Push-Ups and Pull-Ups Boost Shot Put Power by 33% in 6 Weeks
New research shows two bodyweight exercises were all it took to transform arm power in female throwing athletes.
Six female shot put athletes at a club in Medan, Indonesia, were struggling to generate enough arm power to compete. Coaches noticed it. The numbers confirmed it. So researchers put a simple fix to the test: eight weeks of press-ups and pull-ups, three days a week. The result was a statistically significant jump in arm muscle power, with the average medicine ball throw distance rising from 2.05 metres to 2.74 metres.
The study, published in Competitor: Jurnal Pendidikan Kepelatihan Olahraga (Vol. 17, No. 2, 2025), set out to determine whether a structured press-up and pull-up training program could significantly improve arm muscle power in female shot put athletes from the Dumpang Athletic Club (KDA) in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
The problem was identified at a real competition. At the 2024 Student Athletic Championship held at Medan State University on October 7, 2024, only one of the club's six athletes performed well. The rest fell short, and preliminary testing with a two-hand medicine ball throw confirmed that most athletes rated in the "lacking" or "average" categories for arm power. Researchers concluded that training had been too heavily focused on technique, with explosive power work largely neglected.
Methods
The study used a two-group pre-test/post-test experimental design. Six female athletes aged 16 to 17 were selected via purposive sampling from a club population of 11.
Group 1 completed press-up training
Group 2 completed pull-up training
Training ran from January to April 2025, three sessions per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), for 18 sessions total across 6 weeks of active treatment
Sessions ran from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm at SMA Negeri 13 Medan
Arm muscle power was measured using the two-hand medicine ball throw test at both pre- and post-test
Data was analysed with a paired sample t-test using SPSS version 22
Results
The numbers told a clear story. Every single athlete improved their medicine ball throw distance after the program.