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Bodyweight The "correct" way to do hindu pushu-ps?

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Stefan Olsson

Stefan Olsson

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Since a while back I´ve been doing hindu push-ups and hindu squats. Love them! One could argue that they only build strength endurance, but for me they require a lot of strength in positions I´ve never been in before.

As I have searched youtube for the "correct" technique I´ve seen a few different ways of doing it.


First we have @AleksSalkin who demonstrates the exercise with the elbows touch the ground

Thats how I´m currently doing it. Its really hard!


Then I saw Tim from OS using a similar technique



I have read Combat conditioning by Matt Furey who do them like this with no elbow touch

Yes he is using a shena board, but still elbows flared and more outward angle.


Last night I watched @Pavel Macek free seminar of his GGP doing the push-ups like this




Most of them quite different from each other, and the case could be that its just different styles liks HS and GS, no rights and wrongs. Hopefully this could spark a discusson.
 
As a "shoulder mechanics nerd," I am happy to discuss :)

First, I am not going to give an opinion on who is more "right" or "wrong." The most important thing here (imo) is that however you choose to do your hindu pushups does not produce any pain.

Both Aleks Salkin and Tim Anderson have pretty similar technique, and are close to how I would do hindu pushups if I did them regularly. i especially like Salkin's attention to shoulder position. I don't think it's necessary for the elbows/forearms to touch the ground, but it will help to keep the elbows from flaring to the sides, which is my next point....

I am not going to criticize Matt Furey, especially if his hindu pushups help him. That being said, flaring elbows to the side puts more stress on the shoulder joint and in my experience can aggravate elbow issues (if you have them or are prone to them). The short of it is that if your elbows are farther out to the side than your palm, the force is going to go directly towards the area of your medial epicondyle. It's a similar principle to how you want your forearm verticle underneath a kettlebell when you press it. You want to transfer force in a pretty straight line to the shoulder.

Like I said at the start, if this doesn't produce any pain for you, then don't fix what isn't broken. It is something to keep in mind though. There is an argument to be made for "strengthening odd angles," but I would first make sure that you can do things in the "safest" angles before venturing into "odd" territory.

I am not entirely familiar with @Pavel Macek 's GGP, but I know the gist of it. I am curious if (in his protocol) the hindu pushup is always performed in this fashion? That is, does one only eccentrically bend the elbows from the standard pushup position, or is the "divebomber motion" ever used? Once again, nothing "right" or "wrong" in my opinion, just different motions, which will obviously produce different effects.
 
I do them but don't place a focus on the shoulders at all, haha. Not sure if that is more wrong!
I use the hips to create an ellipse and let my spine flow from it. Pushing back with the hips uses less push from the shoulders. It's like a swing only inverted with mo bell. ?, aka not a swing.
Your arse is pulling you up, rather than pushing up from the shoulders.
Not sure if that's the correct terminology.
 
@bluejeff My Great Gama protocol features 4 different variations of Dands, aka Hindu pushups; a follow-up program (Mighty Hanuman Protocol) will feature even more. There are many versions and reasons why to do them like this or that. My variations are based on a) traditional Indian and Chinese methods I am researching b) StrongFirst/Flexible Steel principles of health, functional movement, and strength.

Here are some examples:







 
Stefan Olsson said:
Most of them quite different from each other, and the case could be that its just different styles liks HS and GS, no rights and wrongs. Hopefully this could spark a discusson.
Click to expand...
Thanks for starting it! I must say, that the divebomber version looks more fluid to me. However, I think the (apparently more traditional) version that Pavel Macek displays seems much more doable for high reps, at least for me.

When I started practicing pushup negatives a few years back, I actually did them this way, haha. Felt like cheating, but apparently there is something to it :)

I guess I got confused because of reading about handstand pushup progressions. In my mind I just lumped all the similar variations together as "hindu pushups", although the angles and applications are quite different.
 
Bauer said:
However, I think the (apparently more traditional) version that Pavel Macek displays seems much more doable for high reps, at least for me.
Click to expand...
Indeed, but there are no reps - just one continuous cycling

Fluid continuity is key to both "Hindu Pushup" and "Hindu Squat" and, therefore, deserve to be distinguished by their proper names:

respective to above - DAND & BAITHAK
 
Pavel Macek said:
@bluejeff My Great Gama protocol features 4 different variations of Dands, aka Hindu pushups; a follow-up program (Mighty Hanuman Protocol) will feature even more. There are many versions and reasons why to do them like this or that. My variations are based on a) traditional Indian and Chinese methods I am researching b) StrongFirst/Flexible Steel principles of health, functional movement, and strength.

