@pastorjeff2u Thank you for this post!! I have shoulder pain and not able to do push ups anymore and as a female this bummed me out - I cannot wait to try this technique tomorrow!! Totally makes sense tho
@selica02 I was having this problem when trying to do one of those 100 pushups in 6 weeks apps about 3-4 weeks in. I’m definitely a beginner in body weight fitness, but what helped me was to add some high planks (arms extended) aiming for 1-2 sets to exhaustion (1-2 minutes each time for me). That seemed to give me the endurance in my core to last for the 5 sets of 18-25 pushups the app was telling me to do at the time.
@selica02 Either lacking core strength or lacking the arm/upper-body strength to do the full push-up (bending in the middle makes it easier to push, similar to doing knee push-ups).
I had this problem as well. I would suggest keeping your abs/core engaged to prevent your back from bending. If this makes it too hard to do the push-up (especially at the bottom of the push when you're closest to the ground) then let your back bend a bit during the bottom of the push-up but straighten it as you go up (over time you'll need to do this less and less until you're able to keep your back straight the whole way).
@selica02 Can’t believe I’ve been doing push ups my whole life and never tried this. Just got down and did a quick 20 push ups with this technique and I love it. It definitely works well.
@pastorjeff2u Yep, shoulders back and down. That’s how you activate the chest. Shoulders forward and down is also fine, but that’s more of a pseudo-planche push up. Takes way more delt strength.
Whatever you do, never let your shoulders go up (towards your ears). Always pull them down.
@sister_diane Kinda unrelated, when I push it always feels like my lats are engaging like they’re flaring out or pushing forwards too. How can I stop using my damn lats
@sophiaofthemoonlight Why would you want to stop using your lats? Your lats are an extremely important muscle for all sorts of things. Their main function is adduction — pulling your arms to your side — which is exactly what you are doing if you want to keep your elbows from flaring out in the push-up. Elbows out brings your shoulder in a disadvantageous position, elbows in (or at ~45°) sets your shoulder in a good position. Your lats make sure this happens.
And on top of that, your lats have all sorts of trunk stabilisation functions. I’m not an anatomy student, but I’m pretty sure that your lats should work during the push-up.
@sophiaofthemoonlight Just try to experiment a bit. What is your body doing? Why are certain muscles firing? Flex your lats really hard right now. What do you feel? I personally experience my shoulders going down immediately. And all of a sudden they’re much more locked in place. That’s exactly what you want during a push-up, pull-up, deadlift, squat, bench press, clean, snatch, etc. You want stable shoulders and a rigid base for the movement you’re performing.
@sophiaofthemoonlight I think that's how pushups work? When going down the shoulders are tucked, but when going up they flare out. Im not really a professional but i've seen this in many videos explaining pushups.
