A classic body weight movement with many different variations, and difficulty levels. You may have been introduced to it in a PE class growing up, or maybe, this will be your first try at doing a push up. In either case, I would like to share my 3 tips for a better push up.
Tip #1 keep your elbows in
Having the elbows in towards your sides will keep the tension on the pectoral muscles (chest,) and off of the shoulders. Also, having the elbows in will increase the number of repetitions you can do. It is the same idea as pushing something heavy, as far forward as you can. You wouldn’t step up to the object that stood before you, and try to place your hands far apart to move it. You would keep your elbows and hands close to push. Keeping this form may be a little challenging at first, but trust me when I say the reps and effectiveness are going to go up.
Tip #2 Keep your core tight
Core strength, not only great for posture, but also greatly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your lifts. So how do we tighten our core muscle? I have a very simple trick anyone can do to help contract their core. Start, by bringing your thumbs to each side of your spine on the lower back. Lean forwards, and backwards. Do you feel the lower back muscles moving around? Now, stand up tall and relax for a second, while keeping your thumbs right where they are. Finally, bring your belly button as far in towards your spine as your can. What happened to the pressure under your thumbs? You are pushing your thumbs into more resistance? It is a little bit tougher to push in isn’t it? While you are performing your push up, try to keep your bellybutton close to the spine. The next tip will hopefully answer the question that I am guessing you are asking.
Tip #3 Please, breath.
I often see people holding their breath during a push ups. Tip #2 might have your inhaling to bring your core in, and then holding it through out the movement. Please, do not do this! You can engage your core muscle and still breath, trust me, try it! The breathing for a push up should go as follows:
- Inhale during the lower phase
- Exhale during the push phase
Your breath follows your hands. As your hands are coming in, you breath in. As your hands move outwards, you breath out.
Tip #4 Tighten your lower half
More specifically, your quads (front of your legs,) and your gluteal muscles (you know.) Don’t ask me why, just try it, and notice the difference. Now, when I say keeping your lower body tight, that does not mean squeezing the life out of your lower half. Just keep a little bit of tension to help maintain that perfect form.
Tip #5 Keep your eyes on a point 1 foot ahead.
Keeping your vision locked forward 1 foot will help you in two ways:
- Helps your focus
- Helps keep your neck neutral
Often times we let our neck curve forward, letting our head hang down towards the floor. We want to keep our head back, protecting the cervical vertebrae. Again, keeping perfect form during a push up will only help to serve your effectiveness and repetitions.
HoWEtrain 