The godfather of bodybuilding, Charles Glass, gives you tips on how to do better push-ups for a better pump!

If we look at the history of bodybuilding, among some of the greatest pioneers of this beautiful, but for many specific sport, was Charles Glass. This African-American man hails from the United States, where he was born in 1950! However, he chose bodybuilding after gymnastics, which he took up at the University of Berkeley.

Charles competed in his first bodybuilding competition "Iron Man" at the age of 26 in 1976. He didn't earn his pro card until 1983 at the National Middleweight Championships, the same year he became World Amateur Champion also at Middleweight.

1983 Amateur World Championship

Charles stood on the podium of the highest bodybuilding competition, Mr. Olympia, the very next year (1984), where he placed 14th. He then returned to Olympia in 1995 in the masters category, where he took an excellent fourth place. It was also Charles' last race in which he participated. However, his career did not end there, quite the opposite. Charles Glass is considered the godfather of bodybuilding and do you know why? Because his presence on the scene has influenced hundreds, maybe even thousands of passionate young men who wanted to look like him and also stand on the most famous competition podiums.

Olympia 1984 / Olympia 1995

Dozens of racers passed under Charles' hands, the most famous being Dexter Jackson and Flex Wheeler. From our Czech scene, for example, Kateřina Kyptová was under his tutelage. But we must not forget Dwayne Johnson, who is not a racer, but his character would certainly not disappear on the stage.

Although all bodybuilding trainers have the same goal, they choose different paths to it. Charles' philosophy, which he followed, focused not on big muscle overload, but on real muscle growth, which is conditioned by tremendous concentration and mind connection with the muscle in question. Charles focused on exercising even the smallest of muscles. But these then fit like pieces into a mosaic that as a whole was grandiose.

Even though Glass is currently 71 years old, he still trains constantly. Thanks to his truly long experience, Charles can take your training to the next level with even small changes in exercise techniques. That's one of the reasons why a video was released on his youtube channel, in which he showed a variation of push-ups that look strange, but are much more effective than the ordinary "prone push-ups".

Glass explains the detailed procedure in the video below, but we've compiled the basic steps necessary to perform the push-up according to Charles.

Step 1:

• Kneel down and place your feet against a wall or any solid vertical surface behind you.

Step 2:

• Place your hands on the floor in front of you and assume a push-up position with your feet pressed against the wall. At this stage, your knees should be touching the ground.

Step 3:

• Move your knees a little more than shoulder width apart. Slightly lift your knees off the ground.

Step 4:

• Make sure your hands are shoulder-width apart.

Step 5:

• Perform a push-up without your knees touching the ground.

Sources.