So the push up is pretty darned awesome because when you can do a perfect push up with good (enough) form, you will:
- build arm (particularly the back of the arm) and upper back strength (think posture and postural muscle strength)
- develop functional core strength that “braces” your mid-section thereby tightening your waist and protecting your spine
- develop stronger, durable shoulders to reduce chances of rotator cuff injuries
- offer you a nice little party trick to show off to your book club friends
Here are a few tips for performing a push up negative (video below):
- Begin in a Push Plank Position with your hands nearly below and maybe a bit outside of your shoulders – press your index finder knuckle into the floor
- “Brace” your abdominal section (we will cover this in another video) and begin bending your elbows
- Do not let your hips drop first as they may want to
- Attempt to lower your body (maintaining your plank position) under control so your chest, stomach and thighs all contact the floor at the same time
- Ideally, from the top point of view looking down on your body (see video), your elbows are at about a 45 degree or less angle from your shoulders (or closer to your sides than sticking straight out to the sides)
- Injury Note: your shoulders may feel stronger and stable when they are sticking directly out to the side, that is why we default to this position when we attempt a push up, but over the long haul we are setting ourselves up for shoulder impingement, biceps tendon issues and rotator cuff problems – basically all bad, non-awesome stuff
- Finally, you want to keep your forearms as parallel to the floor as you can keep them during the movement
- Repeat the movement by getting up to the starting position any way you can, and lower yourself again
- Work on these 6-10 minutes 2-3 times per week
- This position may be more difficult at once, but it will INCREASE your strength capacity while DECREASING your change for injury
In this video, Kim is rockin’ out these (negative) push ups while working on her elbow position and total body strength. We are not doing modified push ups on your knees, by the way, because it changes the angle of your press which can bother your shoulders if done long-term and may also develop strength at a different angle that may not carry over to a “real” push up. And we want REAL push ups baby. Check it out:
If you cannot do this move at all, begin practicing on your counter top, pool table or back of your couch (or on bleachers as we are doing in the picture above-right during one of our Fitness Challenges.) For a modified version at the gym, watch Becky doing this Smith Machine push up in this video below:
Please let me know what you think … even if you are doing chest presses, triceps press downs, etc, you cannot neglect the push up. The more muscles we work at once during a move, the more beneficial the exercise and the push up shows this perfectly.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I am pretty good at replying with videos to your questions, FYI.
