If you are a martial artist you have probably been doing push-ups as part of your training. Most people don’t realize, however, that if they are done alone, push-ups may unbalance your natural muscular balance.

Don’t get me wrong, push-ups are a great exercise. Everyone does them and most practitioners believe in them. Depending on the variation, specific muscles can be developed -- front of the shoulder, upper and lower chest, triceps, abdominals and legs are also developed as stabilizers.

But this article is not about usefulness or uselessness of push-ups. Instead it is about practicing only push-ups for upper body development and ignoring the principles of equilibrium and balanced muscle development. If a person only practices push-ups, he or she only pushes and doesn’t pull.

According to the equilibrium principle when you develop the front of the body and back of the arms, you must also develop the back of the body and front of the arms. In other words, one must train the movement which is opposite to push-ups. STOP RIGHT THERE.

I know what most of you are thinking, and it’s wrong. Chin-ups are not the opposite of push-ups. Without bringing kinesiological analysis into it, just think of it this way: Standard push-ups push forward, while standard chin-ups pull down. If you want a complementary exercise to push-ups, you must pull back, and not down.

Many years ago this concept of equal muscular development led me to incorporate one particular exercise into my training, which I call the “Horizontal Pull-up”. This exercise works the muscles that are antagonists to the movers and stabilizers of push-ups. The pictures below demonstrate this technique. Through the years of training and teaching, I became a strong believer and promoter of this method.

Speed and power of many fighting skills, including punches, blocks, throws and locks are greatly benefited from “Horizontal Pull-ups” since the muscles that pull back your technique are developed.

When a martial arts instructor tries to integrate this system into his teaching, he usually faces two common dilemmas --- lack of bars or sticks, the lack of chairs. Both of these can be solved quite easily. Instead of bars, bo staffs can be used. For heavier students I recommend the purchase of metal bars, which are sold in most department stores and are relatively inexpensive.

To substitute for the chairs (to support the bars or bo staffs), I

Shown is how one of the two students should hold a bar or a stick. The bar’s height can be adjusted, depending on the student’s needs.

Each person takes turns until the required number of repetitions is accomplished. You won’t believe the strength of the supporting grip that this develops.

When it comes to my advanced students, I like to divide them into groups of two. The pupil who holds the bar has two choices. First choice is something that I call a “mid-position dead lift”, with the bar remaining half way between the starting and ending positions, usually above the knee level. The second choice is a squat, with elbows bent in a biceps curl. This position is most commonly performed with palms facing up. Whoever is executing the “Horizontal Pull-ups” can choose to grip the bar outside or inside the hands of the supporting person.

I would suggest that whenever you do push-ups, or have your students do them, that “Horizontal Pull-ups” be added.

Great Luck Training!

The statements put forth in this article have not been evaluated by the FDA or the Main Stream Medical Community and is for investigative and informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Before trying anything suggested in this and future newsletters, Paul Zaichik, www.ElasticSteel.com and its Affiliates, urge you to seek the advice of a Physician.

Paul Zaichik is the founder of the Elastic Steel method of Athletic conditioning, http://www.elasticsteel.com He transformed many Eastern European Stretching and Gymnastic techniques to meet the needs of the modern martial artists. More and more students are practicing Paul’s techniques, acquiring great strength and flexibility in return.

Studying Exercise Science and Nutrition on the Undergraduate and Graduate level, Paul kept experimenting, combining the modern research with his own experience. Over the years Paul had developed many techniques, to meet individual needs of his students. Collectively those techniques became know as ElasticSteel.

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