Let’s be honest, you can’t get a more simple, yet effective, exercise for building upper body strength than the basic push-up. But, once you become a push-up pro, you’ll probably be looking to add some extra challenge to the movement in one way or another. Enter the Mike Tyson push-up.
The heavyweight boxing champ was renowned for his callisthenic, weight-free, training regime back in his heyday, which included the humble push-up. However, whether this is the exact type of push-up Tyson did isn’t entirely clear, but, it's been gaining popularity. One guy who's a big advocate of the move is calisthenics expert, Daniel Vadnal, who recently shared a video on its benefits.
This exercise is basically a hybrid between a push-up and a child's pose squat, using a wall as a platform to push off, loading your upper body and lower body, making this move a more rounded, full-body compound exercise.
Instead of just hitting your chest, shoulders and triceps, like you would with a regular push-up, the backward and forward motion from the child's pose squat to a press also fires up your glutes, quads and hamstrings. But why would you do this over a regular push-up?
According to Vandal, it's the momentum and speed required to perform this variation that makes it far more challenging. "You're having to resist more of your bodyweight making Mike Tyson push-ups feel heavier when compared to normal push-ups," he explains in his video. "This means your chest, shoulders and triceps are working over time to stop yourself falling flat on your face." Your core will also be on fire too to aid stability throughout the exercise.
Vandal also says they're great for increasing power, flexibility (particularly in the shoulders and spine), and as a multi-joint movement, are excellent for boosting your cardiovascular fitness. While we can't guarantee they'll give you a punch like Tysons, they'll certainly unlock some serious upper body gains and power.
How to do Mike Tyson push-ups
The Mike Tyson exercise can be performed pretty much anywhere, as long as there's a wall. This is definitely the type of exercise that's easier to understand by watching someone demonstrate it, so make sure you watch the video of Vandal above demonstrating how to perform the exercise properly. Here's how you do the Mike Tyson push-up:
- Start in a push-up position with your feet flat against a wall around hip-width apart
- Sit your bum back towards your heels, so your arms are lengthened out in front you in a child's pose position
- From this child's pose position, push through your feet to extend the legs and push your body forward into a push-up (make sure your chest remains hovering above the floor though)
- Push back into the child's pose position, alternating between this and the push-up
Tip: keep your feet firmly against the wall throughout the entire movement and push through for more power and speed