What's Core Got to do With it? How to improve your push up

Have you been struggling for as long as you can remember to get that first push up? To do more than 1 push up? Maybe to do a push up without your shoulders in your ears or your hips dragging on the floor? It’s time to consider what your core has to do with your pushup.

When we do a push up we complete a full-body movement. This means that the muscles of the entire body unite and work together to lower you down to the floor and press you back up. With a weak core or inexperienced at being able to organize and activate your core, you will find yourself a soupy mess every time you try to perform a push-up.

We use pushups as a measure of functional strength. It is an indicator of overall body health and fitness. But not everyone can do one. If you are one of the people who would like to improve your upper body strength, core activation, and build strong, shapely shoulders consider a few of the following. 

These movements will help you increase your strength, organize your core, and get you progressing onto that 1st push-up. (*Please remember, do not attempt if you are under restriction from a doctor or experience any sharp pain)

Bridges - Proper glute bridges will help you develop core strength and activity required to safely lower yourself down to the floor during a push-up. Remember when you do these, your spine should stay straight for the entirety of the movement. Pull your belly button into your spine (remember, you should not be pressing out or up from your belly button, creating a dome shape around your belly button), squeeze a dollar bill between your butt cheeks, and gently lift your hips up off of the floor. Keep your hips level throughout the entire movement, think about pushing your knees slightly forward. Keep heels on the floor. Remember to breathe!. At the top of the movement, squeeze your butt a bit tighter.

Here is the tricky part, control your core by slowly lowering yourself back down to the floor keeping your spine straight. I tell clients to practice rolling down from the top of your bridge, instead of dropping or flopping to the floor. 

Try 3-5 sets of 10 - 30 reps. Keep ideal form or you’ll just be wasting your time. 

If you are new to bridges or have a weak core, relax and re-set each time you come back to the floor. The point of this movement is to help you learn how to activate your core and stabilize your spine through a range of movement. So practice that part! The activation! You should be able to breathe through the entire movement.

Support yourself!- Add a yoga block, bolster, ½ foam roll, or any other relatively stable object under your chest. As you descend, keeping focused on your core, your chest will come to rest on your support prop. From here, still keeping your core engaged, continue to lower down to the floor with your upper body. Feel the engagement of your chest and arms as you control your way down and press the floor away from you on your way back up.

Mobilize- most of us sit in shitty positions for most of the day, most days of the week. This means that your head and shoulders are likely rolled forward and your upper back muscles are tight and incapable of keeping your scapulas in the right position for a push-up. By stretching your neck and traps you can release cervical muscles. you will be able to help elongate your spine, by pulling from the crown of your head. Rolling and stretching the thoracic areas of your upper and mid-back you will be able to pull your shoulder blades down out of your ears. supporting the shoulder girdle will keeping your shoulders safe on the descent. Stretches like child’s pose and triangle will help open your Lats and activate your core muscles along with your posture mussels. Which are essential for stabilizing the spine and keeping your middle from sagging in the push-up position.

These are only a few of the recommendations that can help you achieve your first push up.  you can add these to your at-home training to help strengthen not only your upper body but also your core and back. Pushups are a great way to burn a few extra calories, sneak in a lunchtime workout from home and build beautiful shapely shoulders. 

If you want to learn more about pushups, you can try out my “Master your push up” program. It is a  “do it at your own pace” program. It teaches you all the secrets to getting that first push up and improving your overall health. You can find the program here. 

~Katie