They’re known by many names, including dands, divebombers, and tiger pushups, but no matter how you say it, pushups are some of the best bodyweight exercises for your shoulders. The history of this exercise says that Indian wrestlers, like the Great Gama, did hundreds of Hindu push-ups every day, along with over 1,000 Hindu squats. If that sounds like a lot, well, it is. But you can get amazing results with just 50 per day.
A bodyweight shoulder workout and more
The best bodyweight workouts target complex muscle groups, giving you a workout for more than one isolated region. Hindu bending is no different. In addition to working your shoulders, this exercise also works your chest, legs, back, and arms.
Hindu push-ups are fantastic for developing explosive strength, arms like steel cables, and long-lasting endurance, but they’re also beneficial for posture and flexibility. Zuzana Light, who most people know as YouTube’s Bodyrock Girl, does an exercise similar to Hindu push-ups that she calls Divebombers. The only difference between the two is that with Hindu push-ups, you reverse the movement on the way back.
It’s easier to understand once you know how to do Hindu push-ups. We’ll see.
How to perform a hindu pushup
one- Start by getting into your usual push-up position, with your arms and legs straight. Lengthen your stance so your feet are about twice shoulder-width apart and, keeping your legs straight, walk your hands behind you and lift your butt into the air. You should look like an inverted “V”.
two- Now bend your elbows and lower and forward your body at the same time. You should feel it working on your shoulders and biceps.
3- At the bottom of the “descent,” begin straightening your arms again, keeping your hips close to (but not above) the floor.
4- Arch your spine and keep pushing up until your elbows lock again and your spine curves away from the floor. Your head should be tilted up looking at the ceiling.
5- Now reverse the movement, swooping down to the starting position.
Tips for doing Hindu push-ups
Try to keep your movement smooth and graceful through each rep. You should breathe deeply, fully inhaling and exhaling with each rep you do. At first it will be difficult to do more than 10 push-ups in a row, simply because your body is probably not used to this specific range of motion. Over time, though, you’ll be able to increase your reps to 15 and 20 at a time.
Aim to do 50 reps a day and keep doing this bodyweight shoulder exercise for at least two weeks. You will see results in a short time.