Introduction
If you feel that conventional pushups are too easy and boring for you then it’s time to introduce yourself to this excellent style of pushup “Hindu Pushups”. Hindu pushup can be a great alternative to your traditional pushups and will work as a game-changer in muscle building and body flexibility. Due to its compound movements, it’s a complete package with better muscle strength and endurance.
What are the benefits of Hindu pushups? Its an excellent compound exercise that benefits the whole upper body by targeting your Pectoral (Chest muscles), Deltoids, Triceps, Serratus anterior, subscapularis, hip and spine flexor, erector spine, etc. Other than the muscle worked, Hindu pushups work really well in improving posture and boosting testosterone levels.
Lets get deep into details of Hindu Pushups and its Benefits.
Origin of Hindu Pushups
Hindu pushups are a variation of pushup which got its name because of its huge popularity within traditional Indian wrestlers and Indian martial arts style.
Traditional Indian wrestlers are performing Hindu pushups for centuries to strengthen their upper body. Bruce Lee also incorporated Hindu pushups in his training regime and called them “Dands”.
A legendary and greatest Indian wrestler of all time “The Great Gama” used to perform 5000 Hindu squats and 3000 Hindu pushups daily.
What Makes Hindu Pushup Different?
The variable that makes it stand apart from any other variation of pushup is movement. It doesn’t just concentrate on eccentric movement. But it comprises of both eccentric and concentric in a single exercise, this gives your body an opportunity for better development, stronger joints, and muscle development.
As opposed to conventional pushup, Hindu pushups aren’t concentrating majorly on pectoral muscle. Instead, Hindu pushup is an incredible exercise to develop stronger shoulders, pectoral, arms, core, and spine.
As you move from the downward dog position to upward dog position, you are also lubricating your joints, Hindu pushup opens up your pectoral muscles, erector spine, hip joints. This will aid in better mobility and better strength.
Hindu pushup is a great option for the rehabilitation of lifestyle diseases as well, Hindu pushup is a perfect combination of strength and flexibility and that’s what makes it perfect for the modern lifestyle. While standard pushup position concentrates mainly on improving the strength of chest, delts, and triceps; Hindu pushup assists in improving body posture, greater spine flexibility, stronger joints, better endurance and cardiovascular health.
Read More: Exercise that can help you develop insane strength!!
How To Do Hindu Pushups
Let’s learn how to perform Hindu Pushups perfectly.
- Get into the pushup position with your feet hip-width apart.
- Keep your core tight and straight back.
- Push your torso backward and move your butt up to form an inverter V. or you can say that get your body into downward dog position.
- Bend your elbows to move your upper chest close to the ground while still keeping the butt up.
- Now drop your butt down, so that your body will be in a straight line.
- Straighten your arms and push your chest in the upward direction, forming an Upward-Facing Dog Position in yoga.
- Make sure to keep your chest forward and keep your throat open. Shoulders blades pulled together with legs staying tight and active.
- Now push your torso back in the starting position and repeat the movement 15 times to complete a set
Benefits Of Hindu Pushups
These Hindu pushups are my favorite for a long time due to its unique qualities and benefits. This style of pushup stabilizes and strengthens joints, works on more muscle than any other pushup variation and they have been incorporated in strength training for centuries.
1. Improves Flexibility
Hindu pushup is not just another form of pushup but it’s a combination of two renowned yoga poses that are upward facing dog position and downward dog facing position.
We are all aware that practicing yoga can improve body flexibility, practicing both upward facing dog position and downward dog facing position in a single exercise can give incredible results in your spine flexibility. Practicing this movement will help regulation of spinal fluid which will help is optimum lubrication between vertebrates.
You will experience stronger and flexible spine, hip joint, and shoulders rotator blades. This will make you less prone to any injury.
2. Excellent Compound Exercise
Once we specify the number of muscle groups you are working on with the help of Hindu pushups, we bet you won’t be able to stop yourself from performing this awesome pushup style.
Hindu pushup works from your upper to lower body; it works from your front to back. How? It’s due to an eccentric and concentric range of motions. Most of the compound exercise rather works on the upper body or lower body, or the work on body’s front portion or back portion. But Hindu pushups give you an opportunity to train your body from all around the corners.
That’s the reason ancient wrestlers and professional fighters used to perform thousands of Hindu pushups to get stronger while working on mobility.
We will be discussing the number of muscles get affected while performing Hindu pushups in the later phase of this article.
3. Versatile
All pushups variations are versatile, which means you don’t need to have any equipment. All you need is willpower and even floor.
Versatility is a trait that can help you stay regular with training. Persistence is a key to success and with no requirement for any equipment, you are promoting yourself towards a better lifestyle.
4. More Power
The more muscle you engage in a single exercise the more powerful you get, through Hindu Pushup, you are working on multiple joints and multiple muscle groups at the same time.
