Thursday, March 27, 2008

Perfect Pushup

Perfect PushupA friend of mine bought the Perfect Pushup and recommended it to me. I had my wife get it for me as a valentines day present. We bought the $20 version (plastic handles) from Wal-Mart instead of the $40 version (metal handles) available on the infomercial. My first impression was it was a simple design, and seemed well built and plenty sturdy.

The directions are simple; first do as many pushups as you can, then look on the chart to determine your workout routine (always round down to the nearest 10). The instruction sheet has a 21 day calendar with your daily schedule on it. The schedule is easy to follow, basically you are doing pushups every other day. Every few days the pushups get a little harder, but if you follow the routine then they are just right. The best part is it takes less than 10 minutes to complete all 3 sets of pushups. I space them out through the day; one when I wake up, one after work, and one before bed.

My max at first was 15, so I rounded down to 10 for the first routine. 8,6,4,2 (20 pushups three times every other day) was my first pushup breakdown. It was tough in the beginning but I followed the chart to the "T" and I noticed right away that they got easier to do. As they got easier the chart added another set and moved from floor pushups, to chair pushups. After completing all 21 days, the chart has you do your max again to get ready to start again. My max was 30 this time around. Now I'm doing 40 pushups every other day (20,12,8). I have already noticed increased strength, and after only one month increased muscle definition. On the website, Perfect Pushup, they have a section that provides a new style of pushup each month. This makes the Perfect Pushup even more effective.

Now after saying all that I do have some issues with the Perfect Pushup. On the infomercial the guy showing the product is absolutely ripped, but I have not noticed much of a change in my abs even though I have followed the directions and sucked my stomach in while doing the pushups. My other complaint is that the directions tell you to do all these things while you are doing the pushups, breathe a certain way, suck your belly button toward your back, etc..., it winds up being so much to concentrate on that I sometimes lose count and other times I feel I'm going to fall on my face.

My overall opinion of the Perfect Pushup is this; It is a VERY effective product, that if given and chance and stick to the routine can make a huge difference. I highly recommend this to anyone trying to gain muscle definition and strength in your upper body. I rate it a 4.5 out of 5.

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