Pushups are part of all strength training routines, physical education programs in schools and the military fitness programs. All athletes do these exercises to help them get in shape when they are training for an event. Many experts say that nothing surpasses the overall effect of well being that engaging in this type of exercise has on your body. They are often called press ups because of the nature of the activity - you press your body upwards using your hands. However it does take strength and endurance to do them.

Beginners usually start off with a low number and work up to their goal of a higher number of press ups within a specified period of time. Being able to master the proper technique takes lost of practice. You start off by lying face down on the floor and use your arms to raise your full body as you extend your arms to their full length. The proper technique means that you must keep your legs straight at all times and do this without bending your knees. Your body has to be very taut and resting only on your toes and fingertips. Even those who are very fit find it difficult to lift their whole body off the floor in this manner.

In doing this type of exercise, you use your own body and its weight. In order to gain strength and power in your muscles this exercise is the simplest and fastest way to do so. With the alarming statistics about the numbers of people who are overweight, even aerobics and cardiovascular training programs are now incorporating push ups into their routines to help people gain more strength in their upper bodies. With shrinking budgets in public schools, calisthenics that were once a basic part of the physical education program are no more. However, many school districts have made daily physical activity a mandatory part of the school day and this includes having the students do push ups.

Older people benefit greatly from this exercise as well. The fact that they can do them at an advanced age is a reflection that their bodies are not aging as fast and that they still do have strength in their muscles. Even for those who do not have as much strength in their lower bodies as they once had, they can do a variation of the exercise in which they stand against a wall. They use their arms to push the body away from the wall and in this way work at increasing the strength of the muscles in the arms shoulders and upper part of the body around the rib cage.

When you begin this exercise you may find it difficult because the muscles involved are not normally ones that receive a good workout. You should only do as many to start as you feel comfortable with without feeling any pain. Rest for a day and then do the exercise again. You will find that you can do more on the second day than you could do on the first.