Pushup form with kyphotic upper back and forward head posture
Options
Replies
-
One suggestion, find a yoga teacher who specializes in postural yoga (Iyengar in particular); there are specific cues in that practice that tremendously help core engagement as well as postural stability and in the end your push-ups will be better/stronger. Not vinyasa- someone who specializes in alignment. I've seen some amazing things for people with severe postural issues...0
-
Looks a lot better! It's going to be difficult to get exact head placement for you given your condition, that last video looked good. I think it's going to be more useful to not go too much either way...looking ahead or more between your hands and just find a head position that is comfortable while you perform the pushups, then deal with your posture directly through other avenues.0
-
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Better this time, I think my butt is in the right place and I am more level...my chest also goes down further and I think I'm hitting 90 degrees on my arms. Forward head posture still an issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKg5O13jFKM&feature=youtu.be
Pick your butt up and tuck your chin in. Think about your chest being the first thing down and the last thing up.
Your back isn't excessively rounded, so you should have no problem getting into the proper positions.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Better this time, I think my butt is in the right place and I am more level...my chest also goes down further and I think I'm hitting 90 degrees on my arms. Forward head posture still an issue.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKg5O13jFKM&feature=youtu.be
Pick your butt up and tuck your chin in. Think about your chest being the first thing down and the last thing up.
Your back isn't excessively rounded, so you should have no problem getting into the proper positions.
Can't help but feel that if I pick up my butt more than that I won't be in line with my lower body I'll be arched. Also have you telling me to tuck my chin while others are telling me to look more forward (ie the opposite). I get that you want your chest to be what is approaching the ground first (as best as you can make it) but if you have a gut and you pick your butt up high enough so that your chest hits before your gut aren't you going to be arching your back in a way that isn't a true plank position?0 -
@Aaron_K123
You head is lifted, but it should be more parallel (Neck in line with the spine); looking 6" out will help you from allowing your head to fall down.. Maybe the below will help.
1 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Better this time, I think my butt is in the right place and I am more level...my chest also goes down further and I think I'm hitting 90 degrees on my arms. Forward head posture still an issue.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKg5O13jFKM&feature=youtu.be
Pick your butt up and tuck your chin in. Think about your chest being the first thing down and the last thing up.
Your back isn't excessively rounded, so you should have no problem getting into the proper positions.
Can't help but feel that if I pick up my butt more than that I won't be in line with my lower body I'll be arched. Also have you telling me to tuck my chin while others are telling me to look more forward (ie the opposite). I get that you want your chest to be what is approaching the ground first (as best as you can make it) but if you have a gut and you pick your butt up high enough so that your chest hits before your gut aren't you going to be arching your back in a way that isn't a true plank position?
No.
You should be able to touch your nose to the ground without your hips or chest touching - that would be perfect alignment.0 -
Yoga can help correct your posture.
Your head should be in a neutral position so looking towards the floor a few inches in front of you. You appear to be trying to look forward.
Try squeezing your hips to your ribs this will help raise your butt without lifting it too high.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Better this time, I think my butt is in the right place and I am more level...my chest also goes down further and I think I'm hitting 90 degrees on my arms. Forward head posture still an issue.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKg5O13jFKM&feature=youtu.be
Pick your butt up and tuck your chin in. Think about your chest being the first thing down and the last thing up.
Your back isn't excessively rounded, so you should have no problem getting into the proper positions.
Can't help but feel that if I pick up my butt more than that I won't be in line with my lower body I'll be arched. Also have you telling me to tuck my chin while others are telling me to look more forward (ie the opposite). I get that you want your chest to be what is approaching the ground first (as best as you can make it) but if you have a gut and you pick your butt up high enough so that your chest hits before your gut aren't you going to be arching your back in a way that isn't a true plank position?
No.
You should be able to touch your nose to the ground without your hips or chest touching - that would be perfect alignment.
Well yes but at the moment my spine doesn't allow perfect allignment, hence the question about how I should try to compensate for that. I cannot physically pull my head back that far due to a kyphotic upper spine and forward head posture. I know what it should look like, and I know I need to work on my posture. But that will take a while and in the meantime I'd still like to do pushups as best I can because its a great compound exercise.1 -
@Aaron_K123
You head is lifted, but it should be more parallel (Neck in line with the spine); looking 6" out will help you from allowing your head to fall down.. Maybe the below will help.
