I love the gifs although the idea of doing a wall push up into that rock wall made me wince. Thank you for all the form suggestions! My issue with pushups, besides the obvious difficulty, is that I tend to feel it a little pain in one or both of my elbows which makes me think I’m doing it wrong. Even with counter pushups. I’ve done some other arm workouts over the last few months and now I’m strong enough to do some pushups work but I’m still hesitant of my elbow and tend to drop to my knees during a yoga chaturanga situation. Help?
Haha, don't worry, the rock wall looks a lot more textured than it actually is! It didn't hurt my hands at all.
Pain is so tricky, and I of course would never try to diagnose you with anything, but there are definitely certain conditions (tendonitis etc) that can cause elbow pain during loaded flexion like in a push-up — if you think this might be the case for you, def a good idea to reach out to a PT.
But I wonder if experimenting with arm/hand placement/angle could help. A few ideas:
- What does it feel like with your hands a little closer together? Or a little farther apart?
- What does it feel like if you slightly angle your hands out — imagine you are rotating your right fingertips to point slightly out to the right, and left fingertips slightly out to the left?
- How does it feel if your elbows go straight out to the sides during your push-up? How does it feel if they're at a 45-degree angle to your body? What about tucked super tight to your torso (like during chaturanga)?
I'd also be curious about what's going on with your shoulders. Can you try being really mindful of pulling your shoulder blades back and down toward each other (so avoiding a big rounding of the upper back), and keeping the back of your neck nice and long?
And then, what's going on with your core? Finding a lot of abdominal engagement is key for push-ups (remember, they're moving planks!). If we don't engage there, we can compensate for it in unhelpful ways in other places.
Lots to experiment with! Let me know if you uncover anything helpful!!
These are all excellent suggestions! Thank you! I did notice an improvement once I started doing arm and shoulder strengthening with resistance and weights. I am probably better at keeping my shoulder blades down my back like I’m supposed to now. I’ll keep working at it. I love your reminders!
As a visual learner, I’m loving the GIFs!
I like the gifs. I do not like push-ups 😛
Hahahaha, I hear that. Me neither, frankly!
Appreciate the variety of ways to do a push-up, gifs are especially helpful!
Stairs can work for an incline push up too!
Yes, they can be great! So many steps/heights to choose from!
Oooh stairs!
Love the GIFs! This is so helpful!
This was super helpful!! Makes it feel possible 😊 And the gifs are essential for me.
Thanks the gifs are very helpful
This is the most helpful guide to push ups I’ve ever seen. The gifs really help! Thank you!!
😭 thank you!!
The gifs are super helpful, thank you!
This was very helpful, thanks! I find that some pilates/yoga moves hurt my kneecaps, clearly I just wasn't rolling far enough forward.
Ooh yes try the rolling forward! You can always double up/fold your mat or put a little towel under your knees if it helps, too.
So helpful. Thanks!
Love this and it was so helpful. Do you have any recs for people with or recovering from tennis elbow?
I’m so glad! But sorry to hear about the tennis elbow. Do you mean in general, or with push-ups specifically?
I love the gifs although the idea of doing a wall push up into that rock wall made me wince. Thank you for all the form suggestions! My issue with pushups, besides the obvious difficulty, is that I tend to feel it a little pain in one or both of my elbows which makes me think I’m doing it wrong. Even with counter pushups. I’ve done some other arm workouts over the last few months and now I’m strong enough to do some pushups work but I’m still hesitant of my elbow and tend to drop to my knees during a yoga chaturanga situation. Help?
Haha, don't worry, the rock wall looks a lot more textured than it actually is! It didn't hurt my hands at all.
Pain is so tricky, and I of course would never try to diagnose you with anything, but there are definitely certain conditions (tendonitis etc) that can cause elbow pain during loaded flexion like in a push-up — if you think this might be the case for you, def a good idea to reach out to a PT.
But I wonder if experimenting with arm/hand placement/angle could help. A few ideas:
- What does it feel like with your hands a little closer together? Or a little farther apart?
- What does it feel like if you slightly angle your hands out — imagine you are rotating your right fingertips to point slightly out to the right, and left fingertips slightly out to the left?
- How does it feel if your elbows go straight out to the sides during your push-up? How does it feel if they're at a 45-degree angle to your body? What about tucked super tight to your torso (like during chaturanga)?
I'd also be curious about what's going on with your shoulders. Can you try being really mindful of pulling your shoulder blades back and down toward each other (so avoiding a big rounding of the upper back), and keeping the back of your neck nice and long?
And then, what's going on with your core? Finding a lot of abdominal engagement is key for push-ups (remember, they're moving planks!). If we don't engage there, we can compensate for it in unhelpful ways in other places.
Lots to experiment with! Let me know if you uncover anything helpful!!
These are all excellent suggestions! Thank you! I did notice an improvement once I started doing arm and shoulder strengthening with resistance and weights. I am probably better at keeping my shoulder blades down my back like I’m supposed to now. I’ll keep working at it. I love your reminders!