Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be wrapping up the two part series on the TRX row. Now be sure to read part one if you haven’t already at the link here: And as always, if you have any questions about today’s blog then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
So, last time we were talking about pushups and push up form. We had the arm position, so then we moved onto hand position. I know you must be wondering why do we need to worry about our hands? Well number one, if your fingers are together and cupped, it’s going to make it harder to have the right range of motion with your wrists.
So if you’ll open those fingers up, it doesn’t have to be super wide, but just open your fingers up so that they’re spread out, it’s going to give you a wider base to work from, and it’s going to allow your body to go through more natural range of motion. So that’s number one.
Number two is a pushup is very challenging on the shoulder joint, but especially if you don’t have a lot of strength there or if you haven’t been strengthening through the shoulder. Pushups are very challenging there.
We’ve got a lot of musculature working together to help provide that movement. So we need to make sure that that shoulder’s safe. So here’s the trick that a lot of people have never heard of. When you’re on the floor in that open handed position and really doesn’t have to be the floor, it could be on your bench or on the wall. In your open handed position, what I want you to do is actually grip the floor. You want to be able to grab the floor as you’re going down and pushing up. And what that’s going to do is it’s going to cause the shoulder to stabilize. It’s going to tighten those muscles in there to protect your shoulder so that as you go through those pushups, you actually are protecting your body. So kind of cool, right?
Number four is a big one that people mostly know, but don’t always implement. And that is engaging your core. Before you ever get going, you have to actually engage that core. Now what does engage mean? Well it means not sucking in. So if you suck in, you get taller. You get skinnier. But engaging is actually tightening the muscles. It’s actually pulling down, like you were coughing or sneezing. You’re going to feel your ribs and your hips.
As you engage, you’re going to feel those two pull together just slightly. It’s not folding it in half, but it’s enough to feel a shortening through the abdominal area. Keep in mind that your core is everything in your torso without your arms, legs, or head. So front, back, and sides, all of your torso is working together to stabilize you in this position. That’s why working on planks is so beneficial to pushups because if you can hold your plank very strong, then your pushups, you’ve already got that integration. And then you can start to build onto it with extra movement.
So that’s basically all that a pushup is is moving plank. So if we’re here, and we’ve got our arm position slightly wider than our shoulders, and our body’s in the right position for us, and we’re gripping the floor tight and we’re engaging our core light we were coughing or sneezing, you’re almost going to feel like your hands and your knees are sliding closer together. You’re not actually going to slide them in towards each other, but as you engage that core, you’re going to feel like they want to. So that’s the feeling that you want. All right? So we press into the floor. We take it down to that arrow shape, press it right back up, and we get those pushups knocked out.
The more that you can practice those four things on your pushups, the better form you’re going to have, the better technique, the safer you’re going to be, and the more you’re going to be able to get out it. So therefore whenever you get stronger with them, after you get past the first few, you’re going to be able to pop out numbers that you never thought that you could before.
So I hope that you do a little bit of help. Work on it this weekend, right? Our weekend warrior post for the day here. Got to send the new workout this weekend, that gripping thing. If you haven’t done that is absolutely amazing. It’ll change your pushup forever. It’ll change your planks too. Anytime that you’re in that extended arm position on the floor, the more that you can grip into the floor, the more you’re going to get out of that.
That is going to wrap up our series on the building your best pushup. I hope that y’all can apply this information to your pushups, or even just give pushups a try in the first place. Just follow these tips and give it a try! A little will go a long way, I promise.
So, if you are wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for. We work with our clients not just on fitness, but also nutrition. What we do is we will ensure that you are supported throughout every aspect of your health and wellness journey, and that includes making those eating changes. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.