Featuring Min Naruki-van Velzen, MSc, Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist

Duration: 1 minute, 31 seconds

This exercise is for your push muscle groups, it involves the muscles across your chest, front of your shoulder, back of your arm.

It involves a pushing motion and it's excellent if you've had a cardiovascular event, but you have to be a little bit careful, particularly if you've had open heart surgery.

That you proceed with these exercises at the appropriate time after recovery. And the only way to really find that out is to consult with your cardiac exercise specialist, physitherapist, or cardiologist.

So what you want to do with the push exercise is find a surface about countertop height, and then do a pushup motion just like a standard pushup. But having it higher up makes it a little bit easier. Remember to keep your back in a neutral position so that your on like a rigid plank; also may help to go up on your toes a tiny bit.

And again you just want to do enough repetitions that you're creating fatigue through the front of your shoulders, back of your arms and through your chest.

If you find that you can do 20 repetitions without difficulty you can make it a little more challenging by dong a traditional pushup on the floor. On the other hand, if you find it too difficult, or you're not even able to finish eight repetitions, you can make it a little bit easier by doing the pushup against the wall.

So this is a great example of a push muscle exercise, but if you have more questions or want to find an exercise that's more specific to your needs, please consult your local trainer, kinesiologist, physical therapist.

Presenter: Mr. Min Naruki-van Velzen, Athletic Therapist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Athletic Therapist