when you say a movement is easy or complex, what is your measure of difficulty? Take the bench press and the push-up for example, the perception of all of us is that the bench press is harder than the push-up.
In fact, this judgement of difficulty is based on our familiarity with the push-up and unfamiliarity with the bench-press. The push-up relies on the body's own weight, the bench press requires weight to look harder. Push-ups are virtually hazard free, bench presses are accidental as long as they are weighted ......
Have you noticed? We never consider difficulty based on the quality of the finish of the movement. If we judge it from a combination of function, proprioception, core stability and kinesthetic awareness, the push-up is probably more difficult than the bench-press.
if an athlete says he can do 80 push-ups, the true number should be closer to 20. Even amuscle has to describe its difficulty to you like this: Not for beginners
a proper push-up requires you to coordinate every unit of movement from head to toe while pushing up 65-70% of your body weight. Very few coaches will let beginners perform a deadlift with the same amount of weight. This is because it is almost impossible to maintain correct movement position.
It's not always right to program push-ups into a beginner's training programme to build a foundation, and chances are you won't know how to do them properly. So let's find out the most common training mistakes and analyse how to improve on the techniques necessary to do push-ups correctly.
rotational movements vs. Linear movements
it is important to understand that the push-up is not a linear movement, but a rotational movement. The body rotates around an axis of rotation or a single pivot point - your feet. When you do a push-up, your body moves in a small drawn circle, not in a straight up and down motion.
How do i do a true push-up?
1. Should the body be in a straight line?
It is a common belief that the body needs to be in a relatively straight line when doing a push-up, which is the correct idea, but most trainers make the mistake of using the top of the gluteus maximus as the point of alignment to connect the ankles, knees and shoulders.
this way of assessing the movement is wrong. The top of the gluteus maximus represents the position of the muscle rather than the joint. There are five key points of joint alignment: Ankles, knees, hips (not the top of the gluteus maximus), shoulders and head. If the hips are in line with the ankles, knees, shoulders and head, the gluteus maximus will actually be slightly higher than the rest of the body.
2. Natural flexion of the spine
when doing push-ups, the spine should bend naturally, especially at the lats. Many people have too flat a back, resulting in the hips being lower than the other joints.
in a correct standing position, the human spine should show a natural curvature at the lumbar spine, indicating that the spine is in optimal alignment. Looking at a photograph of a standard pull-up, the posture should be very close to a standard standing position and if the photograph is rotated by 90 degrees, the difference should be barely noticeable.
To eliminate the possibility of excessive anterior pelvic tilt and extreme forward bending of the body, tuck the abdomen while keeping the hips high and do not allow the abdomen to fall below body level. Imagine that the spinal alignment is elongated rather than compressed.
wrong technique 1: Clenching the hips
many partners believe that "Clenching the hips" Will prevent what they perceive as borrowing. Clenching the hips is possible in some movements, but nowadays it is seen as a one-size-fits-all approach. The truth is that there is a problem!
A better technique: Tightening the quadriceps
a better way to activate is to tighten the quads and fire the hip flexors while the core hangs in the air. This approach optimises core activation while directly resisting extension forces in the spine and hips. The hip flexors and core muscles work synergistically to stabilise the spine, especially in the plank position.
tightening the quadriceps also helps to resist knee flexion, which tends to bend during push-ups because of the force of gravity acting on the knee joint. In addition, the quadriceps and hip flexors work in synergy in the plank position, especially the rectus femoris. The stronger the contraction of the quadriceps, the stronger the innervation to the hip flexors, and the most effective way to address counter-extension forces. This technique is very useful when performing high intensity weighted push-ups and plank support variations.
Faulty technique 2: Over/under hips
when it comes to the position of the hips, it is better to be too high than too low. High hips simply indicate that the muscles that resist extension are overactive and, in fact, the position can make push-ups more difficult to perform. Having the hips too high may not be the best position, but at least it is not dangerous.
in contrast, hips that are too low (the most common problem) indicate a lack of innervation of the corresponding muscles, putting more stress on the spine. It is a lazy push-up position with too short a range of motion and it is easy to cheat and dozens of reps can be performed. So, if you are unsure of the movement position, raise your hips up.
Faulty technique 3: Tucking your head and chin in too tightly
"Squeezing out the double chin" Is another common request, but this causes shortening and compression of the cervical spine, which further leads to poor posture, shoulder function and nerve signals. Instead, the head and neck should be held in a neutral position, with natural extension from the spine.
1. Elbow posture
an outward facing elbow position (arm at 70 - 90 degrees to the torso) can cause acute and chronic injury to joints and tissues. Although many coaches now recommend an outward facing arm of 45 degrees, this is still incorrect!
45 degrees has improved compared to an overly outward elbow position, but it is still not the ideal angle. There is room for the shoulders and scapulae to continue to move into a more focused position. When the scapulae are fully contracted, pulled down and rotated towards the spine, the arms and elbows will be positioned closer to the torso - roughly 10 to 20 degrees.
2. Shoulder position
elbow posture has a direct effect on shoulder position. As the shoulder blades rotate inwards towards the spine, the shoulders contract and press down, resulting in a "Chest up" Position.
keeping the chest up helps to achieve better shoulder centration and glenohumeral bone balance. Failure to keep the chest up tends to deviate the shoulders from their ideal position.
3. Foot mechanics
the position of the feet is often overlooked in the push-up movement, but it is one of the most important aspects in determining the accuracy of the movement technique. Firstly, try to support yourself on your toes, without the palms of your feet touching the floor. The weight is mainly concentrated on the toes and soles of the feet, which helps to achieve the 'core hang position' you want.
Start your push-ups with your feet almost completely perpendicular to the floor and your ankles above your toes. Try changing the position of your feet, these small adjustments can be used before and after the movement, as well as during the movement to ensure that every joint in your body is at the ideal angle.
4. Hand mechanics
the fingers should be pointing straight ahead, this allows the scapula to move backwards and downwards rather than upwards and forwards and can promote concentration of the shoulder joint. This also strengthens the range of contraction of the elbow and the necessary engagement of the latissimus dorsi. The role of the hands during the push-up is similar to the role of the feet during the squat. Instead of placing your hands completely on the floor, use your hands and fingers to form a "Cup" On the floor.
5. Range of motion and range of motion
the lowest point of the standard push-up is only a few millimetres off the floor, which is obviously more challenging, but it can significantly increase functional muscle hypertrophy as it actually stimulates strength growth rather than simply cheating on the movement.
as the push-up is a rotational movement, it should be driven by the upper chest and head, not the lower chest, abdomen or hips. Therefore, if any body part touches the floor, it must be the upper body and not any other part. With proper technique, it should not actually touch the floor. The locked bone position creates a highly stable joint structure, making it almost impossible for the body to touch the floor.
6. Test yourself with the hoop
test yourself on how many push-ups you can do on the rings and compare them to regular push-ups. The number of ring push-ups should be at least 80% of the number of standard push-ups, failure to achieve this means that there is a problem with the form and function of the movement, a defect in the form of movement used in standard push-ups. This is the beauty of the hanging ring push-up - it is very obvious whether the movement form is bad or correct.
