The Versatile Pushup

I don't see a lot of pushup action in the gym. Maybe that's because it lacks the excitement of loading big loud plates or because there's no comfy padded place to sit (and no cup holder).  It's a great exercise, but very humbling; done to failure, pushups end very unglamorously, sometimes with a faceplant.  These are a staple in my chest routine and the variations are endless:

• reproduce the effects of a flat bench, decline, or incline by changing the relative elevation of your hands and feet
• change hand position to recruit more of the chest (wide) or tricep (narrow)
• engage your core with an unstable contact point (or multiple) like a Bosu, stability ball, medicine ball, dynadisk, or TRX straps
• change the height of your hands and feet and/or grip orientation by using a bench, box, lowered Smith Machine bar, dumbells, or bench. (or heck, a rock, tree stump, or set of steps for that matter).
• increase difficulty by "catching some air" or doing a one-arm pushup (someday)
• combine the pushup with another exercise (see renegade row or the Bosu pushup with jacknife Kurt introduced to me)
• employ asymmetry with the one-armed medicine ball pushups below. I like these because my left side is significantly weaker and it's a good litmus test of where things are

I learned a lot of these variations from a previous trainer. The medicine ball pushups were part of today's chest and arm workout.

Incline DB presses: 20 @ 25 lbs, 15 @ 30 lbs, 10 @ 35 lbs, 5 @ 40 lbs, 6 @ 40 lbs + 5 @ 30 lbs
Pushups on MB superset with Standard Pushups: 10/side, 8/side + 10, 10
Cable-Weighted Stability ball crunches: 25 @ 45 lbs, 20 @ 50 lbs, 20 @ 50 lbs
FTS Cable Flyes: 15 @ 30 lbs/side, 15 @ 30, 12 @ 30
Parallel Bar Dips (30 reps total): 10 + 6 + 6 + 5 + 4
Close-grip bench on vertical chest press: 10 @ 70, 8 @ 75, 6 @ 80
Preacher EZ bar curls: 12 @ 30 lbs, 12 @ 40, 8 @ 50, 5 @ 50
Stability ball hand-to-foot transfer (abs): 20, 20, 20
Barbell curls (50 reps total): 15 + 12 + 11 + 12 (45 lb barbell)