordinate your breathing accordingly:
- breathe out when you leave the ground.
- breathe in when you come back, without losing synchronicity if you intend to speed up your rhythm.
Remember also that well trained arms, combined with a weak core, lead only to a “caterpillar like” pushup, where arms – yes – will surely push your chest up, but your core won’t be able to keep up with them, resulting in a caterpillar-like motion. And, about the pain on your knuckles… just forget it and focus on the exercise: this is the first step to hard qigong.