Personal Training Evanston | TruFit
  • Home
    • TruFit Evanston FAQ
  • Services
    • Trainers
    • Physical Therapy
  • Are You a Trainer?
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Code of Conduct

Articles! Videos! Musings on Fitness!​

PUSHUPS: 3 Common Mistakes, 3 Fixes, 3 Variations

9/22/2018

0 Comments

 
Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, TruFit is paying homage with a pushup pledge challenge! You can find out more about that here but in the meantime, to make sure everyone stays healthy during this month of pushups, we wanted to focus on the good, the bad, and the ugly. We've got a video for you and more pushup explanations below.

​Ready? Let's get pumped!
It’s really easy to think of body weight exercises as “easy” or “things beginners do”. The truth is, using your body as your own personal exercise equipment can be SUPER challenging if done the right way! One bodyweight exercise that can easily go from a gentle warmup to a total-body burn is the mighty pushup.

Pushups are typically done with one goal in mind: To get the chest, shoulders, and triceps more cut/more defined. Sadly, some people bust out set after set of pushups with form that makes us go:

via GIPHY

Today we're talking about the three biggest mistakes we see with pushup execution and how to fix them. It would be really easy to end this blog post right here by saying, “Well, if you engage your core everything will fall into place.” But that doesn’t help if you don’t know how to engage your core, or what you might be doing wrong in the first place! So let’s start discussing.
First, let’s talk about what a GOOD pushup has*:
Picture
At the top (or "up" position):
  • A fairly straight line from head to heels.
  • Hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart, elbows straight but not locked out.
  • A rib cage that is short in the front and long in the back; in other words, you want to think that fish hooks are pulling the front of your rib cage up toward the ceiling.​

*There are many ways to do a pushup but we're focusing on the "standard" pushup for this example.
Picture
At the bottom (or "down" position): 
  • A rib cage that is short in the front and long in the back; in other words, you want to think that fish hooks are pulling the front of your rib cage up toward the ceiling.​ Sound familiar? Your torso should look the same from start to finish.
  • Elbows that point back at a 45-degree angle in relation to your hips.
  • Quads and glute engagement.

​Now that you know what we're shooting for with proper pushup form, let's dive into the common pushup mistakes and how to fix them!
Picture
COMMON MISTAKE #1: BRINGING THE WRONG BODY PARTS TO THE FLOOR**
​

We know ultimately your straight line from your head to your heels stays intact throughout the pushup movement. Unfortunately, it’s common to see people’s faces reach for the floor, or their belly buttons or butts. If this is happening to you, acknowledge it and then change which body part you want pulled down toward the floor (hint: the chest)!

THE FIX:
Think about actively PULLING your chest toward the floor (try grabbing the turf/floor lightly with your fingers) rather than FALLING downward. Be intentional in your movements.
​
This might be all that’s needed to fix the alignment issue, but if not here's an additional tip: Placing your tongue firmly on the roof of your mouth will help keep your head and cervical spine in alignment. Try it now! See how far forward your head goes when your tongue is NOT on the roof of your mouth. And, now, put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and try again. What did you experience?

**The "floor" here means whichever level or surface you’re going to. If you’re doing wall pushups the “floor” is the wall; if you’re doing a kitchen counter pushup, the “floor” is the kitchen counter, etc. These cues and tips transfer to whatever pushup modification you’re doing.

Picture
COMMON MISTAKE #2: FLARED OUT ELBOWS
​
At some point many of us learned to do pushups by bringing our elbows right out to the sides, creating a 90-degree angle at the armpit. Well, turns out that isn’t so friendly to our shoulders.

THE FIX: Bring the elbows in closer to your waist (so they're pointing back behind you) to create more of a 45-degree angle. This will likely feel more challenging but in the big picture will make you stronger and your shoulders much happier!


Picture
COMMON MISTAKE #3: DOING THE WORM
​
If you want to build a strong chest and core by doing pushups, then you won’t want to do your best frat party impression of the worm. The "up" part of the pushup should be initiated by your pecs, not by articulating each vertebra as your body hangs on the efforts of your shoulder joints.

THE FIX: Actively pushing the floor away. Just as we talked about being intentional on the downward portion -- pulling your chest toward the floor --  you’ll want to do the reverse here. With fingers still clutching the ground after pulling yourself down, squeeze your pecs and push the floor away.

If pushups on the floor are a challenge right now, there are many other variations to work with. Here are just a few:
Picture
PUSHUP VARIATION #1: TO A YOGA BLOCK

If you’re close to a full pushup on the ground, you can train your way down by using a yoga block. The sensory feedback you get with something to reach for underneath you keeps you accountable: You know you’re training to a specific depth consistently.

As you get stronger, you can change the position of the yoga block (e.g. placing it further downward, towards your belly and hips) to deepen your depth!




Picture
PUSHUP VARIATION #2: ASSISTED

Don't let these fool you! When done right, assisted or modified pushups will still be challenging.

And just like with the yoga block, you can train with this variation to get stronger and ultimately work your way to a floor pushup. 








Picture
PUSHUP VARIATION #3: ELEVATED
​
Elevated pushups are another great way to groove the pushup pattern and train your central nervous system to have kickass form!

If elevated pushups on a low surface feel too challenging right now, you can start with hands on a wall, then work your way down to the kitchen counter, then to the bathroom counter or a hefty side table, then to a (really sturdy) coffee table, and eventually to the floor!

Let architecture be your gym. :)



Thanks for reading! If you're feeling fired up about pushups, please consider participating in our pushup challenge benefiting breast cancer research, awareness, and treatment (happening all October)!

And as always, feel free to contact us with any questions you might have! 

Picture
We hope this post has helped you feel differently than this T-Rex!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    August 2023
    November 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    March 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    Categories!

    All
    Do It At Home Series

    RSS Feed

Stay Updated on Classes, Trainers, and Events at TruFit.
​Subscribe to our list.
Copyright © 2016-2023 TruFit Personal Training Studios, LLC, All rights reserved. 
  • Home
    • TruFit Evanston FAQ
  • Services
    • Trainers
    • Physical Therapy
  • Are You a Trainer?
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Code of Conduct