We Tried It: 3 Reasons We Like the Perfect Pushup
By: Nicole Nichols,
SparkPeople Blogger
12/23/2008 4:07 PM
: 94 comments
The Perfect Pushup is one of the most popular fitness tools around right now. For about $40 you can snag these specially designed pushup handles that rotate. But pushups are a pretty simple exercise, and they're great because they work so many muscle groups at once (chest, shoulders, arms and abs) and you can do them anywhere without equipment. That said, why would you want to spend money on a piece of equipment to do something you can already do for free? It wasn't hard for us to come up with a few reasons.
Overall, we found Perfect Pushup to be fun, challenging and motivating—not bad for a mere $40. A couple of our testers liked them so much that they used Perfect Pushup (and the workout plans that accompany them) for several weeks. "I did use the routines that came with Perfect Pushup and found them to be challenging and helpful," said one person. "I definitely would say that I increased both strength and definition while using them, though admittedly, part of that is probably just from sticking to a consistent routine that gets increasingly difficult."
Would you try the Perfect Pushup? Do you think ergonomics, challenge and visual motivation is worth the $40 price tag?
- They're ergonomic. One good thing about Perfect Pushup is that it neutralizes your wrists. When your hands are flat on the floor, your wrists are in a position that can be painful and tiring. If you suffer from weak wrists (due to injury, for example) or carpal tunnel, then putting your weight on your hands without neutralizing your wrist is a bad idea. We like that Perfect Pushup makes pushups more comfortable because you grip the handles with your fingers and keep your wrists straight and in line with your forearm. This translates to many different exercises that involve placing your hands on the floor (like plank, bridges, or triceps dips, for example), which means you can find ways to use Perfect Pushups for exercises other than pushups. According to one tester, "They were more comfortable than regular pushups." However, you could also do this without spending $40 by making fists and placing your knuckles onto the floor (instead of your palms) or by gripping around the handles of a pair of dumbbells, which does the same thing.
- They're challenging. Pushups are difficult enough for most people. But for fitness buffs who want a greater challenge, the Perfect Pushup is an affordable option. Because they elevate you off the floor, you are able to lower yourself even more than on a standard pushup. And the rotational aspect of the handles adds variety and challenge that wouldn't be there if you hands were fixed on the floor. Here's what another tester had to say. "The range of motion they allow creates an addition layer of variety and challenge. I’m a big fan of dumbbell presses and I feel like this replicates the motion of that exercise. I think this range of motion allows you to engage more muscles in the arms and chest than a normal pushup." Another tester agreed that the Perfect Pushup was more challenging, but suggested using a stack of books of a couple of chairs to get the same "extra" range of motion for free.
- They're a visual reminder to exercise. All of our testers agreed that simply having the Perfect Pushup around reminded and encouraged them to exercise more. "I find that they get me more excited about doing pushups regularly throughout the day," said one tester. Others agreed: "Just having them sitting on the floor in a conspicuous place is a reminder to do the pushups. And since they don't take up much room, I think that's a positive thing."
Overall, we found Perfect Pushup to be fun, challenging and motivating—not bad for a mere $40. A couple of our testers liked them so much that they used Perfect Pushup (and the workout plans that accompany them) for several weeks. "I did use the routines that came with Perfect Pushup and found them to be challenging and helpful," said one person. "I definitely would say that I increased both strength and definition while using them, though admittedly, part of that is probably just from sticking to a consistent routine that gets increasingly difficult."
Would you try the Perfect Pushup? Do you think ergonomics, challenge and visual motivation is worth the $40 price tag?
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Comments
misspattym - 2/27/2010 7:53:19 AM
There are SO many variations of push ups that i would NEVER spend 40$ for a piece of equip just for push ups
You can do elevated push ups, diamond push ups, close arm push ups, one arm push ups,.. too many to have a need for this.
Just my opinion
- 10/20/2009 7:08:34 PM
They are much more comfy than doing them on the floor or on the knucks. - 8/2/2009 12:16:20 PM
*I cant wait to have that cartoon fem fatal muscle bustin bod!* - 1/9/2009 7:56:20 AM
The product is way too pricey for me at this point in time. I haven't worked up the strength necessary to do push-ups anyway, so that pushes it much much farther down my list of fitness equipment to buy. Now come September 2009, I may be thinking about it for my granddaughter... - 12/29/2008 9:31:28 PM
I was looking for something that had rotation as an option. Theses products all rotate and I wasn't sure I could handle this. Of all the demonstrations I saw I couldn' t see any difference in the position and the pressure on the heal of the hand and the wrist, they all had a right angle and it seemed as painful as the floor without aid. I had keyhole surgery for De Quervain's tenosynovitis in my right thumb many yeras ago and it has never been the same and push ups are hard for me.
I then went to the sports shop and bought some Nike push up bars and they were very high put a lot of strain on the back and didn't make any difference to the comfort of the wrist. In the end the best solution was my short dumbbell bars with 1.5 kg weights on each side, they are lower (very important)don't rotate and are steady on my yoga mat. I put some foam around the bar grip although it wasn't essential. All good now and the bars can also be used for one arm rows and curls etc.
Claudia
- 12/29/2008 3:06:47 AM
I use my stability ball to do pushups. I am 63 so doing any is a challenge. - 12/28/2008 9:29:06 AM
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- 12/26/2008 3:17:44 PM
Good review. - 12/26/2008 12:24:04 PM
Thanks - 12/25/2008 11:57:51 PM
One thing that is not mentioned in the ergonomic portion of this review is that you turn the the Perfect Pushup as you go up and down keeping your wrist in a truly neutral position, something you do not get from being up on your knuckles or using dumbbells. I do not know about you, but ouch, that sounds painful to me to do push ups on my knuckles. Another added benefit of this equipment is it strengthens little, stabilizer, muscles around the elbows.
Yes, it can be tough to start off, but you can do the knee push ups with this as well. It is a spark goal waiting to happen! - 12/24/2008 10:39:12 AM
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