For maximum strength, you want to lift in a stable environment...however, for increased stabilizer activation (and often overall muscle activation), you want to work in an unstable environment.
The question is...how unstable is useful until it becomes not useful and dangerous. Some people go to that point, but I like to keep it to a more moderate level.
That's where THIS variation of the push-up shines.
(And even though I'm demonstrating this with a bar and a couple of weight plates, you can very easily rig up a similar setup with something that looks like a bar (like a broom stick, maybe) and a pair of other solid objects that you can set your hands on (like hardcover books, if you remember what those are :).
Basically, you're going to introduce instability in the forward and backward plane of movement as you perform a regular push-up, with the goal of not letting the flat objects touch the ground.
Using something large and flat like this allows you to open your hands out wide while you're also balancing during the exercise. I found this open hand position helps a lot with pec activation versus something handle-based, which brings in more triceps.
How to Set Up Plate-Bar Balance Push-Ups
Set the bar on the floor and the plates centered on top so that they can tip forward or backward equally.
I'm using rubberized bumper plates so they won't slide easily on the bar. Steel weight plates on a steel bar will have more of a tendency - in that case, I recommend setting a towel on top of the bar, then the plates on the towel. That will give the plates a bit more grip.
Set your hands on the plates so that your point of balance is directly over the bar. You don't want to set your hands too far forward or backward as that will immediately tip the plates.
Once your hands are set, get into push-up position.
Now just perform push-ups with this setup, striving to keep the plates from contacting the floor.
You will be having to constantly adjust your hands all the way up and all the way down.
Perform these reps under complete control. If you go too fast, the plates will just tip and you won't get the same effect.
Get as many reps as you can until you can either no longer stabilize or no longer push effectively.
It's a very simple exercise and very effective!
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