The push-up is great exercise that offers a ton of great benefits, but if done incorrectly can put a lot of pressure on the lower back and wear out soft tissue in the shoulders. Follow these few pointers to make your pushup safer and more effective:
- Tuck in your hips to get pressure off of your lower back.
- Keep your core tight so the pressure stays off of your lower back.
- At the top of the pushup, move your shoulder blades apart to create space between your chest and the floor.
- Squeeze your chest muscles to create a more solid base.
- Point your elbows back to put your shoulders in a more natural position, so no grinding of joints occur when you go down into the pushup.
- Put your chin out and slightly gaze out to the floor in front of you to be able to go down deeper into the pushup.
- Get your neck out of your shoulders to avoid any muscle strains.
Saving the Bursa
Other than straining your lower back, the main safety tip here is to avoid an enlarged subacromial bursa. What is a bursa? It is “A fluid-filled sac or saclike cavity, especially one countering friction at a joint.” The “subacromial bursa” then is a bursa sitting underneath your acromion.
When you perform the pushup with elbows out, this is what the anatomy looks like:
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Bursa Image Source: www.aidmybursa.com
Sincerely,
Hovhannes Mkhitaryan from The LA Trainer
Hovhannes Mkhitaryan from The LA Trainer