Push Up Pro adds a twist to your workout
Posted: Thursday, January 03, 2008 4:07 PM
By Jacqueline Stenson, contributing health editor
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| Amazon.com |
What it is: Push Up Pro ($19.95)
What it claims to do: The user manual says the Push Up Pro is “the ultimate upper body workout!” With this product, which is actually two push-up grips that allow the user’s arms to rotate during the move, “more muscles are targeted more effectively while reducing strain on wrists and joints.” The Push Up Pro is “a must for anyone who is serious about getting in shape.”
Our experience: I’ve always found push-ups to be pretty punishing, so the idea that a fitness gadget might make them somehow better -- perhaps even easier or at least more likeable -- was enticing.
But the Push Up Pro certainly did not make them easier for me. With a normal push-up, you push against a stable floor surface. But the Push Up Pro has a rotating base that creates an unstable surface and requires additional effort just to stabilize your arms and support your upper body.
Some fitness buffs might like this added challenge, but when I gave it a go on my living room floor, I kept worrying about my wobbling wrists. So instead of really focusing on giving my arms, chest and abs a good workout, I was struggling to steel my wrists. At first I thought I must really be a pathetic weakling but then I realized the Push Up Pro, which has small rubber pads at the bottom and is supposed to work “on any floor surface,” was slowly sliding away from me on my rug. This concerned me because I’ve dealt with repetitive stress injury in the past, and my right wrist is a perpetual weak spot.
When I moved to my hardwood floors, though, the Push Up Pro stayed put and I was able to concentrate on how the actual exercise felt. Indeed, it was more difficult because of the instability factor and the twisting motion – and because I had never done it before. My forearms seemed to work harder than they would during a traditional push-up, and my upper arms definitely felt the burn. The next day I was a little sore, in a good way.
But is it “the ultimate upper body workout”? That probably depends on whom you ask and when. Right now, for instance, my ultimate upper body workout is heaving my 18-pound baby over my head, tickling his toes with my teeth and watching him crack up. We do it over and over, every day, until we’re both worn out. It’s incredibly motivating and fun, and my arms are firming up, too. It’ll be a different story when he gains another five pounds or so.
What the expert says: “The push-up is a good exercise just the way it is,” says personal trainer Jay Blahnik, a contributor to MSNBC.com’s Fit List and a spokesperson for the IDEA Health and Fitness Association. “The Push Up Pro adds an element of instability to your upper body that probably makes you work a bit harder, but it doesn't make the exercise better, so to speak.” You can still get good results without it, he says.
Bottom line: The Push Up Pro would take some getting used to for anyone accustomed to doing push-ups the old-fashioned way. Couch potatoes definitely need to start slowly, using the product against the wall at first, as the instructions advise. Ultimately, people who find the novelty of fitness gadgets motivating may enjoy using the Push Up Pro. And fitness fanatics who treat their bodies like a science project may like the new challenge of doing push-ups with this product and want to incorporate it into their fitness regimen for variety.
I may continue to use the Push Up Pro from time to time -- if I can find it among my kids’ toys.
