Press-ups, the best way to increase upper body strength and endurance if you have no equipment. Most people only know 1 or 2 variations of the press-up. You will now be educated on a greater variety of press-ups to develop all-round muscle tone and definition.

Clicking on any of the press-up pictures will take you to a full animated description of the exercise. The following styles should be used dependent on your current fitness level, ranging from the wall and box press-up for beginners, supported or 3/4 for intermediates and full press-ups for advanced.
 

WALL	BOX	SUPPORTED	3/4	FULL

Aim to perform this press up circuit, by performing 4 - 10 press ups of each style. Once you can achieve 10 or more of each press up style, aim to increase the workout by changing your style (see above) or simply move onto the second press up circuit.

NORMAL 1	WIDE ARM 2	CLOSE ARM 3

RAISED REAR 4	FRONT RAISED 5	ELBOWS TUCKED IN 6

Use this table to measure your progress. The numbers on the side relate to the different press up exercises, i.e. number 4 will be raised rear press ups. Dependent on your fitness level,you may find that you only want to do the first 3 exercises, record the date and then the amount of reps for each method of press up that you performed.

The key to developing a strong and toned body shape is to avoid adaptation, aim to increase either the amount of reps or different press up styles each time you perform the circuit. The members area has over 20 different styles of press ups plus a number of different training programs to improve your upper body.