Functional Anatomy of Push-up Exercise

This article discusses the mechanism of push-up exercise in relation to the concepts absorbed from the learning outcomes of topic 1 and 4. It critically works through exercising the major muscles connected with the spinal cord, arms and legs so as to promote a healthier body.

Running head: FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY
FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY
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1FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY
Introduction:
The push-up exercise accounts for one of the simplest exercise form that helps in
gaining muscular strength. The exercise uses the body weight as resistance and works on the
upper torso and core simultaneously (Kim et al., 2016). A standard push-up exercise targets a
number of muscles that include, chest muscles, shoulders, triceps, abdominals and the wing
muscles located beneath the armpit which is also known as the serratus anterior.
This assignment intends to discuss and analyse the mechanism of the push-up exercise
in relation to the concepts absorbed from the learning outcomes of topic 1 and 4.
Body:
The push-up exercise is performed in a prone-position and the exercise proceeds with
lowering and raising the body with the use of arms. The exercise involves exercising multiple
muscles together which include, the pectoral muscles, triceps, the anterior deltoids, serratus
anterior, coracobrachialis and the complete mid-section. The push-up exercise was
traditionally knows as the chest-dip. It should be noted here that while performing push-ups,
the rectus abdominis and transversus abdominis contract simultaneously so as to support the
body firmly off the ground and align the legs with the torso. It should be noted here that the
contraction of the rectus abdominis pushes the spine forward.
Next, the anterior portion of the Deltoid muscle facilitate the movement of the arms
towards the chest during the exercise. Also, the muscle helps in maintaining a pace over the
movement during the downward phase. The anterior deltoid critically assists the flexion and
rotation of the humerus within the shoulder socket. The pectoralis major and the pectoralis
minor or the chest muscles assist the movement of the chest during the exercise routine.
Typically while lowering the body during the exercise, the pectoralis major assists the

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movement and with time, the muscles can become extremely strong and lean. The exercise
also governed by the movement of the back stabilizers.
The erector spinae is the major stabilizer muscle present at the back and directs the
lower and the upper movement (Lee, Lee & Park, 2013). The erector spinae is the main
stabilizer and includes the spinalis, longissmus and iliocostalis. The spinalis runs adjacent to
the spine, the longissmus are placed adjacent to the spinalis and the iliocostalis on the other
hand are placed adjacent to the longissmus and over the ribs. The triceps on the other hand,
assist the complete stretching of the arms by extending the elbow joints (Seo et al., 2013).
The triceps regulate the pace of the elbow-joint flexion during the downward movement. In
addition to this, the wrist and forearms along with the knee extensors and the hip/spine
flexors coordinate in a manner so as to maintain a standard plank position (Yoo, 2014). It
should be noted here that the short head of the biceps branchii muscle also works as another
stabilizer. The muscle helps in stabilizing the muscle between the joints of the elbow and
shoulder. Lastly, the push up modifications that require the placement of the arms at different
levels involve the exercising of the inter-muscles between the fingers and strengthening of
the rotator cuff.
Conclusion:
Hence to conclude, it can be said that the push up exercise critically works through
exercising the major muscles connected with the spinal cord, arms and legs so as to promote
a healthier body. A number of variations such as planche push-ups, knuckle push-ups and
backhanded push-ups are improvisations that facilitate exercising of the complete body.

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References:
Kim, Y. S., Kim, D. Y., & Ha, M. S. (2016). Effect of the push-up exercise at different
palmar width on muscle activities. Journal of physical therapy science, 28(2), 446-
449.
Lee, S., Lee, D., & Park, J. (2013). The effect of hand position changes on electromyographic
activity of shoulder stabilizers during push-up plus exercise on stable and unstable
surfaces. Journal of physical therapy science, 25(8), 981-984.
Seo, S. H., Jeon, I. H., Cho, Y. H., Lee, H. G., Hwang, Y. T., & Jang, J. H. (2013). Surface
EMG during the push-up plus exercise on a stable support or Swiss ball: scapular
stabilizer muscle exercise. Journal of physical therapy science, 25(7), 833-837.
Yoo, W. G. (2014). Effect of exercise speed and isokinetic feedback on the middle and lower
serratus anterior muscles during push-up exercises. Journal of physical therapy
science, 26(5), 645-646.