divebomber
11-05-2008, 10:01 AM
After a long time, I have finally found a European company offering the full range of Lifeline products at affordable shipping costs for us old-worlders (www.thestrengthcompany.co.uk).
Despite mixed reviews of the Power Pushup 2 on this site, I couldn't resist ordering one so I could come to my own impression. Since what this device is supposed to do – add loads of resistance to the king of all bodyweight movements – is just too good to be true when you have turned your back on the bench press.
My first impression when taking the PPU2 out of its packaging was very positive. Undoubtedly, it is a high quality product that will last years in a home gym setting. My first pushup attempts also went well: strapping the PPU2 on can be done within seconds, also when you make sure to place it as high on your back as possible (which is essential to minimize risk of injury and maximize performance). When doing the first reps I instantly felt that the potential for overload is huge – much greater than when putting on a weighted vest which will make core stability the limiting factor once you load it with more than 30-40 lbs of additional weight. Not so with the PPU2 – because the weight is placed higher, your core doesn't sag as easily.
However, when putting the PPU2 through its paces in more structured workouts, I came to a more differentiated view. Essentially, it turns the force curve of the regular pushup upside down. Whereas all bodyweight pushup variations place the greatest resistance at the bottom position due to the leverage of the upper arm, the PPU2 makes the top of the movement hardest due to the gradually increasing resistance of the cables. At the bottom, there is no additional resistance at all.
When you train with light to moderate resistance at a very fast/explosive pace for punching power/speed strength, the gradual increase of resistance is desirable because it compensates for the build-up of momentum and forces your muscles to work over the complete ROM. Therefore, I can give a thumbs-up to the PPU2 for all combat athletes. You can also use the PPU2 for shadowboxing, which is an additional bonus.
It is very easy to fool yourself and start cheating by not fully locking out at the top, avoiding the hardest part of the movement. This does not only increase risk of injury, but also reduce the benefits of this exercise. At the top of the movement, the muscle doing most of the work is the serratus, which is critical for shoulder health and stability by depressing the scapula.
Therefore, I believe that when proper form is enforced, the PPU2 can be quite beneficial for making your shoulders more stable and injury resistant. To further emphasize this aspect, you can also do "front shrugs" with the PPU2 where you leave your elbows extended the whole time and just push through your shoulders (very short ROM, but an effective shoulder prehab/rehab exercise).
Using higher resistance in order to turn the PPU2 into a kind of no-weights bench press equivalent is futile in my opinion. Of course, you will be able to have hard and taxing workouts, but the results will not transfer very well to other pushing exercises, and also won't stimulate your chest muscles optimally due to the lack of resistance at the bottom position. You will be better served with advanced pushup variations, such as Atlas, side-to-side, rings, Power Ts, etc.
Despite this limitation, the PPU2 is a quality product that can be used productively for explosive training and shoulder stability work. For these purposes, I would recommend a set of R2 cables, which provides lighter resistance than the included R4 set.
Despite mixed reviews of the Power Pushup 2 on this site, I couldn't resist ordering one so I could come to my own impression. Since what this device is supposed to do – add loads of resistance to the king of all bodyweight movements – is just too good to be true when you have turned your back on the bench press.
My first impression when taking the PPU2 out of its packaging was very positive. Undoubtedly, it is a high quality product that will last years in a home gym setting. My first pushup attempts also went well: strapping the PPU2 on can be done within seconds, also when you make sure to place it as high on your back as possible (which is essential to minimize risk of injury and maximize performance). When doing the first reps I instantly felt that the potential for overload is huge – much greater than when putting on a weighted vest which will make core stability the limiting factor once you load it with more than 30-40 lbs of additional weight. Not so with the PPU2 – because the weight is placed higher, your core doesn't sag as easily.
However, when putting the PPU2 through its paces in more structured workouts, I came to a more differentiated view. Essentially, it turns the force curve of the regular pushup upside down. Whereas all bodyweight pushup variations place the greatest resistance at the bottom position due to the leverage of the upper arm, the PPU2 makes the top of the movement hardest due to the gradually increasing resistance of the cables. At the bottom, there is no additional resistance at all.
When you train with light to moderate resistance at a very fast/explosive pace for punching power/speed strength, the gradual increase of resistance is desirable because it compensates for the build-up of momentum and forces your muscles to work over the complete ROM. Therefore, I can give a thumbs-up to the PPU2 for all combat athletes. You can also use the PPU2 for shadowboxing, which is an additional bonus.
It is very easy to fool yourself and start cheating by not fully locking out at the top, avoiding the hardest part of the movement. This does not only increase risk of injury, but also reduce the benefits of this exercise. At the top of the movement, the muscle doing most of the work is the serratus, which is critical for shoulder health and stability by depressing the scapula.
Therefore, I believe that when proper form is enforced, the PPU2 can be quite beneficial for making your shoulders more stable and injury resistant. To further emphasize this aspect, you can also do "front shrugs" with the PPU2 where you leave your elbows extended the whole time and just push through your shoulders (very short ROM, but an effective shoulder prehab/rehab exercise).
Using higher resistance in order to turn the PPU2 into a kind of no-weights bench press equivalent is futile in my opinion. Of course, you will be able to have hard and taxing workouts, but the results will not transfer very well to other pushing exercises, and also won't stimulate your chest muscles optimally due to the lack of resistance at the bottom position. You will be better served with advanced pushup variations, such as Atlas, side-to-side, rings, Power Ts, etc.
Despite this limitation, the PPU2 is a quality product that can be used productively for explosive training and shoulder stability work. For these purposes, I would recommend a set of R2 cables, which provides lighter resistance than the included R4 set.