Oxygen yoga is well known for their Fast and Furious Fusion class. It combines the perfect combination of yoga with a fitness kick to it. This is a total body workout targeting all muscle groups while incorporating some cardio to burn the unwanted fat while toning lean but mean muscles. Although push ups can be difficult, if you are consistent in doing them you will see quick results in your strength. Other benefits from doing push ups include, total body toning, improves cardiovascular system and corrects posture.
One of the most used exercises used by all instructors is push ups. The chatarunga dandasana push being the most popular push up to use, as it is a key pose in traditional yoga practice. A chatarunga push up can be done from a full plank position or on the knees for a less intense variation. The hands are lined up with the shoulders, unlike the wider than shoulders position done in a more traditional fitness push up. From here, the elbows close in to the side of your ribs, as you lower your chest down the elbows bend and continues to stay in to the ribcage. Your chest is slightly off the floor, and arms create a 90 degree angle between the forearm and bicep. This push up targets the triceps, serratus posterior and anterior, trapezius, pectorals, rhomboids and engages the core. A chatarunga alone creates incredible upper body strength, which gives you and even stronger foundation for other exercises. This is a great style of push up to do if your looking to tighten up the triceps, and get rid those stubborn ‘bat wing’. In addition to the chatarunga push up, the reverse table top push up is a killer! Targeting similar muscle groups but resisting gravity from the flip side.
Because the Fast and Furious Fusion classes include some fitness exercises, instructors often use a variety of push ups. They use them because they are challenging for everyone, no matter what fitness level you are at. It is a good way for instructors to guide new members in proper alignment, while giving different more intense style of push ups to more experienced members and keeping the class on the same page.
If you are looking to introduce more push ups in your workout regime or an instructors researching exercises add to your fitness vocabulary, check this out the link below. An article written on the Man vs. Weight website called “113 Killer Push Up Variations and Exercises”. The article includes different variations, intensities, cool combinations and information on push ups. Some video clips on proper execution and form have been posted, to give you a good understand of that particular type of push up. Click on the link and get connected to get these 113 variations. https://www.manvsweight.com/push-up-variations/ . Have fun with this, record your progress, see how quickly this once daunting exercises can be engaging and beneficial for your whole body.