Elbow twisting in pushup?

sgt1372 wrote: »

stanmann571 wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

FWIW, I think that an "ideal" pushup would look like this.

Body in straight plank, feet/legs together on toes, head and arms in an arrow formation, arms/elbows close to (almost touching) your torso, full press w/your chest touching the floor at the bottom and full extension of your arms at the top.

Not to be sexist but for women w/larger breasts, only touching them to the floor would probably NOT be a full press; pressing until no further compression can be felt may be required to achieve a full press.

There's no reason to touch the floor.... Bringing arms to 90 degrees/parallel to ground is quite sufficient.

One factor not mentioned is down isn't straight down... it's down and forward. Most people who haven't done many pushups end up with poor form/structure because they try to go straight down/up vs down/forward up/back.

Also, again, there's no reason to have your feet locked together, it doesn't enhance the pushup or the plank.

The OP was asking what the "correct" way to do a pushup was and what I was describing was an IDEAL pushup with STRICT FORM.

Of course, few people do such a pushup. However, if you do not lower your chest to the floor you are NOT doing a pushup through the FULL (and objectively measurable) RANGE OF MOTION and are not getting the full benefit of the exercise.

Too many people SHORT ARM the pushup and those who do are simply cheating. It is more difficult to do a full range pushup and people don't do it that way either because they can't do it or because they think that claiming that they can do a higher # of pushups is better than fewer. They aren't cheating anyone other than themselves.

As for foot placement, the wider you spread your legs the more the weight is spread across your hips and reduces the engagement of your core. Check it out yourself. See if you don't feel greater core engagement w/your legs together than apart. You are reducing the effectiveness of the exercise by doing the exercise without keeping your feet/legs close together. So, it is better to keep them together than not.

That said, do them whatever way you please, but don't fool yourself. There is only ONE way to do a pushup with STRICT FORM and it's the way that I've described.

Push-ups
(1) This is a two minute timed event and can be conducted either indoors or outdoors.
(2) Sweatshirts will be removed during the conduct of the push-up event to observe full extension of the arms and upper arms (above the elbow) parallel to the deck.
(3) The preparatory command is “Ready” and the execute command is “Begin.”
(4) On the command “Ready” the Marine will assume the front-leaning rest position by placing the hands in a comfortable position on the deck. The feet may be together or 12 inches apart (measured between the feet) but may not be crossed. When viewed from the side, the body should form a generally straight line from the shoulders to the ankles.

