By RealJock Staff

This exercise provided courtesy of Mike Clausen, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
Push-ups are a great do-anywhere exercise because they work the entire chest and triceps while also training coordination and stamina. For this variation on the standard push-up, you'll do three-second holds on alternating arms in between each push-up.

Muscles Worked
Chest
Triceps

Starting Position
Position yourself on the floor in a prone position (face down) with your legs together and extended straight behind you and your arms slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Support yourself on your toes and your hands, with your palms down on the ground. Your arms should be straight but without locked elbows. Your spine should be neutral with no arch (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. From the starting position, slowly bend your arms and descend toward the floor. Keep your neck in line with your spine throughout the movement; do not jut your chin out towards the floor at the bottom of the movement. Stop when your elbows are at a 90-degree angle (see Photos 2 and 3).
2. Reverse position and push back up to the starting position. Do not lock your elbows at the top of the movement (see Photo 4).
3. At the top of the push-up, raise your left arm up so that it is parallel to your side and hold for a slow count of three seconds (see Photo 5).
5. After you have counted to three, immediately descend into your next rep. Alternate arms at the top of each push-up.

About Mike Clausen: Clausen is the founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006. He has been actively involved in sports and weightlifting since high school, and continues to use that knowledge when training his clients. Clausen is both A.C.E. and N.A.S.M. certified and has been training clients professionally for six years. He enjoys making his clients stronger, both physically and mentally, giving them the tools to create an efficient body and to do things they thought were not possible.