Push Ups... what are we pushing?

Why do runners do so many push ups?

Well the obvious answer is that they're simple and you can do them anywhere, so it's a perfect post-run exercise.

What are we pushing as runners though? Nothing really. The pace? Ourselves? Our competition? But physically, there's not a lot of pushing going on.

So why do push ups? Aside from the benefits of general fitness in the upper body, we can see that there are some benefits to push ups. Where the upper arm attaches to the torso there is a significant amount of musculature. The pec muscles (major, minor), the deltoids/shoulders (anterior, medial, posterior), the latissimus, and the serratus anterior all come together at the general arm-pit area. Running involves hundreds of small contractions of those muscles every minute via the arm swing. While we don't necessarily tire out on a frequent basis (there are those rare occassions that most runners have experienced when the shoulders are mysteriously sore), minimizing the energy draining effect of the hundreds of contractions can be a benefit. We don't have to think about the chest or shoulders while we're running so we can focus our thoughts on performance of our legs.

I think there's a bigger benefit to high volume push ups for runners, however. Just like any other muscle, when it is trained to operate in high volume, the muscle becomes sleeker, less bulky. Aside from the simple idea of carrying less mass around on a run, a less bulky arm-pit area is going to move much more easily through it's full range of motion. Imagine a muscle-bound body builder attempting to swing their arms hundreds of times per minute. They will be able to do it, but it is going to cost them more energy. My guess is that when you see them deep into a long run (assuming you get them to continue beyond 20-30 minutes) there is going to be some serious postural issues.

Imagine a lean animal in the wild. Their legs are capable of moving through great ranges of motion and similar to an earlier post, the more supple and lean we are, the easier our limbs move, thus we are more energy efficient. We no longer have to fight our own musculature to accomplish the menial task of arm swing.

So push ups it is. Not without pull ups, of course...