Chain Push up
By Pete Ryan
This exercise idea was actually sparked by
Gary. He was
talking a while ago on the
vegan bodybuilding email list about a book he'd read where the guy
did press ups on gymnastic rings. I must admit I thought "Well what use
is that? 99.9% of us don't have access to rings, so it's a pointless
exercise to include into any training routine.". So, the other day I'd
finished my chest, but it was one of those days where you just still had
fuel in the tank, so I thought OK I'll think of something else to do,
maybe something new....
Anyway, for some reason it just popped into my head, a way to imitate
the effect of a gymnastic rings using chains, a barbell & a rack. Now,
I'm certainly not taking credit for this 'discovery'. I bet someone,
somewhere has thought of this before, but I've not come across it
before. It's pretty basic, maybe I even saw it some time, but I've
forgotten, so if you've seen it somewhere else I'm not surprised.
Basically you set up your rack & barbell like you are about to squat,
then simply hang chains round the bar, with the chain forming in a big
ring (clip the ends together with a very strong D-clip or similar). You
will need some hand protection. I used a pair of "Power grabs" I got for
a present a few years ago (thanks Robbie!!!), but any sort of cloth,
gloves or similar will work just as well. Now take this one really slow
it's not the same as a press-up, you'll activate loads of stabilisers
you've never used for press-ups (it's more like dumbbell bench press
than a press up in feeling). Simply get into a press-up position, but
put your hands through the loop made by the chain. Lower yourself down
SLOWLY & only go as far as you can comfortably go. If you get stuck or
go down too far the simply sink onto your knees to release the pressure
on your upper body. I'd suggest first time you simply support your feet
on the floor until you get a feel for the move, then if you want to
include the move into your regular training you will probably need to
move onto raised feet quite quickly to get extra resistance. This
description doesn't sound too easy to "see", so I've include a top &
bottom picture, so you can get an idea of one version of press-up you
can do using this system, play around & you could get a few more, but
you'll see the basic set-up. The top picture is closer to show you how
the hands go through the chains etc, while the picture at the bottom is
further away to show you how the whole system of chains & rack fits
together. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, but I had to get my
girlfriend to drop what she was doing & snap a couple, so they're not
exactly magazine quality!
