I'm sure that you remember back when you very very first started training. It may have been when you were in elementary school. It may have been when you were 25, it may have been any time, but just about everybody who currently lifts weights regularly, at one point began with a very basic exercise...

The push up.

But of course, they got easy, or you were introduced to machinery, or bench press, or something, right? The push up became obsolete as you became a more advanced lifter, right?

Right, I mean what use would a body weight exercise be to you now?

Well, the answer to that questions is actually probably a lot more than you'd realize. You see, the push ups unique core stability requirements make it actually a very potent body weight exercise that everyone should do.

See, when you do a push up, not only are you working your chest and arms, your also working your stomach and obliques, and tons of other stabilizer muscles. Don't believe me? Try getting into the push up position and maintain perfectly rigid and stable form for 60 seconds. That means don't let your hips sag, your head sag, your shoulders sag. Your stomach should be flexed and tight, your head should align with the rest of your body.

Not so easy is it?

So, to get to the point of the article, what are the benefits of doing push ups regularly?

Well, first, like we just got done talking about, it's a great stability exercise, and works your core in tandem with your chest and arms in a way that no other exercise can.

Second, if you regularly do push ups, you will see an increase in your bench press. I've written about this before, but I'll briefly go over why this is. Now, I know that this seems obvious, but the reasons aren't quite what you probably think they are. See, by doing push ups, your building proper muscle memory for bench press, and the motion will seem more and more natural as you "practice" by doing push ups, which in turn will increase your bench press.

It helps teach you to maintain a stable core. Any time you're handling heavy weight it's essential to maintain a stable core, but lots of people have trouble with this because their core training consists of sit ups, crunches, stuff like that. Never do they train their core together with other muscles, which is exactly what the push up does. In other words, your body will get used to keeping your stomach tight and stable.

Well, there you have it, 3 great reasons to start doing push ups!