Benefit of pushups?

[Nyrotic]

After begining my studies of Wing Chun, I've noticed alot of nay-saying towards weight-lifting and body-building. I was wondering, are pushups beneficial towards WC? During my time with Shaolin-do, pushups were a daily routine for me, and I worked up to be able to do 30 diamond pushups straight.

I personally would think it would help, as pushups are a conditioning exercise and not a beefer-upper type.

...then again I've only just begun my training, so is there anything else I should know?

 

[Monadnock]

Not being a WC guy, I'd like to offer this: Pushups are part of EVERY one of my classes. They strengthen the shoulders, chest, triceps...and well...they sure look a heck of a lot like a punch too (ok, at least a heelpalm).

I think they keep you tone, and build some strength while not having to worry about looking like Schwartzenegger (when he was younger).

I have heard people say to stay away from doing them on the fingertips because of possible blood vessel damage, but nothing conclusive there. We stick to the palms and fists, and push out a minimum of 40 per set. (It's a mixed class)

 

[Nyrotic]

Thank you, and I've heard that fingertip pushups actually weaken the joints in the hand, and since the only people who would probably NEED to have strong hands are mantis and the seemingly extinct She Quan people.

 

[michaeledward]

I have no training in physiology. And I am certianly not qualified in any way to suggest an exercise regimen.

One of the things that I have been thinking about recently, is working muscles in pairs. Push-ups work the 'push', there should be an alternate exercise to do the 'pull', and work the bicep. I don't normally lead a class, but when I did one class recently, I paired similar sized students off, with a bo-staff between them, and asked them to simultaneously execute a 'curl'. If you have a chin-up bar, that would probably be helpful too.

Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I think my pecs are OK. My triceps look good, but my bicep is kinda 'gurlyman'. Need to get a weight bar to curl regularly, I think.

$0.02

 

[CheukMo]

I see no conflict in working out and practicing Wing Chun. While Wing Chun doesn't concentrate on muscle power, being out of shape will in no way help you. Pushups, dumbells and chinups are great arm and chest exercises and won't really bulk you up too much.

 

[CuongNhuka]

Thank you, and I've heard that fingertip pushups actually weaken the joints in the hand, and since the only people who would probably NEED to have strong hands are mantis and the seemingly extinct She Quan people.

Cuong Nhu requires Fingertip push ups. Before I started doing them, I had a crappy grip. Now, people sometimes bend down in pain at how strong my gripp is. Granted, I do 30 a day (which is bordering on idiocy), and I get a chance to really set my gripp.
Nextly, push ups can help. The hard part is knowing how, which to do, and knowing to work up to it. When I started doing fingertip my sister insteded that i was going severly damage my hands. I brought this up with one of my schools coaches, he said as long as I work up to a safe point, I'll be fine. Doing knuckle push ups might be better. Put your habds in a punching position, and do puch ups like that. Or extend you arms past the normal reach, and do push ups that way. It builds chest/shoulder strength.
Also, if you want my oppion, weightlifting can be beneficial. But I perfer body weight only. You might find that you will come to rely on musclular strength. I know several people who lifted weights while doing Wing Chun, and noticed that tended to happen. Body weight exercises seem to have a lesser effect.
A good strengthening exercise is to do Sinawali (a Filophino drill) done with two steel pipes is a great exercise. I do 6 versions of Sinalwali every day when I wake up. My Sensei (I train in a Vietnamese Art with Wing Chun in it, but has a heavy Japanese infleunce) has noticed a massive increase in my punch strength. You can check the section on Filiphino arts for some suggestions.
But, as Michaeledward brought up, push ups work on the push part, not the pull. To work on that, look at your forms. There's a reason why you load your hand were you do. By holding your hand back high and tight, but not resting it on your body or hunching your shoulder, you train your bicep.

 

[jks9199]

I have no training in physiology. And I am certianly not qualified in any way to suggest an exercise regimen.

One of the things that I have been thinking about recently, is working muscles in pairs. Push-ups work the 'push', there should be an alternate exercise to do the 'pull', and work the bicep. I don't normally lead a class, but when I did one class recently, I paired similar sized students off, with a bo-staff between them, and asked them to simultaneously execute a 'curl'. If you have a chin-up bar, that would probably be helpful too.

Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I think my pecs are OK. My triceps look good, but my bicep is kinda 'gurlyman'. Need to get a weight bar to curl regularly, I think.

$0.02

Pull ups are a good exercise counterpart to push ups. You can also "inverted pushups" by hanging from a bar, and pulling yourself towards it.

With regard to partner exercises... There are tons of things you can do with a staff or rope between partners.

 

[CuongNhuka]

Pull ups are a good exercise counterpart to push ups. You can also "inverted pushups" by hanging from a bar, and pulling yourself towards it.

With regard to partner exercises... There are tons of things you can do with a staff or rope between partners.

Yah, don't get me started on those buddy!

 

[King]

I totally abhor pushups. However, they're beneficial to your arms, chest, back, shoulders and core balance. Too good not to utilize. Which means I have to force myself to do them. Working with different variations makes a big difference as well. Also pausing low/mid helps build the core balance. When you become a pro try doing them with your feet elevated and/or go on one foot. Meh, did I mention I hate pushups?

