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Each of these movements comes in 10 progressively harder steps. Graduate to the next step in the series once you’ve mastered the previous step.
Each step has Beginner, Intermediate and Progression standard repetition ranges.
“The remaining steps become increasingly difficult, until the final and hardest possible variation is r e a ched- the tenth, or Master Step. The athlete is encouraged to progress from step to step, exercise to exercise, following the Beginner, Intermediate and Progression standard repetition ranges given wi th the descriptions.”
| Movement type | Master Step |
|---|---|
| Pushup | One arm pushp |
| Squat | Full one-leg squat |
| Pullup | Full one-arm pullup |
| Leg raise | Hanging straight leg raise |
| Bridge | Stand-to-stand bridge |
| Handstand pushups | One-arm handstand pushup |
Avoid bizarre angles and hand positions. Find an exercise groove that’s comfortable for you.
Keep the torso, hips and legs in alignment. Sticking the but t in the air during pushups only occurs because the waist is too weak to lock the body in place.
Keep the legs together. Splaying the legs apart removes the need to stabilize the torso during motion and makes the exercises easier.
The arms should be straight at the top of the movement, but don’t hyperextend the elbows – keep a slight kink in your elbows to prevent the joint from pinching. (This is sometimes called keeping your arms “soft.”)
Breathing should be smooth. As a rule of thumb, breathe out on the way up, and in on the way down. I f breathing becomes labored and you have trouble following this formula, t ake extra breaths.
The majority of your pushups should be done relatively slowly; for a count of two seconds down to the bot tom position, a one second pause, and two seconds back up to the top position before immediately descending again.
“The only objects you’ll need are a basketball and a baseball. The s e c an be picked up cheaply at a lmos t any big store.”
“I f you don’t wish to use basketballs or baseballs, you can substitute any other objects of an approximate size. Bricks are a handy alternative; a flat stack of three bricks is about the same size as a basketball, and one flat brick is nearly as thick as a baseball. Whatever you use, make sure it’s something safe, tha t won’ t break and potentially injure you. Anything brittle or with jagged edges is out of the question.”
“When you use an object to determine your pushup depth, it’s important not to collide with that object. Descend gently until you very lightly touch the basketball, baseball, or whatever your use. To determine how much pressure you should touch with, we had a saying in prison; kiss the baby. If your upper chest (for example) touches a baseball at the bottom of the pushup, it should only make contact with the amount of force you would use to kiss a baby on the forehead. No more, no less”
“This technique of pausing briefly at the bottom of a pushup removes any momentum and builds excellent muscle strength and control. It’s why I advocate a one second pause at the bot tom of all movements. Incidentally, the kiss-the-baby technique can be applied to weight-training exercises, like the bench press or shoulder press. I f you cannot very gently “kiss” your body with the ba r in the bot tom pos i t ion- i f you have to either bounce it or stop shor t - the weight you’re using is too heavy. Wha t do I mean by ” too heavy”? Simply thi s - i f you can’t absolutely control a weight throughout a technique’s range of motion, it’s too heavy.”
“I advise tha t you do the majority of your pushups with your palm or palms flat on the floor”
“Mos t pushup routines contain very little variation. The only progression trainees are usually advised to make is to increase the numbe r of reps, or maybe put their feet up on something as the exercise becomes easier. This is wrong, wrong, wrong! All this does once the athlete has adapted to the technique is increase endurance.”
“In allstrength training, progression is the name of the game. In terms of muscle heft and power, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll alwaysget what you alwaysgot -no ma t t e r how many reps you mindlessly add. The Convict Conditioning system contains ten distinctly different pushup movements. These movements are called the ten steps, and each individual movement is a little ha rde r than the one before. The first three steps of all the Big Six movements will be relatively easy for mos t people, and can be thought of as a useful therapy sequence for athletes coming back from injury. They will also be helpful for rank beginners or the overweight to condition themselves gently. The remaining steps become increasingly difficult, until the final and hardest possible variation is r e a ched- the tenth, or Master Step. The athlete is encouraged to progress from step to step, exercise to exercise, following the Beginner, Intermediate and Progression standard repetition ranges given wi th the descriptions.
“Face a wall. With your feet together, place your palms flat against the wall. This is the s t a r t position (fig. 1). Your arms should be straight and shoulder width apa r t , with the hands at chest level. Bend the shoulders and elbows until the forehead gently touches the wall. This is the finish position (fig. 2). Press back to the s t a r t position and repeat.
“Kneel on the floor wi th your feet together, and your palms flat on the ground in front of you. The arms should be straight, shoulder width apa r t , and in line with your chest. Link one ankle a round the other, and keep the hips straight and in alignment wi th the t runk and head . This is the s t a r t position (fig. 5). Using the knees as a pivot, bend at the shoulders and elbows until your chest is approximately one fist’s width from the floor (fig. 6). Pause and press back to the s t a r t position, then repeat”
“Kneel on the floor wi th your feet together, and your palms flat on the ground in front of you. The arms should be straight, shoulder width apa r t , and in line with your chest. Link one ankle a round the other, and keep the hips straight and in alignment wi th the t runk and head . This is the s t a r t position (fig. 5). Using the knees as a pivot, bend at the shoulders and elbows until your chest is approximately one fist’s width from the floor (fig. 6). Pause and press back to the s t a r t position, then repeat.”