Well therein lies my problem. With my current postural difficulty I cannot put my neck in line with my spine. If I look down because of the forward head posture my head is considerably lower than my chest and I touch my nose to the ground well before my chest. I'm lifting my head to try to avoid that but I don't want to overextend my neck.0 -
Tell you what, tomorrow when I do another set I will look straight down (it is a more comfortable position anyways) and I'll tape that and see how it looks....but chances are what that is going to do is mean I don't go to 90 degrees with my arms or as low with my chest.0
-
I had a lot of issues with my neck because of the same type of posture problems over the years due to a desk job. What helped me quite a bit was incline push ups. I still do standard push ups, but during my cardio sessions I do them inclined on my kitchen counters. I do very high reps (50-100 at a time) while looking forward/up. It helped over time to bring my neck back in line and has reduced the pain I was having. It took months though to notice the change. You can probably achieve the same thing doing regular push ups as well just by making a conscious effort to keep your neck in line with your spine, but because it was easier to do incline push ups (higher reps) it seemed to improve faster. I can do 20-25 regular push ups, and usually do at the end of my daily workout, but during my cross training/regular workout I do somewhere around 200 incline push ups on my counters in between other exercises to keep my heart rate up and stretch my neck and back.
Speaking of Yoga.. another thing that helps is before and after each workout I do press-ups and press-up extensions mainly for my lower back, but it also helps my neck and upper back.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Tell you what, tomorrow when I do another set I will look straight down (it is a more comfortable position anyways) and I'll tape that and see how it looks....but chances are what that is going to do is mean I don't go to 90 degrees with my arms or as low with my chest.
Even if you don't go 90° that is fine... no different than squats. You just have to work within your bodies range. If at some point, you want to get lower, than use pushup bars. This might enable you going 90° since you will start higher.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Better this time, I think my butt is in the right place and I am more level...my chest also goes down further and I think I'm hitting 90 degrees on my arms. Forward head posture still an issue.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKg5O13jFKM&feature=youtu.be
Pick your butt up and tuck your chin in. Think about your chest being the first thing down and the last thing up.
Your back isn't excessively rounded, so you should have no problem getting into the proper positions.
Can't help but feel that if I pick up my butt more than that I won't be in line with my lower body I'll be arched. Also have you telling me to tuck my chin while others are telling me to look more forward (ie the opposite). I get that you want your chest to be what is approaching the ground first (as best as you can make it) but if you have a gut and you pick your butt up high enough so that your chest hits before your gut aren't you going to be arching your back in a way that isn't a true plank position?
No.
You should be able to touch your nose to the ground without your hips or chest touching - that would be perfect alignment.
Well yes but at the moment my spine doesn't allow perfect allignment, hence the question about how I should try to compensate for that. I cannot physically pull my head back that far due to a kyphotic upper spine and forward head posture. I know what it should look like, and I know I need to work on my posture. But that will take a while and in the meantime I'd still like to do pushups as best I can because its a great compound exercise.
Structurally you're fine. You aren't retracting your scapulas. Instead, they are elevating, giving you a rounded upper back appearance.0 -
Actually I'm impatient, I tried it now. Actually...worked pretty well. I tucked my chin best I could retracting my head which wasn't the most comfortable for me but I could hold it. Decended and my nose was first to touch (although my gut was involved as well) and my chest was close to the ground. It seemed though that my arms were going past parallel so past 90 degrees on my elbows...not sure if that is putting pressure on my shoulders.
I taped it, angle is very different though so hard to compare really also doesn't show my whole body. But can see I'm holding pretty planar and decending evenly. If I raised my butt a bit perhaps my gut wouldn't hit first but I might be arched then.
I'm willing to try anything you all suggest though and continue to refine. Once I get a position that seems to work I will work on maintaining that and building it up as habit in my routinues. I appreciate all of your input and assistance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJFRcK2KubI&feature=youtu.be 0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Tell you what, tomorrow when I do another set I will look straight down (it is a more comfortable position anyways) and I'll tape that and see how it looks....but chances are what that is going to do is mean I don't go to 90 degrees with my arms or as low with my chest.
Even if you don't go 90° that is fine... no different than squats. You just have to work within your bodies range. If at some point, you want to get lower, than use pushup bars. This might enable you going 90° since you will start higher.