The muscle that you have been training with Hindu pushups are- Pectoral (Chest muscles), Deltoids, Latissimus dorsi, erector spine, triceps, Serratus anterior, subscapularis, abdominals, glutes Maximus, hamstrings.
Additionally, you are promoting body flexibility which will ultimately lead to fewer injuries.
5. Muscular Endurance
Do not confuse muscular endurance with cardiovascular endurance; they both are different, although training for one will help in strengthening the other too.
Cardiovascular endurance is all about your heart and lungs’ ability to continuously deliver oxygenated blood to sustain physical activity. Muscular endurance is about your muscle’s ability to exert continuous force without reaching fatigue.
Hindu pushup is a compound exercise that will improve the quality of your Deadlift, Bench-press, or any other exercise by improving your muscle density and body’s flexibility.
Read more: How To Improve Endurance With Burpees.
6. Stronger Spine
I was having a weak spine since the very early phase of life, I had a slip disc problem when I was just 16. This weak spine used to bother me every time I put myself into any rigorous workout sessions. I could not Deadlift more than 150 lbs due to my vulnerable spine.
Then one day I decided to practice Hindu pushups on a regular basis, and soon I reached the milestone of 500 Hindu pushups in a day. Now I could Deadlift at more than 450 pounds. Need any other reason to start doing a Hindu pushup?
Upward-facing dog position and downward-dog facing position are two yoga positions that concentrate on a stronger and flexible spine.
If you are struggling with the low flexibility of your spine then it’s time to start performing Hindu pushups on regular basis. Hindu pushup will work on the overall development of the spine and hip joint.
7. Life-changing
Hindu pushup can be a great tool to prevent lifestyle diseases. Lifestyle diseases are any kind of illness that occurred due to a sedentary lifestyle. People have been eating unhealthy food, sitting in the same posture for long hours, walking less, and pollution are some of the reasons for lifestyle diseases.
Lifestyle diseases can be corrected with regular exercise and keeping your cardiovascular system healthy. Those who are too busy to exercise regularly can practice this single exercise for better posture, physical strength, and cardiovascular health. One of the common lifestyle diseases is slumpy-posture.
Slumpy-posture syndrome: slumpy posture occurs due to constant sitting for hours. Many of my clients have been complaining about back pain due to long hours sitting. Additionally, people are experiencing a change in their posture due to working long hours at the same place.
Hindu pushup can be a great answer to your posture problems. Its downward dog posture and upward dog posture will correct your body with better posture and a stronger spine. Regular use of Hindu pushups also resulted in a reduction of back pain as well.
Muscle Worked while Hindu Pushup
Let’s have a look at the muscle worked while performing Hindu pushups.
How to maximize pushups efficiency
Performing pushups is one thing, performing great pushups that help you target your muscles accurately is another. Therefore, we are suggesting the following accessories for every fitness fanatic:
Recommended Products For Upper Body Strength.
ROGUE BOLT TOGETHER PARALLETTE SET
ROGUE GYMNASTIC WOOD RINGS
Thanks for reading. Questions are welcomed in the comments as always. This site contains affiliate links as well as general health and fitness information. Please read my Medical Disclaimer and Writing Disclaimer for more information.
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I was in doubt about the Hindu Push upd. Thank you for the detailed information especially by naming all the muscles involved.
Glad you like it.
Feel free to ask any further querry. :)
Are they still hindu pushups if you don’t bend your elbows? I’m 63 and have pain in my right shoulder
Hindu pushups without bending elbow don’t really make sense to me.
Age is a big factor here, I can not suggest you the accurate solution since I am not aware of your physical strength. Hindu pushups can certainly be hard on shoulders.
If there is a pain in shoulders then you should not force your body to do the movement. Instead, I would suggest you invest in some TRX for whole-body strengthening. TRX has a low impact on joints and works really well with people over 50 years of age.
Let me know if the suggestions are helpful to you.
Would you recommend hindu pushups over burpees?
Hindu pushups are more focused on the upper body strength and burpees are used for full body conditioning and strength.
If you want to lose weight then I would pay more emphasis on the burpee but if you want to develop a stronger upper body with cannonball like shoulders then I would suggest Hindu pushups.
Hindu pushups also work wonders in decompressing the spine for better mobility (especially good for people with 8 hours desk job).
Burpee will challenge you mentally, and Hindu pushup won’t.
If you want then I can cover a whole article on the difference between Hindu pushups and burpees (but that will take some time because of Corona crises), let me know if you have any further doubts.
I think there is a variation of hindu pushup….which is like burpees….if i guess right its name is “sapate Dand”
Yes, If you combine Hindu pushups with Indian squats (sands) then you get Sapate Dand.
I agree, Sapate Dand looks like an Indian version of burpees.
can hindu pushups be performed everyday… also do advise the breathing pattern while performing it.
