Weighted Pushups

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Bench pressing (for me) is ancient history. I don’t do it. It was bothering my shoulders, so I stopped. Funny thing, though; I found that I could do all sorts of pushup variations — totally pain-free.

Rotator cuff problems from excessive bench pressing are common. If you are among the afflicted, give it rest. Once you are pain-free, start with a few pushups, gradually adding reps, then weight.

Here’s another thing. When you do pushups with a barbell plate or a dumbbell on your back, you have to stay tight from head to toe. Otherwise, the weight falls off. So weighted pushups are more of a total upper-body exercise than bench pressing. Try them. You’ll see.

Dive Bombers, Hindu pushups, and declines with your feet on a stability ball are good, too. Mix them up. You may find that you don’t miss bench pressing even a little a bit. I sure don’t.