Good point...if my only problem is my face hits the ground too soon I could just use pushup bars or dumbells to elevate my front so I can get full range in.0 -
Part of the problem is that my gut is larger than my chest...but I'm working on that ;-)0
-
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Actually I'm impatient, I tried it now. Actually...worked pretty well. I tucked my chin best I could retracting my head which wasn't the most comfortable for me but I could hold it. Decended and my nose was first to touch (although my gut was involved as well) and my chest was close to the ground. It seemed though that my arms were going past parallel so past 90 degrees on my elbows...not sure if that is putting pressure on my shoulders.
I taped it, angle is very different though so hard to compare really also doesn't show my whole body. But can see I'm holding pretty planar and decending evenly. If I raised my butt a bit perhaps my gut wouldn't hit first but I might be arched then.
I'm willing to try anything you all suggest though and continue to refine. Once I get a position that seems to work I will work on maintaining that and building it up as habit in my routinues. I appreciate all of your input and assistance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJFRcK2KubI&feature=youtu.be
This looks much better. You might want to experiment and see what it would look like if you raise your butt a bit, but it's overall solid. I found when I pushed my heals back and engaged my core/thighs, it naturally corrected some of the stomach "droop".0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Actually I'm impatient, I tried it now. Actually...worked pretty well. I tucked my chin best I could retracting my head which wasn't the most comfortable for me but I could hold it. Decended and my nose was first to touch (although my gut was involved as well) and my chest was close to the ground. It seemed though that my arms were going past parallel so past 90 degrees on my elbows...not sure if that is putting pressure on my shoulders.
I taped it, angle is very different though so hard to compare really also doesn't show my whole body. But can see I'm holding pretty planar and decending evenly. If I raised my butt a bit perhaps my gut wouldn't hit first but I might be arched then.
I'm willing to try anything you all suggest though and continue to refine. Once I get a position that seems to work I will work on maintaining that and building it up as habit in my routinues. I appreciate all of your input and assistance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJFRcK2KubI&feature=youtu.be
Much better. You could still do a better job of pulling your scapulas back. Notice how your elbows tilt forward at the bottom? Think of your shoulders going back and down towards your butt.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Actually I'm impatient, I tried it now. Actually...worked pretty well. I tucked my chin best I could retracting my head which wasn't the most comfortable for me but I could hold it. Decended and my nose was first to touch (although my gut was involved as well) and my chest was close to the ground. It seemed though that my arms were going past parallel so past 90 degrees on my elbows...not sure if that is putting pressure on my shoulders.
I taped it, angle is very different though so hard to compare really also doesn't show my whole body. But can see I'm holding pretty planar and decending evenly. If I raised my butt a bit perhaps my gut wouldn't hit first but I might be arched then.
I'm willing to try anything you all suggest though and continue to refine. Once I get a position that seems to work I will work on maintaining that and building it up as habit in my routinues. I appreciate all of your input and assistance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJFRcK2KubI&feature=youtu.be
This looks much better. You might want to experiment and see what it would look like if you raise your butt a bit, but it's overall solid. I found when I pushed my heals back and engaged my core/thighs, it naturally corrected some of the stomach "droop".
Okay I will try both, thanks.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Actually I'm impatient, I tried it now. Actually...worked pretty well. I tucked my chin best I could retracting my head which wasn't the most comfortable for me but I could hold it. Decended and my nose was first to touch (although my gut was involved as well) and my chest was close to the ground. It seemed though that my arms were going past parallel so past 90 degrees on my elbows...not sure if that is putting pressure on my shoulders.
I taped it, angle is very different though so hard to compare really also doesn't show my whole body. But can see I'm holding pretty planar and decending evenly. If I raised my butt a bit perhaps my gut wouldn't hit first but I might be arched then.
I'm willing to try anything you all suggest though and continue to refine. Once I get a position that seems to work I will work on maintaining that and building it up as habit in my routinues. I appreciate all of your input and assistance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJFRcK2KubI&feature=youtu.be
Much better. You could still do a better job of pulling your scapulas back. Notice how your elbows tilt forward at the bottom? Think of your shoulders going back and down towards your butt.
Yeah that is from my posture issues I think, will have to work on that throughout my day really starting in how I sit. I can try to pinch them back while decending from plank see if that helps my form.
I'm doing pullups (band assisted) as well to help strengthen my back. Not sure if rows or shrugs would also help with that upper back strength or tighten the muscles up a bit. Was also going to start just doing lower back extensions to help with my seated posture.
If I have time once I lose the excess fat and get a bit leaner (like 12% BF) I might switch to maintain or slight surplus and work on building a bit of muscle, might help as well. Right now I'm in deficit so just looking to strengthen and maintain.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 393 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 934 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions