Mike Tyson is known as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, winning his first 19 professional fights by knockout. Tyson has always prioritized fitness and staying in shape. He was also known for his calisthenic weight-free training program in his prime. There’s a reason the Mike Tyson push-up is trending as fitness buffs claim they’re unlocking serious gains. If you’re still doing the old-fashioned push-up, it’s probably time to kick it up a notch. Let’s look at the benefits and how to do the Mike Tyson push-up.
What is the Mike Tyson push-up?
The push-up is a classic and effective bodyweight exercise for building upper body strength. After some time, trying variations of different exercises is more interesting and beneficial. The Mike Tyson push-up is a skillful merging of a push-up and a child’s pose squat where you push off from a wall. You perform a bodyweight squat and a press from a stationary position. This move is more of a full-body compound exercise. You’ll fire up your shoulders, chest, and triceps as you would with a traditional push-up, but the backwards and forward motion of the child’s pose squat brings your quads, hamstrings, and glutes along for the ride.
It isn’t clear if this is the exact type of push-up Mike Tyson included in his routine, but calisthenics experts like Daniel Vadnal and other fitness enthusiasts are raving about this push-up variation.
How to do the Mike Tyson push-up
Here’s how to do the Mike Tyson push-up:
- Start in the push-up position. Place your feet flat against a wall about hips-distance apart.
- Transition to a child’s pose by bringing your glutes back to your heels and straightening your arms out in front of you.
- From the child’s pose, push up through your feet to straighten your legs and propel your body forward into the push-up starting position. Your chest should remain just above the floor rather than in contact with the ground.
- Repeat until you complete the set.
Top tip: Your knees should remain together, and your feet should be flat against the wall throughout the movement.
What are the benefits of the Mike Tyson push-up?
The momentum, speed, and added movement of the child’s pose ups the challenge and works more of your whole body rather than focusing more on your upper body. You’ll also get a killer core workout as you stabilize yourself.
The Mike Tyson push-ups bring several advantages, such as:
- Increasing your power and flexibility, especially in your spine and shoulders.
- Multi-joint bodyweight exercise.
- Enhance your cardiovascular fitness.
- Target major muscles in your entire body, including your legs, core, and glutes.
- Perform it anywhere where there’s a wall to push off from.
Spice up your workout routine with this interesting and challenging push-up variation.