Here are some examples:







Click to expand...


Wasn´t aware that you did several different "versions" of hindu push-ups. Looks solid! I especially liked the second video. Seems like nice flow. Is that from the morning re-charge?



Bauer said:
Thanks for starting it! I must say, that the divebomber version looks more fluid to me. However, I think the (apparently more traditional) version that Pavel Macek displays seems much more doable for high reps, at least for me.

When I started practicing pushup negatives a few years back, I actually did them this way, haha. Felt like cheating, but apparently there is something to it :)

I guess I got confused because of reading about handstand pushup progressions. In my mind I just lumped all the similar variations together as "hindu pushups", although the angles and applications are quite different.
Click to expand...

I try to do them as Alex describes and try to follow the progression outlined by Josh Bryant (Jailhouse Strong) which looks like this :)

Newbie: 2 Hindu pushups and 10 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Beginner: 5 Hindu pushups and 20 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Intermediate: 10 Hindu pushups and 30 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Advanced: 20 Hindu pushups and 50 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Thoroughbred: 50 Hindu pushups and 100 Hindu squats for 10 sets



 
I've always done them like the Matt Furey video but with elbows tucked in closer. I guess like Aleks Salkin but without the elbows touching the floor is my favorite way of doing them.
 
Stefan Olsson said:
Wasn´t aware that you did several different "versions" of hindu push-ups. Looks solid! I especially liked the second video. Seems like nice flow. Is that from the morning re-charge?





I try to do them as Alex describes and try to follow the progression outlined by Josh Bryant (Jailhouse Strong) which looks like this :)

Newbie: 2 Hindu pushups and 10 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Beginner: 5 Hindu pushups and 20 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Intermediate: 10 Hindu pushups and 30 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Advanced: 20 Hindu pushups and 50 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Thoroughbred: 50 Hindu pushups and 100 Hindu squats for 10 sets
Click to expand...

My approach is a bit different: I personally think that somewhere between Intermediate and Advanced you IMHO reach the point of diminishing returns and possibly develop some overuse injuries.

My take is:
- I like the oldtimer's approach - squats are always double number of the pushups
- Minimum effective dose: pushups = your age, squats = your age times 2; minimum 30 pushups and 60 squats.
- Goal: 100 pushups and 200 squats, all in one set (Thomas Kurz's recommendation)

All explained in the videos and accompanying manual here: GGP: The Great Gama Protocol [ONLINE COURSE] | SIMPLEXSTRONG
 
"Correct" for what, that's the question. As I have stated before, the exercises of Indian wrestlers had very specific purposes, they weren't "just" for fitness. Also, they did a much larger variety of them than is commonly assumed. As far as push-ups go, have a look here: Encyclopaedia Of Indian Physical Culture Majumdar D. C. 1950 Baroda : Gotama Devi : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive The book also lists other exercises and tools for wrestling and other sports, such as mallakhamb, jori, gada, gar nal, nal etc.

Cheers
Period.
 
Period said:
"Correct" for what, that's the question. As I have stated before, the exercises of Indian wrestlers had very specific purposes, they weren't "just" for fitness. Also, they did a much larger variety of them than is commonly assumed. As far as push-ups go, have a look here: Encyclopaedia Of Indian Physical Culture Majumdar D. C. 1950 Baroda : Gotama Devi : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive The book also lists other exercises and tools for wrestling and other sports, such as mallakhamb, jori, gada, gar nal, nal etc.

Cheers
Period.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that link. Cool find!
 
Stefan Olsson said:
Wasn´t aware that you did several different "versions" of hindu push-ups. Looks solid! I especially liked the second video. Seems like nice flow. Is that from the morning re-charge?





I try to do them as Alex describes and try to follow the progression outlined by Josh Bryant (Jailhouse Strong) which looks like this :)

Newbie: 2 Hindu pushups and 10 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Beginner: 5 Hindu pushups and 20 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Intermediate: 10 Hindu pushups and 30 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Advanced: 20 Hindu pushups and 50 Hindu squats for 10 sets

Thoroughbred: 50 Hindu pushups and 100 Hindu squats for 10 sets
Click to expand...
Is this approach being used daily or several times a week?

Richard
 
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