 

[zDom]

I have no training in physiology. And I am certianly not qualified in any way to suggest an exercise regimen.

One of the things that I have been thinking about recently, is working muscles in pairs. Push-ups work the 'push', there should be an alternate exercise to do the 'pull', and work the bicep. I don't normally lead a class, but when I did one class recently, I paired similar sized students off, with a bo-staff between them, and asked them to simultaneously execute a 'curl'. If you have a chin-up bar, that would probably be helpful too.

Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I think my pecs are OK. My triceps look good, but my bicep is kinda 'gurlyman'. Need to get a weight bar to curl regularly, I think.

$0.02

Great point. Make it a total of 4 cents.

We do so many pushups in HKD while very little for our biceps to the point where I was getting a pain in my elbows that we pinned down to an imbalance.

So I now do biceps curls to keep things in balance. They still don't look great, but at least my elbows don't hurt anymore

 

[KamonGuy2]

What you have to remember is that when you are doing pushups you are only fighting your bodyweight. So you are trying to increase your power-weight ratio (rather than just get stronger).

Push ups are a great exercise to do and every wing chun person I know does them. Try not to get too paranoid. I have quite a lot of mass/muscle/fat, but find training with smaller people no problem

If you train yourself to have almost no muscle or the perfect wing chun body as people call it, you might be explosive, but you may also not have enough muscle for use in a fight. You need a certain amount of strength in a fight. One of my students who has trained 5 years is stick thin. I was doing a clinch drill where he uses all his bodyweight to escape. Because he was so light I was able to control him (ie the 7 stone that he weighed was not enough)

Going back to topic of press ups, I have heard many wing chun schools (even a lot of our Kamon classes) working on clap push ups which do help explosiveness. Avoid heavy weight training and stick to light free weights, which will help build up your hand speed

 

[Changhfy]

Hey Nyrotic,

(Nyrotic)-Thank you, and I've heard that fingertip pushups actually weaken the joints in the hand, and since the only people who would probably NEED to have strong hands are mantis and the seemingly extinct She Quan people.

I would have to disagree with this comment. I have been training in Wing Chun (Ving Tsun) for 11 years now and the fingers, wrist, elbows and hips are all integrally important in Wing Chun practise.

Any time you intercept an opponent whether with a Kiu (bridge) such as Kam Na etc... the fingers and wrists are extremely viable.

I've studied Ip Man Ving Tsun, Chi Sim Weng Chun and Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun and each have some type of Kam Na(Qin Na) skills.


take care,
Zach

 

[CuongNhuka]

And if you grab at the right part of the hand or forearm, you could seriously hurt them. Ever heard of a compound brocken hand?

 

[monji112000]

After begining my studies of Wing Chun, I've noticed alot of nay-saying towards weight-lifting and body-building. I was wondering, are pushups beneficial towards WC? During my time with Shaolin-do, pushups were a daily routine for me, and I worked up to be able to do 30 diamond pushups straight.

I personally would think it would help, as pushups are a conditioning exercise and not a beefer-upper type.

...then again I've only just begun my training, so is there anything else I should know?

pushups are vital to Wing Chun. Shock ups are very important.

 

[brocklee]

I was thinking about starting push ups also, but I just got to the point to where I can throw a punch and not tense up the pectoral. I'm afraid I may lose that ability and am not really in the mood to have to re-train it.

 

[Nyrotic]

Hey Nyrotic,

(Nyrotic)-Thank you, and I've heard that fingertip pushups actually weaken the joints in the hand, and since the only people who would probably NEED to have strong hands are mantis and the seemingly extinct She Quan people.

I would have to disagree with this comment. I have been training in Wing Chun (Ving Tsun) for 11 years now and the fingers, wrist, elbows and hips are all integrally important in Wing Chun practise.

Any time you intercept an opponent whether with a Kiu (bridge) such as Kam Na etc... the fingers and wrists are extremely viable.

I've studied Ip Man Ving Tsun, Chi Sim Weng Chun and Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun and each have some type of Kam Na(Qin Na) skills.


take care,
Zach

So do fingertip pushups actually damage your hands? Or was that false information I received?

If so.....time for fingertip pushups for me ^_^

 

[CuongNhuka]

So do fingertip pushups actually damage your hands? Or was that false information I received?

If so.....time for fingertip pushups for me ^_^

Start at 2 or 3. And don't kill yourself. If you go too high too fast, you will seriously (and permantly) mess up your hands.

 

[Changhfy]

I agree with CuongNhuka,

You should start out slow as to not damage and of the joints.
But if your looking for finger strengthening exercises try the Eagle catcher, you can buy at Martial Arts Mart. That has significantly increased my finger strength. Or another method is try catching sand bags with your fingers, this way you can increase your weight and resistance as opposed to holding your own body weight. But dont get me wrong finger tip pushups are beneficial in their own way, just make sure not to put too much tension on the extremeties all at once.

take care,

 

[CuongNhuka]

That sand bag training is also good for training Chin Na.

 

[Doc_Jude]

Good for Grip Strength:

Do Pushups while holding softballs. Works the wrists & the grip. Work it in with other types of pushups.

Oh, & I've never had a problem with finger tip pushups. I think that the fingertip nerve damage thing comes from fingertip conditioning for striking.