Now “breath behind the shield”—shallow while keeping your abs tight. If you forget to breathe, count out loud: “One Mississippi, two Mississippi…”
While you are at it, make subtle adjustments in your body. Do I need to fix any tension leaks? Are my shoulders pushing away from my ears? Am I “corkscrewing?”...
Stay tight!
When you are about 80% on your way to muscle failure, press up while power breathing.
This concludes a set; there is no negative.
Aim for a 20-40sec isometric contraction. Adjust the pushup difficulty accordingly by elevating your feet or hands.
Do 3-5 sets with 3-5min of rest after low rep strength work such as one-arm pushups 1-3 times a week.
The above technique will be a powerful addition to your training. Here is why.
An extended isometric contraction near the bottom of an exercise offers at least three benefits.
First, it provides ample time to optimize your body position, the coordination between muscles, and the direction of efforts. A traditional pushup moves too fast to give you time to think about these important things.
Second, it builds strength—and not just in the bottom position, but throughout the full range of motion.
It is commonly believed that isometrics build strength only at the specific joint angles they are practiced, with a minimal carryover to the rest of the ROM. It is generally true—but there is one exception. A classic 1974 Soviet study discovered that if muscles are trained isometrically while they are stretched—the bottom, as opposed to the middle or the top of the movement—there is a significant carryover to the entire range of motion. This makes stretch isos a very efficient way to train.
Third, even without negatives it builds muscle through time under tension.
The single concentric rep after the iso hold also delivers.
First, it integrates the strength you have built isometrically into a dynamic exercise.
Second, it teaches you how to grind. Once you are fatigued from a long static contraction, that single pushup becomes surprisingly tough and feels like a heavy bench press single.
Last but not least, the static-dynamic pushup is an effective tactic for training around a shoulder injury for many people. If you do not have a medical restriction against such exercise and it does not hurt, give it a shot.
Power, muscle, and resilience to you!
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