The DDP Yoga pushup is a 30-second repetition where you lower for a 10 count, hold an inch off the floor for 10 seconds, and press back up for a 10 count, with just five reps making a complete workout. I learned it spending a day with Diamond Dallas Page, the professional wrestler and creator of DDP Yoga, right as we count down to the 10,000 Pushup Challenge. This Physical Friday covers his technique plus the pushup variations that fight soreness.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Very, very slowly. The DDP Yoga pushup he showed me is a 30-second rep, starting in a plank, you lower toward the floor on a 10 count, hold about an inch off the ground for a full 10 seconds, then press back up on another 10 count. Do that five times. Five reps does not sound hard until you try it the way DDP does it.
It is the name for the slow-tempo pushup in DDP Yoga, though it is really a 30-second pushup, 10 seconds down, 10 seconds held an inch off the floor, and 10 seconds up. The slow tempo removes all momentum, keeps the muscles under tension the entire time, and gives you a completely different stimulus than regular reps.
Five. That is the workout, five 30-second reps, about two and a half minutes of total tension. It will surprise you how difficult that is, and because the rep count is so low, this is a strength and control builder rather than a way to pile up numbers for the 10,000 Pushup Challenge.
Change your hand and elbow position. A standard pushup lets the elbows flare out as you lower, while keeping the elbows tight to the body shifts the load, and any hybrid between those two works too. When hundreds of daily reps make you ache, switching styles for a day or a week lets you keep collecting reps while the sore tissue recovers.
Yes, that is one of my favorite uses for it. Moving slowly through the full range is also a stretch, which makes it a good way to work out soreness after you have been doing a ton of pushups, while simultaneously building strength at every point of the movement, especially that bottom inch where most people are weakest.
DDP Yoga is the fitness program invented and created by Diamond Dallas Page, the professional wrestler. It blends yoga positions with dynamic resistance and tempo work like the slow pushup. I spent a day doing DDP Yoga with him, and a full-length podcast episode with DDP plus video of our session is coming, so stay tuned.
I had a great opportunity this week to spend the day with Diamond Dallas Page, the professional wrestler and inventor of DDP Yoga, while we were at Hawks Cay counting down to the pushup challenge. He showed me a pushup workout where the reps surprised me, five total, and the difficulty surprised me more. The full DDP podcast episode is coming, but I could not wait to share this technique. Press play in the player above.
Five reps, 30 seconds each. Count honestly and it will humble you.
I walk through each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Five reps sounds like a warm-up until each rep takes 30 seconds of unbroken tension. Slowing down erases momentum, exposes every weak point in your pushup, and builds strength at the exact positions where fast reps let you cheat. This is not the style you will use to bank reps for the challenge, it is the style that makes all your other pushups stronger. I explain how to count it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
If you do all your pushups one way, elbows flared or elbows tight, hundreds of daily reps will eventually make that pattern ache. Rotating between styles, and any hybrid between them, spreads the workload across your shoulders, chest, and triceps so you can keep going day after day. With the 10,000 Pushup Challenge approaching, this is the insurance policy. I demonstrate the positions in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The day I spent with DDP went way beyond one pushup technique, we did DDP Yoga together and recorded a full conversation about his story and his methods. The full-length podcast episode with Diamond Dallas Page himself is coming, along with video of me doing DDP Yoga with him. Stand by for that one, and press play in the player above for the preview.
Want the full breakdown? Press play in the player above and listen to the whole episode.
Whether you are doing the 10,000 Pushup Challenge this year or getting ready for next year, add the DDP slow pushup to your toolbox. Five reps, counted honestly, will build strength, fight soreness, and humble you in under three minutes.
Sign your team up for the challenge at tomrowlandpodcast.com, and stand by for the full Diamond Dallas Page episode, it is an awesome one.
Diamond Dallas Page · DDP Yoga · 10-second pushup · 10,000 Pushup Challenge · pushup variations · Captains For Clean Water · Hawks Cay Resort · tomrowlandpodcast.com · Physical Friday · Saltwater Experience
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the workouts, nutrition, and mindset that keep guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong on the water and in the field, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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