Try the Pushup Jack Challenge for a Killer Upper Body Finisher – menshealth.com

You just wrapped up an awesome push day workout. Now’s the time to perform this pushup jack challenge from trainer Jeremy Scott, creator of the Men’s Health Action Hero Jacked fitness series, to finish off the day.

It sounds simple enough: Set a timer for one minute, and crank out as many high-quality reps as you can. But as you’ll soon find out, keeping your form is anything but easy—and a minute will stretch even longer than you’d have ever imagined. Plank jack pushups attack your chest, core, and shoulders, and by performing them for max reps (especially after you’ve already completed an entire workout) this challenge doubles as an awesome upper-body finisher. You’ll drain the tank and build muscular stamina.

Focus on maintaining control and lowering (not collapsing) your chest all the way to the floor with each rep. Keep your form tight, maintaining a solid core and straight spine with every rep—as good as it might feel to let it lag, avoid leaning your pelvis into the floor to cheat your last reps.

If you feel yourself start to falter, don’t be afraid to take a short mid-set break before getting back into it. In place of plank jack pushups, you can also perform standard or close-grip pushups to ramp up the upper body volume. Master them before progressing to full plank jack pushups.

Once the minute is up, rest for a couple of minutes and then head into your usual cool down. Count your reps and try it again each week to keep track of your progress. Scott pumped out 36 reps, so you have a standard to aim to achieve.