How to Make Pushups 3 Times More Effective

You can do pushups the way everyone else does them—as fast as possible, up and down. Or you can do them with a dead stop at the bottom.

The latter is more difficult, but it's a true est of strength. And it's the way Men's Health Fitness Director thinks every guy should do them.

See Also - Best Body Weight Exercises For A Firm CHEST and BREAST.


The stop eliminates help from your stretch reflex—or the rubber-band like tendency of a muscle—and forces you to move through a full range of motion. It eliminates the possibility of cheating or sloppy form, and requires that you perform perfect rep after perfect rep.

Gaddour’s challenge for you: Do 10 reps of the dead-stop pushup every minute on the minute (EMOM) for 10 straight minutes. If you finish the 10 reps before the 60 seconds is up, rest the remainder of that minute.

You may have to build up to that amount. If that’s the case, start with 5 reps or 7 reps EMOM.
Once you can do 10 reps EMOM, elevate your feet on a box, bench, or step to make the exercise 3 times harder.