What can a push up do for you?

What can a push up do for you?

What can a push up do for you?

Are you afraid of push ups? So many of us have been taught over the years that push ups aren't good for you, that they hurt your shoulders and wrists. Some people even believe that they are not a hard enough exercise to provide results and increase strength. So where do these ideas come from and are they even true? If you're curious about adding push ups to your strength game, come along, let's explore push ups together.

First off, let’s cover what push ups CAN DO for you and your body. Learning how to do push ups correctly is essential to preventing injury. Adding push ups to your workout will help to increase core stability and strength, and increase strength in your arms, back and chest. Stronger arms, back and chest make it easier for you to do things like push a heavy shopping cart, press over your head, pull yourself up onto the back of the boat or over the bar. Push ups demonstrate the ability to organize the body in a unified fashion, getting all of your parts to work together versus as a series of disjointed movements. Push ups increase the strength and endurance of your posture muscles, creating better posture over time, which means less back pain. 

Now let's discuss how and why people might experience pain or injury when performing push ups. Starting off with one of the most significant risks for injury: your ego. Sadly enough, this is where many people get injured. They feel they should be able to do traditional push ups regardless if they have the strength or the muscular control to complete the movement. Instead of speaking up to coaches and trainers, many clients push right through their safety and comfort into pain and injury. Letting go of your ego, learning how to properly do a push up by bringing yourself up away from the floor to the wall or a bench can help you safely establish a proper movement pattern.

History of injury to any upper body area can reduce your ability to do push ups. Remembering to work within your personal range of motion with respect to your injury history is essential. Some people who have hyperkyphosis or other spinal issues, rotator tears or surgeries, or spinal arthritis may experience discomfort when doing a more traditional push up movements. For these people, I encourage them to start at the wall or a high incline while they learn proper movement patterns and address any soft tissue or mobility issues.

Strength and confidence in a push up style movement are two other significant factors impacting your ability to complete a push up. Many people have neither the strength or the upper body stability and control to do a floor push up. Others, while having the strength, lack the confidence to complete the movement, fearing they will fall, hit their face, or injure themselves. Participating in a program that is designed to work with you from your level of actual ability versus assumed skill and ability is essential for your success in establishing a safe and highly effective push up. 

One of the most common arguments I hear from people is that push ups just aren't that hard and they don't do anything for your body after a certain period of time. This is entirely inaccurate and I would happily challenge anyone to demonstrate a proper push up with perfect form and tempo for 12 reps and tell me that push ups are ineffective. Sorry friends, but push ups are money makers for highly effective, low load activity, guaranteed to improve your strength, stability, and mobility. That's not to say that we can’t make push ups harder, once you learn the proper form the possibilities are endless. 

Mastering proper form requires you to focus on your body position at all times and for the duration of the movement. If you can start with less resistance like a wall or higher incline, you can focus on your correct body position and learn how to move with confidence through the entire range of motion. This will not only help you learn the right movement pattern but it will help you increase strength and stability in the shoulder.

If you notice a lot of shoulder discomfort when attempting wall or high incline push ups, you may want to consider mobility and soft tissue management routine. If you have overactive, underactive, or restricted muscles, it will be a lot harder to create stability in the shoulder. After you increase your mobility, increase strength and activation. Over time you will be able to return to wall push ups and progress from there. 

The long and the short of the story is that push ups are awesome. They provide us a plane of motion we don't work in often so it can be a great way to increase the intensity of your workout without adding significant load. Push ups can be added to any workout or can be a workout on their own. Due to the fact that they are highly portable, they are a dream for people who have to travel a lot for work. We all know what traveling can do to your physique if you don't have a plan. 

Because proper push ups require engagement from the entire body you can create a significant calorie burn. You can easily scale intensity up by increasing load, tempo, decline, and more. You can scale down the intensity by increasing the incline and stabilizing the body. Research studies have measured the ability to do a push up as a marker of good health. (read it)  When learned properly, push ups can help improve your posture which can help reduce back pain and reduce posture-related headaches.  

If you could learn the form first before adding load, you could get stronger and more stable. Stronger and more stable will give you more control and more confidence. Before you know it, you have learned how to move your body as a whole, increased core strength, improved posture, have stronger shoulders and better looking arms.

There is a running assumption that most people can do push ups and choose not to. I think that perhaps people would do them if they knew how to do them properly.  If you would like to add push ups to your routine and increase upper body strength, build sexy shoulders and triceps, you can download my free push up progression for beginners.  From the wall to the floor, I have created an easy-to-follow step down guide. 

Like I said, push ups are awesome. Download my free Pushups; from the wall to the floor, push up progressions for beginners. 

Until next time,

Katie

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How push ups can improve your posture.

How push ups can improve your posture.

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