The plyometric push up is a great exercise for developing your fast twitch muscle fibers.  By pressing yourself off the bench in a ballistic fashion you are recruiting your type 2b muscle fibers.  Fast twitch fibers are the strongest and hardest fibers in the body.  The more you use these muscle fibers, the better the possibility of having a lean and hard physique.

The plyometric push up is a great warm up exercise before performing a bench press or any intense chest exercise.  The muscle fibers you want to use will be recruited and “awake” for the following exercises.

How To:

1. Get into a push up position

2. Lower your body as if you were performing a normal push up

3. On the way up, press explosively attempting to push off the ground

Trainers Tip:

When pressing off the bench, squeeze the glutes and be aware of what your back and hips are doing.  Your body should move off the bench in as straight of a line as possible.