Bodyweight Exercises: Hindu Squats and Pushups

Hindu squats and Hindu pushups are unique variations of the traditional bodyweight squats and pushups. Indian wrestlers have used Hindu squats, which are known as bethaks, and Hindu pushups, which are known as dands, for decades. These exercises have begun to appear in the West, and my first encounter with them was in Combat Conditioning by Matt Furey. While I find Furey’s products a bit overhyped, as a former wrestling and kung fu champion, he does know a few things about strength and endurance.

Hindu squats and Hindu pushups are a great addition to any bodyweight calisthenics program, as opposed to being methods used to build power, speed, endurance and strength, as Furey claims in Combat Conditioning. This is supposed to be a high rep exercise, unlike more traditional weight training, including your old squats and pushups. If you are looking to maximize your strength gains, you should look more at a low repetition, heavy weight training routine, but Hindu squats and pushups will work your muscles in different and unique ways compared to traditional squat or pushup exercises, while improving your cardiovascular system as well.

A well-executed Hindu squat works the same muscles as the traditional squat, namely the calves, quads and hamstrings, as well as your lungs, hips and lower back. To perform a Hindu squat, you stand with your hands pulled into your chest. As you lower yourself to squat, extend your hands behind you (downward toward the floor). Rise up on your toes as you near the bottom region of your squat. Then, as you extend your arms in front of you, propel your body upward at the same time. To begin your second rep, return your hands to your chest.

The motion used to complete a Hindu squat should be fluid, not forced. Breathing during this exercise will take some time getting used to. During a traditional squat, you inhale on the descent and exhale on the return, but the opposite is true with the Hindu squat - you exhale on the descent and inhale as you rise. One of the toughest cardiovascular workouts you’ll ever try will be to perform several Hindu squats without stopping. Matt Furey claims to have done 2,000 straight, a mere drop in the bucket compared to his mentor Karl Gotch who was able to do 9,000 such squats over 4 1/2 hours; for the rest of us, a set of 100 reps is a fair goal.

Hindu pushups are a variation on traditional pushups that involve an arching back motion. So not only do you work the arm and shoulder muscles, you also use the hips and back. To begin, assume the same pushup stance as you would for the traditional pushup. However, in this case, you need to stick your butt up in the air and spread your legs far apart. During this exercise you will need to extend your arms straight forward in front of your body. To execute, bend your elbows, lower your hips, and push through until your arms are straight. Your hips should be very close to the floor and you should be facing forward. Keeping your arms straight, move back into the starting position. Once again, this movement should be relatively fluid.

Hindu pushups are similar to dive bomber pushups with a subtle difference. With a dive bomber pushup, you would bend your arms on the way back into the starting position, while the Hindu pushup requires straight arms throughout. Dive bomber pushups give more of a workout to the arms, however they reduce the benefits that the Hindu pushups give to the back and shoulder regions.

If you want to raise your endurance levels and increase your cardiovascular health, then Hindu squats and Hindu pushups can really help; if, on the other hand, you want to tighten your muscles or increase your max lifts, then you probably need to try something else. These variations on two traditional bodyweight exercises will feel strange at first (maybe even make your muscles sore), but once you get the rhythm down, you can increase the speed of motion that will help provide a better cardiovascular workout. A regimen of Hindu squats and Hindu pushups will definitely help fortify your stamina and flexibility.