Prado 1

Justin Prado

Trishia Briones

English 1302-227

9 February 2022

Introduction

There are many exercises in the world of fitness today that have always been a

fundamental way of becoming it, stronger, and more flexible. Some exercises may increase

flexibility whiles others specialized in enhancing and strengthening one’s body. This exercise

which will be focused on for this experiment is the push-up. This experiment shall seek whether

is it best to stick to one variation of push-ups, mainly the basic well known strict push-up, or to

mix it up to seek a better outcome in terms of health, strength, and flexibility. On day one, the

subject focused on the most basic push-up stance called Regular Push-up. On day two, the

subject focused on the push-up variation called Wide-Hand Push-up. On day three, the subject

focused on the push-up variation called Diamond Push-up. On day four, the subject focused on

the push-up variation called Pike Push-up. On day five, the subject focused on the push-up

variation called Power Push-up. On day six the subject focused on the push-up variation called

Spiderman Push-up. On day seven the subject focused on the push-up variation called Finger

Push-up. On day eight the subject focused on the push-up variation called Elevated Push-up. On

day nine the subject focused on the push-up variation called Super Push-up (or Hindu or Dive

Bomber). Lastly, on day ten the subject focused on the push-up variation called Flying Push-up.

Experiment
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For a ten-day period, the subject will subject oneself to a singular exercise with different

variations on a different day for ten days. The exercise would be done by the subject till failure

or when the subject’s mental and physical capacity would run out. The exercise for each day

would be done at the subject home during the afternoon hours of the day. For ten days the

subject will do as many push-ups as possible for that day.

Day 1

On the first day of the experiment the subject did Regular Push-ups till failure. The

subject was able to call the exercise “a good workout for the day” (Prado 1). Thought the regular

push-up is considered a difficult type of push-up, the subject “felt good” (Prado 1) after

completing the exercise for the day.

Day 2

One the second day of the experiment the subject noted “my arms feel a little tender”

(Prado 2). The subject was able to complete the exercise, Wide Push-up, till failure like the

previous day. The subject noted that “today was a difficult as yesterday” (Prado 2). Signifying

that the subject’s current symptoms on day two were similar to the symptoms on day 1.

Day 3

On the third day of the experiment the subject did Diamond Push-ups for the day.

The subject was able to complete the exercise till failure because “diamond push-ups are for

triceps which isn’t targeted by regular and wide push-ups” (Prado 3). Hence the subject’s

symptoms can be compared to day 1 and 2.

Day 4
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On the fourth day of the experiment the subject did Pike Push-ups. Though the subject

was able to complete the exercise till failure, the subject noted that he felt uncomfortable

soreness and struggled to complete basic arm movements without pain in both arms. Particularly

the outer chest, biceps, and triceps. “It took me a minute to get out of bed because of how new

this soreness felt compared to past experiences” (Prado 4). Thought the subject was able to

complete the exercise, he felt “pretty sore throughout the day” (Prado 4).

Day 5

On the fifth day of the experiment the subject did Power Push-ups. The subject was able

to complete the exercise till failure with the continued soreness from the day before. “The

soreness from yesterday is only going to grow into tomorrow” (Prado 5) stated the subject after

completed the exercise.

Day 6

On the sixth day of the experiment the subject did Spiderman push-ups. The subject was

able to complete the exercise until failure but took take a while to complete the exercise. The

subject stated his frustration by saying “I could do the push up, but the soreness just makes it so

annoying to do. I am not tired; I am just sore and maybe a little tired.” (Prado 6)

Day 7

On the seventh day of the experiment the subject did Finger Push-ups. The subject did the

exercise till failure after a set amount of time. “I have been doing Finger Push-ups for a while

now and have been incorporating them into my daily workouts. So, I thought I could do them till

failure fairly easy despite the soreness” (Prado 7). The subject was incorrect is his assumption
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that the exercise would be easier. In fact, the subject struggled to get up after every moving down

motion of each push-up.

Day 8

On the eighth day of the experiment the subject did Elevated Push-ups. The subject was

able to complete the exercise after a set amount of time. “This is taking too long” (Prado8). The

subject continued to complain on how long the exercise was taking before he could feel he did

enough to consider failure.

Day 9

On the ninth day of the experiment the subject did Super Push-ups. The subject failed to

complete the exercise till failure and managed to do five after a ten-minute interval. “Why did I

save the harder ones for later” (Prado 9). The subject failed to complete the exercise till failure

and the soreness continued.

Day 10

On the tenth day of the experiment the subject did Flying Push-ups. Simply put, the

subject did two flying push-ups. “I’m done. I don’t want too anymore.” (Prado 10). The subject

was able to “complete” the experiment with severe soreness that will most likely persist until

next week. “I feel stronger, just not now. Probably later though.” (Prado 10).

Results

The experiment was completed after a ten-day period where the subject completed a

different variation of push-up for every day until failure or physical and mental exhaustion. The
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subject had extreme soreness and pain induced by said soreness. The subject ultimately regrets

doing the experiment as any activity done that includes the movement of the arms causes pain in

the following muscle groups: forearms, biceps, triceps, both pectorals, shoulders, and abs.

Conclusion

In conclusion the experiment was successful in proving that many different variations of

push-ups allow for different muscle groups to be exercised. Though it is probably most feasible

that the days in which push-ups are done, they are done in succession with other exercises that

target the same muscle groups. This allows for a different range of motion for the same muscles

to grow and strengthen. Though push-ups are a good fundamental exercise that is used to

strengthen and allow for more flexibility, it is an exercise best used with different variations,

different types, and different ranges of motion to allow for optimal growth in health , strength,

and flexibility.