A good workout should include and connect 3 components:
- Muscles
- Breathwork
- Psyche
Lesson 1 starts at Power Mode Zero, briefly covers the breathwork principles and then guides you though three foundational exercises:
Pace Reduction
20-Count Push Up
Variable Load
Why Systema Push Ups?
Founded on the ancient warriors’ tradition and perfected over the decades of modern Systema practice, this push up mode unites breathwork, muscles and the psyche to empower your training potential and your health.
How do they work?
Push ups in Systema are done with particular breath patterns, where reps and muscular efforts are matched and calibrated to holding, stretching or bursting your breath. The speed and force of muscle contractions are tuned to the inhales, exhales and breath cycle variations.
Spreading the breath through the body amplifies awareness and sensitivity in every part of the body. It opens the connection to the inner parameters such as pulse, circulation, tension. It helps to oxygenate the muscle tissue and eliminate lactic acid, and thus, preventing fatigue.
For those practicing martial arts, the unique method of applying pressure to the ground and equal power distribution through every point in the range, even the most difficult ones, makes your strikes highly adaptable to any distance and fills your punches with inner power.
What’s more, breathwork is used to feel and monitor your psychological condition. Our psyche can be calmed, expanded and hugely strengthened by breathwork. The special method of challenging speeds, alternating efforts and breath regulation stabilizes your nervous system.
What’s the result?
- This breath-muscle-psyche workout leads to quick gain of both explosive muscle power and endurance.
- The work with the core of your psyche removes stress, tension, fear and weakness of character.
- Your workout is always interesting and challenging and can be easily customized depending on your day-to-day needs.
- At the end of each workout session, you will have no fatigue but are energized and filled with solid and peaceful power.
How many reps?
It is recommended to repeat each exercise twice per session, the first time for information and second time for experience, except for the 20-Count Push Up which may be done only once.
How often?
This set can be practiced as often as you like, once every two days is a good option.
Adjust the workload to how you feel. There should be no strain in frequency and intensity of the workout.
More on Push Ups?
In the next Lessons, Vladimir will cover such fascinating topics as Push Ups Variety, Modified Push Ups, Solo and Partner Work, Push Ups for Health, for Stress, for Strikes, for Work with Weapons, and much more.
How long is each lesson?
All the lessons are short and concise, 10-15 minutes, easy to study and follow along.
Lesson 1 presents some important fundamental concepts that will be needed for the rest of this program.
Watch it now!
15 min
Jason Priest –
The push-up is generally thought of as the most basic and simple upper body exercise. For this reason it often gets only the most basic consideration and use in most training programs. Vladimir demonstrates how the Systema push-up can become a very deep and rich training tool to advance your progress in training, health and in life. When done properly, push-ups teach the body to connect breathing and physical activity, strengthen the body and make it more supple, preparing it for the challenges of life. In the beginning, working on correct form may be challenging, but as you progress from performing the basic exercise, push-ups will help you find and correct weaknesses in your body, breathing and psyche. They will turn from begin hard tedious work into energizing and relaxing therapy for body, mind and soul.
Victoria Gregoryeva –
The video helped me improve my workouts. I can feel the difference from before to now. It works my muscles more, but I am tired a lot less.
Eric Torres –
It’s all clear in the phrase: PUSH UP
Can you truly push up your body; your self ; your entire self? but for power? Outer strength can be gained in weight training no problem it can be seen when someone is a weight lifter. But to gain inner and outer strength together can only be taught by the right instructor. Being a participant in the video and a student of Vladimir’s for many years I can tell you that nothing is ever planned you will always be challenged in some way or another for your betterment. Vladimir’s push up methodology and focus is to gain an inner and outer power from a push up that can be used to defend your self and to survive. Better yet what I felt and feel from his application to push ups is resiliency and a need for more . I feel stronger and healthier after the work rather than tired and fatigued. The push up itself is such a fundamental training tool for any martial art or physical training in that it provides sustenance to the overall body and mind philosophy. My experience gained was to find what’s locking me and preventing me from moving or pushing and breathing my way out of it. Push Ups with proper breathing helps to gain physical and psychological endurance simultaneously. To reach that next level in Systema Strikes one has to learn how to gain power and keep it this all begins when you are truly able to PUSH (your entire being) UP.
Eric Torres –
Vladimir’s training methods are always inspiring!
As a Systema student under Vladimir Vasiliev, I can tell you everything he has taught me has worked for me in one way or another. The foundation of his work is in his application of what he teaches.
This push up series is the beginning of where to take your training elements. In my experience, following Vladimir’s push up training has built internal power in me. The psychological component of building resiliency is hard to find in any sport or physical training when the application isn’t explained to you properly.
‘Push Ups’ the way Vladimir teaches them helped me gain accuracy in strikes while also gaining power both physical and mental. The thought of not giving up is challenged with Vladimir’s training. If you give up it’s your fault maybe there is some weakness in you physically or mentally, but with breathing, proper breathing, you save yourself from failing and it helps you last just a little longer each time.
You learn to survive pain in your push up processes by relying on first and foremost your breathing. If you have not tried it, this may not be easy to grasp at first, but that’s the whole challenge in Systema and that is to learn to fight yourself!
Simon Burke-Lipiczky –
This video is short and sweet as compared to the longer videos of seminars, but don’t let that fool you—there are so many nuggets of gold for you to discover. The format of this video is simple and straightforward and it pulls together so many different push up and breathing exercises and gives a simple, concise focus. Very helpful for those training on their own.
Theodore Chistodoulou –
With these slow push ups, you think you’d be tired, but oh man there’s so much energy. You feel different, you can say filled with health!
ayazsyed26 –
Amazing lesson and a completely different view on push ups.
Waiting on for Lesson 2
Gene from California –
I love how Systema helps to find the balance between not feeling sorry for yourself and pushing yourself beyond the limit. Just the right balance.