“THE PUSH-UP EVENT MEASURES THE ENDURANCE OF THE CHEST,
SHOULDER, AND TRICEPS MUSCLES. ON THE COMMAND, ‘GET SET’, ASSUME THE
FRONT-LEANING REST POSITION BY PLACING YOUR HANDS WHERE THEY ARE
COMFORTABLE FOR YOU. YOUR FEET MAY BE TOGETHER OR UP TO 12 INCHES
APART (MEASURED BETWEEN THE FEET). WHEN VIEWED FROM THE SIDE, YOUR
BODY SHOULD FORM A GENERALLY STRAIGHT LINE FROM YOUR SHOULDERS TO
YOUR ANKLES. ON THE COMMAND ‘GO’, BEGIN THE PUSH-UP BY BENDING YOUR
ELBOWS AND LOWERING YOUR ENTIRE BODY AS A SINGLE UNIT UNTIL YOUR
UPPER ARMS ARE AT LEAST PARALLEL TO THE GROUND. THEN, RETURN TO THE
STARTING POSITION BY RAISING YOUR ENTIRE BODY UNTIL YOUR ARMS ARE
FULLY EXTENDED. YOUR BODY MUST REMAIN RIGID IN A GENERALLY STRAIGHT
LINE AND MOVE AS A UNIT WHILE PERFORMING EACH REPETITION. AT THE END OF
EACH REPETITION, THE SCORER WILL STATE THE NUMBER OF REPETITIONS YOU
HAVE COMPLETED CORRECTLY. IF YOU FAIL TO KEEP YOUR BODY GENERALLY
STRAIGHT, TO LOWER YOUR WHOLE BODY UNTIL YOUR UPPER ARMS ARE AT
LEAST PARALLEL TO THE GROUND, OR TO EXTEND YOUR ARMS COMPLETELY,
THAT REPETITION WILL NOT COUNT, AND THE SCORER WILL REPEAT THE NUMBER
OF THE LAST CORRECTLY PERFORMED REPETITION.”
“IF YOU FAIL TO PERFORM THE FIRST 10 PUSH-UPS CORRECTLY, THE
SCORER WILL TELL YOU TO GO TO YOUR KNEES AND WILL EXPLAIN YOUR
DEFICIENCIES. YOU WILL THEN BE SENT TO THE END OF THE LINE TO BE
RETESTED. AFTER THE FIRST 10 PUSH-UPS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED AND
COUNTED, NO RESTARTS ARE ALLOWED. THE TEST WILL CONTINUE, AND ANY
INCORRECTLY PERFORMED PUSH-UPS WILL NOT BE COUNTED. AN ALTERED,
FRONT-LEANING REST POSITION IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED REST POSITION. THAT
IS, YOU MAY SAG IN THE MIDDLE OR FLEX YOUR BACK. WHEN FLEXING YOUR
BACK, YOU MAY BEND YOUR KNEES, BUT NOT TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT YOU ARE
SUPPORTING MOST OF YOUR BODY WEIGHT WITH YOUR LEGS. IF THIS OCCURS,
YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE TERMINATED. YOU MUST RETURN TO, AND PAUSE
IN, THE CORRECT STARTING POSITION BEFORE CONTINUING. IF YOU REST ON THE
GROUND OR RAISE EITHER HAND OR FOOT FROM THE GROUND, YOUR
PERFORMANCE WILL BE TERMINATED. YOU MAY REPOSITION YOUR HANDS
AND/OR FEET DURING THE EVENT AS LONG AS THEY REMAIN IN CONTACT WITH
THE GROUND AT ALL TIMES. CORRECT PERFORMANCE IS IMPORTANT. YOU WILL
HAVE TWO MINUTES IN WHICH TO DO AS MANY PUSH-UPS AS YOU CAN. WATCH
THIS DEMONSTRATION.”

3.8.2.3. Starting Position. The member will begin in the starting position with hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart, palms or fists on the floor with arms fully extended and the body in a straight line from head to heel. The feet may be no more than 12 inches apart. The member may rest in the up position only. The member may remove their hands or feet from the floor, or bridge or bow their back, but only in the up/rest position. The body should maintain a rigid form from head to heel. The feet may not be supported or braced (e.g., no crossing of the feet).
3.8.2.4. Complete Push-up. From the starting position (elbows extended), the member will lower the body to the ground until the upper arm is at least parallel to the floor (elbow bent at least 90 degrees or less) before pushing back up to the starting position (the chest may touch but not rest on or bounce off the floor). The member completes one full push-up after returning to the starting position with elbows fully extended. It is important to monitor the member’s form and make sure the body does not bow at the waist as the member tires. The body must remain rigid during the assessment (the back must remain straight unless resting). Incorrect push-ups (e.g., member does not lower body until upper arm is at least parallel to the floor, member does not fully extend elbows when returning to starting position, body bows at the waist, etc.) will not be counted. If an incorrect push-up is performed, assessor will repeat the number of the last correct push-up and explain what is being done incorrectly. Member may rest in the up position only. If member rests in the down position with their body on the ground, the push-up component of the test will be terminated.

Push-up procedures:
(1) Member will begin in leaning rest position on the deck so that body forms a straight line through the shoulders, back, buttocks, and legs. Weight is supported only with the toes and palm of the hands. Feet shall not be in contact with the bulkhead or other vertical support surface.
(2) Arms are to be straight with palms flat on the deck, directly under the shoulders or slightly wider than shoulder width.
(3) CFL/ACFL will announce the start as well as 15-second intervals until
the 2 minutes have elapsed.
(4) Member shall lower entire body until arms bend to at least 90
degrees while keeping shoulders, back, buttocks, and legs aligned and parallel to the deck.
(5) Member pushes entire body upward and returns to starting position
ensuring arms are fully extended, without locking elbows.
(6) Member may rest only in the up position maintaining a straight line with
shoulders, back, buttocks and legs.

stanmann571 wrote: »

ijsantos2005 wrote: »

I'd argue the correct way to do any exercise is to do it with full range of motion.

Define "full range of motion" Does it include hyperextension? Which, for the record is why all 3 services have gone to "parallel". Going all the way to ground requires hyperextension for some body shapes.