Push-ups are one of those classic forms of exercise that can be great for promoting physical strength and muscle stability. Most of us have at least attempted them in our lives, regardless of whether or not we’ve managed to successfully complete large numbers of them. However, what is even more important than doing many push-ups is to do them properly.
Using the wrong techniques to do push-ups can increase your risk of injury and decrease the potential benefit of each movement. By doing them properly, you’ll be able to complete them more safely, improve your core strength, and blast through a higher number of calories.
Check out these common mistakes and make sure that you’re not making them:
• You’re letting your back sag – When doing push-ups, your body should be holding a straight line from your shoulders right through to the heels of your feet. All too often, people let their backs sag in the middle to form a “U” shape. To correct this, tilt your pelvic muscles forward while drawing your back up toward the ceiling.
• You’re raising your butt – The exact opposite of the first problem on this list is allowing your butt to rise toward the ceiling as you do your push-ups. Keep your body in a straight line and, if you’re struggling to keep your butt from rising, try squeezing its muscles together. This helps to keep your lower back raised and your butt lowered.
• Improperly aligned head – Many people bring their chins too close to their chests while doing pushups. To obtain the proper alignment, imagine that you have a softball between your chest and your chin. This will help you to keep your head down, but not too close to your chest, aligning your spine and easing neck muscle pressure.
• Forward arm placement – It’s common to add pressure to the joints of the shoulder, and reduce proper form while doing pushups by placing your hands too far forward. Make sure that your hands are placed so that your arms are straight up and down from the floor when your elbows aren’t bent. This way, it is your arms supporting your weight and not your shoulder joints and back.
• Holding your breath – Become more conscious of your breathing when doing push-ups or you could actually be holding your breath without knowing it. The key is to inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up. Inhales and exhales should be done with normal breathing methods, without belly-breathing and other alternative techniques.
