The Perfect Push-Up To Build Muscle (AVOID THESE MISTAKES!)

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Due to the high amount of muscle mass and joints which are involved in this exercise, there is a lot that can go wrong when it comes to the pushup form or in a pushups workout. Which is not only detrimental for growth, but is also problematic from an injury and pain standpoint since we tend to do push-ups with a lot of volume, and the wear and tear from improper push up form can accumulate very quickly. So, in this push up form tutorial, I’ll share what the most common and problematic push up mistakes are, and how to fix them right away so that you know how to do a push up correctly. Once you’ve gone through the necessary push up form check, you’ll be able to see faster growth while avoiding potential injury.

The most common mistake people make with their pushup form is flaring their elbows out commonly as a result of using a hand position that’s too wide, thinking that this will better target and grow the chest. But instead it actually does the opposite while putting our shoulders at a greater risk for injury. Whenever we do any pressing motion like a push-up, we want our elbow angle to line up with our chest fibres. So, instead, use a grip that’s roughly just outside shoulder-width or narrower. And when you execute your push-ups, don’t forget to tuck your elbows in towards your body rather than flaring them out. Preferably right around 45 degrees.

Next, a common problem we see people typically have their hands turned in slightly. What this does is it not only encourages the flaring of the elbows but will also put us at a greater risk for shoulder impingement. Not to mention the added shear stress on the elbows as well. So, when you perform your push-ups, keep your hands in a neutral position. Then, you’ll want to promote this position as you go into your push-up by thinking about distributing the weight in your hands more externally rather than internally, by again thinking about screwing your hands outwards.

Most people are unaware that by making very simple adjustments to your push up form, you can actually emphasize specific muscles more than others. Which is beneficial when you want to specifically focus on working a certain muscle group. And to do this, we mainly want to pay attention to what our elbows and shoulders are doing during the movement.

For instance, as mentioned in this push up form tutorial, if we wanted to make the push-up to be more chest focused, then we want to limit the amount flexion our elbow experiences by moving our hands back a touch during the set-up, and then keeping our elbow stacked right on top of our wrist as we execute the push-up. Alternatively, if we wanted to make the push-up more triceps focused, then we want to maximize the amount of flexion our elbow experiences. This can be done by tucking the elbows in and dropping them down and back as far away from your hands as you’re capable of doing comfortably during the push-up. And lastly, if we wanted to emphasize the shoulders a little more, then we would want to elevate our feet up onto a high enough platform or perform a pike push-up.

The next push up form check you need to do is for shoulder shrugging. Even if you have the proper hand placement, once you start fatiguing and grinding out reps it’s easy to let the shoulders shrug up towards the ears. This not only shifts tension away from the chest and onto the traps but also causes you to lose a ton of stability and pressing strength. So instead, using your lats, actively pull your shoulders down and away from your ears and into a stable and locked position that you’ll want to maintain. Lastly, is speed. If push-ups have gotten pretty easy for you, instead of just trying to bang out more push-ups as fast as you can, slow it down and take at least 2.5 to perform each push-up. You can even slow it down further to 5 or 6 seconds per push-up if you need some added difficulty. Doing so will enable you to stress and grow your target muscles to a greater degree as you get stronger overtime, while placing less unwanted stress on joints.

Congratulations, you now know how to do a push up correctly! And hopefully, you were able to see that there’s a lot more that goes into even the simplest of exercises like the push-up. Yet if you want to see the best results while minimizing your risk of injury, then you need to apply this same level of detail to each and every one of your exercises in your routine. And for a step-by-step program that does all of this for you, by showing you not only the workouts to do every week, but then how to execute those workouts and exercises to maximize your results, then simply simply take the analysis quiz to discover which science-based program would be best for you:

Filmed by: Bruno Martin Del Campo

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This man has done more pushups in this video than I have ever done in my life

Samuel-bdpb
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- 45deg elbows
- Neutral hand orientation
- Keep forearm vertical
- Elevate feet on platform for shoulder activation
- Pull shoulder down and lock
- 2.5 sec per pushup

polobreak
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I like how easy your explanations are and adding all the graphics you add makes it impossible not to understand. Well done man.

goldshredfitness
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Yup, I'll have to check this video everyday now :)
Elbow Angle 1:06
Hand Orientation 3:07
Matching to target 4:20
Shrugging 6:13
Speed 7:02

Kyle-yenj
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I like the stop image of showing the mistake, that’s a nice new feature

Mister_Laughs
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I'm so happy I stumbled upon this video. I can finally do pushups without causing pain in my wrists, elbows, and shoulders. I just focus on having my hands closer together and closer to my hips, my arms supinated, and my shoulders as down as possible. I used to only be able to do 2 at a time and today I did 10. Targeting 11 tomorrow.

kabirbatra
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Doing the proper form has been a big challenge for me. As someone who can't do push-ups before, trying to correct my form has been really hard. Thanks for this wonderful video as I got my answer on why my triceps were the ones growing and my chest just slightly.

渋谷区玲子
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1. Elbow angle 1:02
2. Hand orientation 3:05
3. Matching push-up form to target 4:17
4. Shrugging shoulder 6:11
5. Speed 7:00

jcool
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finally, a person who shows how to properly do a pushup right. the amount of times I have to correct people on how to do a proper pushup while utilizing your body mechanics right is high. good video

BecomePrimed
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I literally make every mistake, no wonder my shoulders hurt. Amazing tutorial. Thanks very much

ALLKLLRNOFLLR
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The tip on on 6:10 was a major game changer for me. I recognized this issue when doing any chest pressing movement. Typically I have pain in my shoulder when I am reaching near failure, but with keeping my shoulders low, that pain just never occurs!

Funny enough my physiotherapist did not notice this bad posture when working out. The tip from him was to contract your shoulder blades as if you were holding a pen between your blades. No instructions on keeping the shoulders low... So thanks Jeremy!

doodvuurtje
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I watched the video 5 times with pauses & practice along Now I learned it completely.
Thank you brother ❤❤

ashishrathodmp
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i injured my shoulders and now i know exactly why, thank u!

matscolo
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I tried doing push ups 2 years ago, year ago and now. I understand more and more as I learn what mistakes I make. Finally I am able to feel both chest and triceps while doing this excercise and it's really challenging for me to even do 10 perfect slow reps but it's much more rewarding and feeling is better than any of my bench presses I ever done. Thanks Jeremy for your videos, I really appreciate work you put into every one of them!

anonimowelwiatko
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A couple years ago I had a resolution to do 200 pushups every day. I did them successfully, but by September my elbow hurt like hell. Years later and multiple cortizone shots...I still feel it every now and then. Stay strong, stay smart out there! Thanks Jeremy!!!

DB_
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This is the best and most research-backed video on push-ups I have seen in youtube. Dispelled so many of my misconceptions about push-ups.

asifchoudhuryca
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Its crazy how being a few centimeters off you working a whole different muscle group ☠️

slim
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I have to go to military training after graduation and have never been able to do push-ups well, this helped me a lot. Hopefully I survive in training

heibluft
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A simple exercise ain’t that simple anymore 😅 Thanks alot for the info, ... we can never stop to improve ourselves!

daviddonati
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You do a really nice job, Jeremy. Your explanations are clear and backed up with science. And you're not gimmicky with enthusiasm or irrelevant humor.

rfk