push up form question

IzzyBooNZ1

Hi, can someone please tell me the correct place your hands should be for a push up? fingers pointing forward to slightly in, elbows close to side?? I am curious and would like to know what you all think. I see people with arms and hands at all kinds of angles.

Push ups are a huge weakness for me and I really want to get better but with proper form. I was also told to clench your butt cheeks together as well but I find that had to do and hold while trying to push up . I'm working on starting on a high surface and getting lower. How many reps / set should I do?

thanks and sorry for all the questions.

Arathels

I don't really do push ups but when I do I do as many as I can for one set. Usually that's about 35 ish, I really should put more effort into my push ups.

But I hear people around me talking about 5 sets of 10 to start with. I'm no expert though. How many can you do ? Would you feel good doing only 5 sets of 10 push ups ?

Good luck with yours.

JoshuaMcAllister

There is no right or wrong way to position your hands really. The standard military press up are hands shoulder width apart, various hand positions work different muscles.

dlm7507

The Aratheis reply is standard though there are variations with purpose.

SonyaCele

different hand positions use different muscles. Do all the variations. Close hands and elbows in will hit your triceps, wider gets more into your lats. Just do them all . When i do pushups, i do them in 3 or 4 sets of as many as i can , to failure. but thats just how i do them in my workouts. You can do them any way you want.

Sued0nim

There's also elbows flaring out or closer to body ..the latter puts more focus on the smaller triceps and are harder

rybo

Lay flat on the ground face down and extend your arms overhead. Slide your hands back to your armpits. There's your hand position. Fingers facing foward or slightly turned out. Don't flare your elbows to form a "T", they should form an arrow. And yes squeezing your glutes will help you keep a rigid plank during the movement.

Packerjohn

rybo wrote: »

Lay flat on the ground face down and extend your arms overhead. Slide your hands back to your armpits. There's your hand position. Fingers facing foward or slightly turned out. Don't flare your elbows to form a "T", they should form an arrow. And yes squeezing your glutes will help you keep a rigid plank during the movement.

Yep, the body should form an arrow, flared way out is rough on the shoulders.

Article discussing this:
http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/push-up/

This article has some good variations from beginner to advanced:
http://tonygentilcore.com/2014/02/greatest-push-article-history-ever/

wildtxn

I've done more push ups that I care to count (thanks US Army) and you can do them any way that it is comfortable for you as far as hand position is concerned. Diamonds (hands almost overlapping) will target your tri's, wide arm will focus on your chest, a normal (shoulder width) will focus on all of the above. Try to keep your back straight. You can elevate your feet on a stable surface to focus more on Core and shoulders as well. I also, always did pushups till failure. If you struggle doing a few, try doing a few here and there throughout the day. doesn't matter if it's 2 at a time, keep doing them until that number increases. You'll get better and the number will increase How many can you do at the moment? If you want to increase that number, just do them often and it will happen. I struggled to do 20 when I started basic training, my record years later was 124 in 2 minutes.

IzzyBooNZ1

thanks everyone, much appreciated ! great advice