Pushup form with kyphotic upper back and forward head posture
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »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.
For most people, pull ups reinforce poor posture. I would stick with horizontal pulling motions for now.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »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.
For most people, pull ups reinforce poor posture. I would stick with horizontal pulling motions for now.
Basically movements that include scapular retraction like bent-over rows?0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »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.
For most people, pull ups reinforce poor posture. I would stick with horizontal pulling motions for now.
Basically movements that include scapular retraction like bent-over rows?
Chest supported rows
WTYs
Banded Ws ("no money")
DB/KB upright rows
Bent over row
etc.
etc.
etc.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »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.
For most people, pull ups reinforce poor posture. I would stick with horizontal pulling motions for now.
Basically movements that include scapular retraction like bent-over rows?
Bow pose from yoga is good, Bow and Cobra and Sphinx, you need to build up muscle and flexibility in the back and front of your core, not just the front.0 -
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Yeah I was going to do some lower back work on the floor with scapular retraction which is basically cobra or Sphinx. Tighten the muscles in my back, loosen the muscles in my chest to draw my shoulders further back.0
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I'm not weak but I'm not strong either, I'm sort of middling (which for now I'm okay with). Just want to lose the excess fat, maintain or slightly improve my strength while in caloric deficit, and work on flexibility and posture.
If I hit my fat targets and still have time in my days I may consider attempting a bulk to add a bit of muscle or some real strength but I'd be quite happy with just some improvements to my posture.0 -
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@JonDrees @psulemon @rybo @sgt1372 Hey all, wanted to thank everyone for their helpful advice. I've been working on both my posture and my form taking into account a lot of what you all said. Here is what I look like doing my sets currently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TILcq0BBTG8&feature=youtu.be
Curious to know what you think. For me looks like my body is very straight now and uniform in movement which is good. My head is still carried pretty far forward due to my forward head posture and thats going to take a while to correct, but overall think it looks good now.
So now what about hand placement and elbows?0 -
Looks good. Still think you need to lift your head and can't tell if you're touching your chest on the floor at the bottom BUT your body is a straight plank and your elbows are at 90 degrees at the bottom and your hand position is correct because they create the outline of an arrow in relation to the top of your head (as they should).
So, I say, great job!!!
Now get busy doing some pushups. I've been doing 50-150/day for the past 3 months, especially declines which really work the upper chest. So, don't forget to try different variationd and hand positions after you get bored doing standard plank pushups.0 -
Yea that looks a lot better. Now start working military pushups
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Looks good. Still think you need to lift your head and can't tell if you're touching your chest on the floor at the bottom BUT your body is a straight plank and your elbows are at 90 degrees at the bottom and your hand position is correct because they create the outline of an arrow in relation to the top of your head (as they should).
So, I say, great job!!!
Now get busy doing some pushups. I've been doing 50-150/day for the past 3 months, especially declines which really work the upper chest. So, don't forget to try different variationd and hand positions after you get bored doing standard plank pushups.
Chest comes close to touching but not quite. Not sure you'd want to actually touch that'd be pretty low. My head is where it is due to posture issues. Can add in varients, close hand position military style triceps pushups are still a bear for me which means I should practice them. Right now can only do about 25 standard, probably less than 10 close-hand. With 1 minute rest between sets I can do about 50 standard over 5 sets.0 -
Ok, I'm a family practice doc turned SAHM, so I've been out of medicine for a while but you may want to look into Scheuermann's kyphosis. Here's an article that describes it. http://umm.edu/programs/spine/health/guides/scheuermanns-kyphosis
If you don't have that, and the reason for your kyphosis is truly your desk job, then tat is due to muscle binding in your chest and clavicular area. You need to see a good physical therapist to teach you proper stretching for this. You should be able to lay flat on the floor on your back and have the back of your shoulders and arms resting on the ground with your arms up bent at 90 degrees at the elbows. My guess is that would be very hard for you.
Go see your family doctor or internist for evaluation and look into Scheuermann's. You don't look very old. I'd be really surprised if a desk job has made you that kyphotic.0 -
ccjlgrider wrote: »Ok, I'm a family practice doc turned SAHM, so I've been out of medicine for a while but you may want to look into Scheuermann's kyphosis. Here's an article that describes it. http://umm.edu/programs/spine/health/guides/scheuermanns-kyphosis
If you don't have that, and the reason for your kyphosis is truly your desk job, then tat is due to muscle binding in your chest and clavicular area. You need to see a good physical therapist to teach you proper stretching for this. You should be able to lay flat on the floor on your back and have the back of your shoulders and arms resting on the ground with your arms up bent at 90 degrees at the elbows. My guess is that would be very hard for you.
Go see your family doctor or internist for evaluation and look into Scheuermann's. You don't look very old. I'd be really surprised if a desk job has made you that kyphotic.
Just out of curiosity how old do you think I am?0 -
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »Yeah I was going to do some lower back work on the floor with scapular retraction which is basically cobra or Sphinx. Tighten the muscles in my back, loosen the muscles in my chest to draw my shoulders further back.
I had much of the same issues..basically I did all of this stuff in PT...
http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/best-exercises-to-improve-neck-posture/
I also did rows and face pulls to pull my shoulders back both straight arm and traditional...0 -
ccjlgrider wrote: »
Yeah you are spot on actually, I'm 37. That said I would think that at 37 I'd have had something like 25 years to develop poor posture from sitting at desks which to me sounds like plenty of time.0 -
Ya, but you just don't see a lot of 37 year olds walking around who are kyphotic to that degree from desk jobs. I mean, at 37 people are still pretty flexible. You start to see it more about mid-late 40's and 50's on up.
I'm not saying it's impossible. Definitely possible. But I just don't see a lot of kyphotic 30 somethings out there.
I certainly hope that's what it is because that's an easy fix!!0
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