How to Do a Pushup

As some of you know I have been nursing a shoulder injury for several months. The original injury was caused years ago by doing pushups. Lots of pushups, over a thousand per week. I developed a problem which I never had checked out and after a few weeks it was pretty much healed. I couldn't do dips anymore but other than that I had no issues with it.

Then, back in October 2007, I was doing AOS:Smokin Ladders which has a lot of pushups in it. During one set I felt the shoulder go. It wasn't too bad but I could tell it was messed up. Over the course of several weeks I tried different things, such as Jump Stretch bands using videos posted on YouTube to help with rehab. I also did some other things including lots of Joint Mobility and kettlebell rows. Slowly it got better.

A few weeks ago I was watching the "Boys are back in town" DVD that I mentioned in the last newsletter and Steve Maxwell was covering some bodyweight work that include some pushup variations. During that segment he showed how to correctly and safely perform a pushup. When I saw it I immediately dropped and did 10 full pushups chin to the floor.

A few days before I had done pushups the wrong way and could only go 1/2 way down without experiencing pain. With Maxwell's tips I was able to do pushups with no pain! Over the next three days I did about 200 pushups with no problems. Of course my classes didn't care for that since they had to do a lot as well.

Here's what Maxwell had to say about pushups:

• Get on your hands and knees.
• Spread the fingers apart on each hand so the middle finger points straight ahead and the thumbs point towards each other.
• Come up on your toes, back flat hips down and abs tight. The points on the shoulders should be directly over your finger tips.
• When going down, and up, move the entire body as a unit.
• Don't move the shoulders first then the torso then the hips.
• Make sure the pit of the elbow points forward at the bottom and that your triceps and lats are touching.
• Do not flare the elbows out. The rotation caused by flaring the elbows is what can cause shoulder problems. Wide pushups will cause the same issues as well.
• When coming up maintain a flat back and push from the triceps. 

Yes these pushups are harder but you will be stronger and have more resilient shoulders in the long run.

Enjoy!! 

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