i was recently told my my kung fu instructer that i should buy a small ball for doing press ups with, im guessing you hold the ball agaist the ground and do press ups from that position, hopefully you guys can shed some light on this, is it more difficult, what would be the point of the ball, and roughley what sized ball are we talking about (i should really have asked these things in class, but was alittle distraced by the class and dident really think about this till i had left.
I'm not sure what he wants, but if he only mentioned one ball, im guessing you would rest your feet on it. Or maybe just close grip pressups like you suggested. I, personaly could suggest a myriad of better exersises, providing your goal is strength/speed/power.
yes, at the moment we do a good 50 on the knuckles, 40 finger tips, 30 palms, 20 fingertips touching (tiger pressups) and 10 back of the wrists , maybe i heard wrong i guess i'll find out more next lession, ether that or i was hearing things
My guess is he wants you to do uneven pushups where you put one hand on the ball and the other on the ground and then do a certain # of pushups (working both sides of course) . There's an example of it being done here (#21): http://www.athletics.ucr.edu/strengthconditioning/exercisemenu.html
tiger pressups? what are those? is that where your hand is like a tiger, with the fingers bent and not like a spiderweb as with the normal fingertip pushups? pic?
Haha, thats not a stabilizer workout. 10x3 overhead squats with wobbely weight bags is a stabilzer workout!
no no no no no! I think he means get a basketball or a medicine ball and put your hands on it and do pushups. They are quite a bit more challenging than regular pushups.
The way you or your sifu stated it is rather vague... but here some images and some links to several things that might interest you. None are be-all end-all of fitness but most can add some challenging variety to a workout, are harder than they appear and give the stabilizers a workout as well. Some of them are a staple of a boxers workout. At any rate... you should get a medicine ball... it can provide a massive range of variety to any work out. It is in my opinion one of the best tools for adding weight/resistance to dynamic movements. Med balls when used properly can improve punching power dramatically and can blast your mid section in ways you never thought possible. I started out with an 8lb med ball and worked up from there. Medicine balls are not seen in too many gyms these days... they are somewhat of an old-school piece of equipment... but they are one of the best and most effective tools for training... especially as it relates to martial arts. Enjoy: The links: http://ronjones.org/Coach&Train/ExercisePhotos/BodyWeight/PushUps/PushUp-MedBall-1Hand.html Your classic uneven press up - here a med ball is used http://ronjones.org/Coach&Train/ExercisePhotos/BodyWeight/PushUps/PushUp-MedBall-TStabilization.html This can be a killer press up... for a slightly different approach use a dumbell instead of a med ball. This will work your stabilizers and your shoulders. Start out light... this has benefits for your rotator cuff as it works your posterior deltoid - the part of the shoulder most prone to injury and the one most forgotten by people working out the deltoids) http://ronjones.org/Coach&Train/ExercisePhotos/BodyWeight/PushUps/PushUp-MedBall-2Hands.html This can also blast you. Most people are suprised how hard this can be.. it requires a lot of balance and works your muscles in a way your don't normally get around to. Much more difficult than it appears. Below are the pics as an example... enjoy.
The two hands one is what I was talking about. You can to all those with a basketball too. I don't think you can do those with a swiss ball unless you mean put your feet on the swiss ball and your hands on the medicine/basketball... If the smileys worked I would use the bulging eye dropped jaw one right there.
On top of that... if you can't find a med. ball in your area and don't want the hassle of ordering one... you can very easily make your own. And old basketball is perfect... A bit of sand or other weighted material and that distribute evenly and a roll of duct tape and your in business. Though granted many of these homemade ones will not work 100% like the store bought ones. Nike makes a decent series of med balls in different weights and so does Everlast.