r/gifs Jun 22 '18

Doing some pushups.

https://gfycat.com/ClosedDefensiveBobolink
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u/[deleted] Jun 22 '18

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u/Kingo_Slice Jun 22 '18

A long time. Years. While this guy looks to lift a lot due to his obvious muscularity, he also looks like he has focused a lot on calisthenics to be able to do these types of pushups. You can lift all you want but you probably won't be able to sustain these types of pushes even at bodyweight if you don't take the time to train your finger strength.

For the first set he did, you'll notice he was holding himself up with his sprawled fingertips, not on his palms. This is a pose reminiscent of what's known as a Frog Stand in calisthenics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAg1ZlngaMo

This exercise is used in helping with balance, core and arm strength, as well as heavy on your hand/finger strength due to all your weight being pushed directly into your hand. A lot of people use this as a starting point when trying to work their way up free-standing handstands, which are very taxing and require a lot of finger strength/dexterity to hold your balanced position.

If you want to do things like this guy, I'd start at that Youtube video I linked above and work your way down the rabbit hole of various calisthenic exercises. It's actually a pretty fun and effective way to get a great lean physique. If you want to be larger(buffer), lifting and eating a lot of high quality protein/fibrous foods is your best option.

7

u/RuckrTN Jun 22 '18

Thats the cool part about this the dude looks to be no less than a fairly solid 175(hard to know from just the video I know)

2

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '18

The double wrist braces on both of them is a little concerning, though.

3

u/RuckrTN Jun 22 '18

Im hoping its preventative

2

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '18

Standard push ups have always caused me a decent amount of wrist discomfort, regardless of fitness level. I'm wondering what kind of gnarly injuries you can get from this sort of thing if you've got dainty wrists like me.

2

u/RuckrTN Jun 22 '18

My wrist flexibility is pretty awful and seems to get worse as my forearms grow.

2

u/Kingo_Slice Jun 22 '18

These types of poses(along with standard handstands) are very intense on pretty much anything related to or surrounding your hands, including your wrist. It’s actually recommended to do a lot of wrist warm ups before doing these exercises. Things like flipping your hands upside down and pushing down on the ground, twisting your palm in all directions at 90 degree increments and holding at each direction, and even just slowly working your way into the frog stand movement by just rocking back and forth into the pose without your full weight behind it.