A few pointers on doing a proper push up
- Thread starter Frederick Foresight
- Start date
I've seen very few people doing push ups properly in the gym and over the years. It's worth doing them right, especially slowly. Properly done, it becomes a kick-ass exercise without having to do too many reps to reach failure. Try doing them properly with a cadence of 6-8 seconds per rep, and see how many you can do.
The thing that I got most out of the video is the proper body alignment/posture. In my previous gym, there were areas that had mirrors that reached the floor, so I could occasionally monitor my body posture for proper form. The new gym I joined last March doesn't have mirrors that reach that low. Also, I've been doing push ups for years with my feet elevated on a bench, which makes the movement theoretically harder. It also makes self-monitoring for proper posture harder.
However, I've been experimenting a bit with just doing the push ups flat, and I can make them about as challenging as the feet-elevated version, using proper form and a slow cadence. So what I liked about the video was how he properly calibrated his posture at the bottom of the movement at the 55-second mark. That is a useful tool. Once aligned (without the need of a mirror), it just becomes a matter of holding that rigidity throughout. And doing them flat makes it easier to monitor and adjust for posture imperfections during the set, at the bottom of the movement, of course. Cool stuff.
However, I've been experimenting a bit with just doing the push ups flat, and I can make them about as challenging as the feet-elevated version, using proper form and a slow cadence. So what I liked about the video was how he properly calibrated his posture at the bottom of the movement at the 55-second mark. That is a useful tool. Once aligned (without the need of a mirror), it just becomes a matter of holding that rigidity throughout. And doing them flat makes it easier to monitor and adjust for posture imperfections during the set, at the bottom of the movement, of course. Cool stuff.
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They are a great exercise. Unfortunately for me my left wrist and hand started killing me about a year ago while doing push ups. A lousy 10 result in 3-4 days of some serious discomfort.
That's unfortunate. Perhaps when your wrist gets better you may want to experiment with hand placement until you find something that suits you, while remembering the guidelines in the video.
Try the old man's push up. Because of my back, I am doing it knees on the floor. Less weight on your upper body/wrist. You can always do more reps if it is too easy this way.
Funny everyone else called them girl pushups haha
Dude, stick to the resistance bands. I have the flu and I am going to go do five deficit handstand PUs.
That's impressive, especially for a big guy. Unfortunately, I've had to stop doing overhead pushing altogether. So whatever shoulder work I get comes indirectly from chest and back exercises. (I don't do laterals because they are not exercise; they're a form of enhanced interrogation.)
Well, this is interesting. Conventional wisdom suggests that wider push ups are supposed to work the chest and shoulders more. However, a 2016 study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science found that wide-grip push-ups recruited the chest and triceps muscles less than a standard or narrow-grip push-up. Instead, they recruit the biceps, serratus anterior (muscles along the sides of your ribs), and latissimus dorsi (back muscles that stretch from your armpit to your spine) to perform the move.
https://www.shape.com/fitness/tips/wide-grip-push-up-variation-muscles-benefits
This is the study that was linked in the article:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4792988/
Check out the EMG activity for each of the 3 hand placement: narrow, neutral and wide.
I think I'll stick to the neutral and narrow versions, not so much because of the study, although it's supportive. Rather, because my weakened left shoulder occasionally gives me a bit of grief the next day when I do them using a wider hand placement, despite employing proper form. And when you think about it, a wide grip push up is not exactly a "natural" movement; you wouldn't normally look to push something with your hands that wide apart.
https://www.shape.com/fitness/tips/wide-grip-push-up-variation-muscles-benefits
This is the study that was linked in the article:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4792988/
Check out the EMG activity for each of the 3 hand placement: narrow, neutral and wide.
I think I'll stick to the neutral and narrow versions, not so much because of the study, although it's supportive. Rather, because my weakened left shoulder occasionally gives me a bit of grief the next day when I do them using a wider hand placement, despite employing proper form. And when you think about it, a wide grip push up is not exactly a "natural" movement; you wouldn't normally look to push something with your hands that wide apart.
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