It's also going to require you to develop very strong, almost zen-like focus during the exercise in order to perform it properly.
You're going to be doing a push-up while attempting to keep the ends of the two bars up in the air, counterbalanced by your bodyweight, which is dynamically moving through space during this balancing.
It's extremely tough...both from a form perspective and from a muscle-tension perspective.
How To Perform This Unstable Bodyweight Exercise To Maximize Chest Development...
To do this one, you'll need two Olympic bars and two dumbbells (any size/weight is fine, though hex head ones that don't roll will work much better than round-plate ones for this...if you only have round plate ones, use the heaviest ones you've got to help with stability).
Set the dumbbells on the floor about 4 feet apart then set the two bars on top of the dumbbell handles. The fat part of the bar (including the collar) should be fully on the "inside" of the dumbbell. The skinnier part of the bar is resting on the handle. The handle of the dumbbell is the fulcrum of the lever.
Now get into the push-up position and set your hands on the ends of the bar. In order to counterbalance and get the ends of the bars off the ground, you'll need to play around with hand positioning. I have my hands set near the ends of the bars.
This will likely take a few tries to get the position right to properly counterbalance.
Once you can get and keep the bar ends off the ground in the top position fairly steadily, now begin the push-up...very slowly.
Come all the way down to the bottom.
Again, do your best to keep the barbell ends off the ground during the entire rep and set. This is what massively ramps up the tension and kinesthic component of the exercise (which means staying tuned into your body's position in space).
When you're at the bottom, this is where you might find it tougher to keep the ends of the bars off the ground, if you rest any of your bodyweight on the ground.
Now come back up.
Don't let the bar ends under your hands touch the ground here now. This will be a challenge on the way up because of how you're now pushing down against the bars to push yourself up.
Go slow and very controlled.
Once you hit the top, continue squeezing the pecs strongly then come back down and go again.
Don't even bother counting reps with this one...reps don't matter. Just focus on the tension, the movement, and keeping the bar ends off the ground.
That's it.
I would recommend 2-3 sets of this total, then you're done. I would also recommending doing this one first in your chest-training routine. The amount of balance and activation required won't be there if your chest and triceps are already fatigued.
It also functions as a great activation/warm-up for other chest training, if you don't push it to the limit on this exercise.
Overall, this is a fantastic variation of the push-up that, while it does require a bit of equipment and space, is incredibly effective for targeting the chest, triceps and core (and brain!).
If you're interested in using push-ups to build some serious muscle mass, this bodyweight Time-Volume Training workout will do the trick.
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Want more unique and challenging exercises to work your entire body with simple equipment? All you need is just a barbell, dumbbells and a bench. Check out The Best Home Gym Exercises You've Never Heard Of!
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