GB
08-23-2009, 09:39 PM
Here’s a short article about the Pike (jack knife) pushup. There’s a video attached to the article showing the author’s form. I don’t have a video of myself doing the pike but I believe my form is different, more vertical, the author seems to be moving in a more diagonal directions. How do you perform the Pike?
Building the perfect pushup - part II: the pike
August 20, 3:19 PM Denver Personal Training Examiner Jonathan Sabar
In part I, we examined the "classic" military pushup, and a better way to get there than the old standby "kneeling" pushup.
On the other side of the spectrum, some people need a pushup more challenging than the standard military version. Most advanced pusher-uppers have tried putting their feet on a raised surface, but that only takes you so far.
The pike pushup changes the angle at the shoulder to make things much more difficult, as well as acting as an intermediary to help get you to the holy grail of bodyweight pressing: the handstand pushup.
Start in the standard pushup position. Keeping your core tight and arching your back slightly, walk your feet toward your hands a little bit and pull your hips up (don’t worry about your 7th grade gym teacher’s admonishment to “keep your butt down” – you should have already mastered that by the time you’re doing this variant).
Once you have a good tight pike position, bend your elbows and come toward the floor, trying to touch your head to a point just between your hands. Touch gently and return to the start position.
Where most people have trouble with this one is maintaining an open shoulder angle. To avoid turning this into an easier, rather than harder, version of the basic pushup, it is imperative to pull the chest toward the thighs throughout the movement. Most people will initially attempt to press “out”, or “up”, which will close the shoulder angle and let your head come up. Instead, think about pulling "in”, bringing your butt back into the initial pike position and your head directly between your arms.
To make this more challenging, try putting your feet on a raised surface, like a step or bench. Once you can do this with your feet level to your hips, you’re ready to move to handstand pushups!
http://www.examiner.com/x-4578-Denver-Personal-Training-Examiner~y2009m8d20-Building-the-perfect-pushup--part-II-the-pike
GB
Building the perfect pushup - part II: the pike
August 20, 3:19 PM Denver Personal Training Examiner Jonathan Sabar
In part I, we examined the "classic" military pushup, and a better way to get there than the old standby "kneeling" pushup.
On the other side of the spectrum, some people need a pushup more challenging than the standard military version. Most advanced pusher-uppers have tried putting their feet on a raised surface, but that only takes you so far.
The pike pushup changes the angle at the shoulder to make things much more difficult, as well as acting as an intermediary to help get you to the holy grail of bodyweight pressing: the handstand pushup.
Start in the standard pushup position. Keeping your core tight and arching your back slightly, walk your feet toward your hands a little bit and pull your hips up (don’t worry about your 7th grade gym teacher’s admonishment to “keep your butt down” – you should have already mastered that by the time you’re doing this variant).
Once you have a good tight pike position, bend your elbows and come toward the floor, trying to touch your head to a point just between your hands. Touch gently and return to the start position.
Where most people have trouble with this one is maintaining an open shoulder angle. To avoid turning this into an easier, rather than harder, version of the basic pushup, it is imperative to pull the chest toward the thighs throughout the movement. Most people will initially attempt to press “out”, or “up”, which will close the shoulder angle and let your head come up. Instead, think about pulling "in”, bringing your butt back into the initial pike position and your head directly between your arms.
To make this more challenging, try putting your feet on a raised surface, like a step or bench. Once you can do this with your feet level to your hips, you’re ready to move to handstand pushups!
http://www.examiner.com/x-4578-Denver-Personal-Training-Examiner~y2009m8d20-Building-the-perfect-pushup--part-II-the-pike
GB