If you are doing it as a warmup routine then it can surely be practiced on daily basis.
But if you are planning to perform high volume Hindu pushups then I would not recommend that. If you are going more than 100 Hindu pushups then you should be allowing some recovery time to the body.
If you are looking to develop some muscle mass and strength then I would recommend it 2-3 times a week.
For the breathing: Inhale while you dive in, and exhale to get into starting position.
Skinny fat can do hindu push ups and hindu squats daily
Skinny fat can do hindu push ups
everyday
Basically it depends on your personal fitness, the intensity of exercise, and nutrition.
If you are planning to do 500 pushups and 1000 squats on daily basis then my answer is No, you should not do it daily.
But doing 100 Hindu pushups and 200 squats seems like a decent amount of workout that can be done on a daily basis.
The idea is to not extremely exhaust your body on daily basis, instead increase the intensity gradually to experience the best results.
Listen to your body, if it allows you to do any particular bodyweight exercise on daily basis then you can surely do it.
Hindu push ups reduce chest fat
With the right nutrition, Hindu pushups have got the ability to transform whole upper body.
50 Hindu push ups fix skinny fat
Yes, it can help you fix it.
but consistently and progressive overload is a key to a healthier and stronger body.
Hindu push ups target lower chest and inner chest
lower chest is not the primary target area of Hindu pushups.
You should try parallel bar dips to target the lower chest.
I’m doing 3000 Hindu Pushups every week,
Do you think this is the right way to go OR your opinion differes…
Please comment.
The total number of Hindu pushups you should be doing largely depends on your strength levels.
I am assuming you are doing 500 Hindu pushups for 6 days a week.
From my perspective, 3000 Hindu pushups every week can be quite stressful and your body won’t get sufficient time to recover.
There are Indian Akhada Pehalvans who practice high volume Hindu Pushups and dands on daily basis but they reach that fleet after years of consistent practice.
If you have gradually progressed your way to 3000 Hindu pushups per week then its good but progressing too quickly can be really injurious to health.
I would suggest you practice mixed variations of pushups for all-round development.
Additionally, I would also suggest you to include pullup and squat variations. For the lower body, I personally love Plyometric style training (ex- jump squats or box jumps) which helps in the development of explosive strength.
Thank you 🙏,
Thank you for your reply Mr.Harsh.
Yah, after maintaining the consistency for more than FIVE years, I reached to this level. I believe you are suggesting that the VOLUME is OKAY as far as as I am NOT hurting myself…
Please correct me if I’m wrong…
Exactly, it’s okay to increase the volume if your body allows.
But I would personally suggest you to include other variations as well to break the plateau. if you are into bodyweight workout only then try mastering advanced level bodyweight exercises that require greater strength levels (ex superman pushup, planche pushups, etc).
If bodyweight workout is getting too easy then I would suggest adding extra resistance by introducing yourself to weighted vests or dip belts.
Thank you very much .
This really helps…
God Bless🙏
Hindu squats burn fat or no
That depends on the volume of the workout.
Gaining muscle mass will help you burn more fat/calories.
Hindu push ups burn fat and build muscle at same time
Skinny fat can do Hindu push ups and skippings
Absolutely, it will help in boosting metabolism, trimming down stored fat, upper body toning, and strength development.
Hindu push ups build muscle and burn fat at same time
Absolutely.
Home workout for skinny fat plz
I suggest you go through our article: http://alphamale.co/how-to-start-home-gym-with-no-weight/
This article will help you build strength and lose stored fat at the same time.
Can I do Hindu push ups daily for muscle building
That depends on the total volume of your workout.
The best strategy is to alternate between Upper body training days and Lower body training days.
Hindu push ups target lats and fix skinny fat to fit and lean
Hindu push ups daily can fix skinny-fat to fit and lean muscular body sir please reply
Only Hindu pushup is not enough to achieve the desired physique.
Then which home workout routine can I follow for skinny fat
That depends on your fitness levels and nutrition.
Send us an e-mail at Editor@alphamale.co and you can subscribe to the paid services.
We will provide you a custom diet plan and home workout routine as well.
We can do hindu push ups and squats daily for muscle building
Sir I have a sciatica pain ,hindu push ups will reduce my sciatica pain nd lower disc pain plz answer me
yes, Hindu pushups might help in the decompression of the spine.
you can practice Hindu pushups with a SLOW tempo.
Stop if you experience any kind of pain.
many yoga poses and Cupping therapy can be very beneficial for relieving Sciatica pain.
You have seriously doing a great job by giving such accurate and detailed information. Thanks for improving my knowledge. I am 31 and slim. I want to increase my body weight, and increase my muscle mass. I have started doing Sapate as per guided by one of my friend who used to wrestle in Akhada of his village.
Awesome, I am glad that you found the information helpful.
Do let us know if you need any additional help.