Question about pushups

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lruff1987
lruff1987 Posts: 263 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I JUST started 30 Day Shred (did day 2 yesterday) and the pushups are really killin' my arms! My left arm hurts way more then my right, though, and I can't bend it totally straight without it really hurting. Is that just normal muscle pain?? Or am I possibly doing them wrong? I mean...my right arm DOES hurt quite a bit, but it feels more normal then the pain in my left. I don't know...I was just wondering if someone could tell me if this is good muscle pain.

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  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    If you've never done push-ups before they will make you muscles ache! So long as the pain is in your biceps, triceps or chest muscles you're fine, but if it's in a joint you might want to rest it for a bit. If you're right-handed, your right arm will be stronger already, hence your left aching more.

    Try doing box push-ups, or wall push-ups until you get stronger.
  • lruff1987
    lruff1987 Posts: 263 Member
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    Thank you!! This IS my first experience with pushups and I do the "girly" ones on my knees. But they're still killer! Thanks for the info. :)
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    It's hard to tell the difference between normal muscle pain from fatigue and actual injury, if you're not familiar with muscle groups. Muscles, though, should be in the middle of the area of your arm: You biceps should hurt from the center and out, and so should your triceps. You shouldn't have pain near the joints, like your elbow or deep in your shoulder, because that means you could have strained a tendon or ligament. Which isn't a big deal, but those take longer to heal, because they're thicker, fibrous tissue, and can become chronic issues if you push too hard and don't let them heal.
  • Maybol3
    Maybol3 Posts: 9
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    Your muscles will hurt the first few day, but I promise it gets better after day 4. Just remember the proper form is to keep your hands in line with your chest.
  • tlkerch
    tlkerch Posts: 3 Member
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    NOT girly, just modified....and it is perfectly fine to begin doing push ups from the knee position. Once you get stronger you will want (maybe) to try doing a full push up. Maybe after a full set of modified, you will try doing one or two extra as a full.

    The pain is most likely normal. You may want to just do them every other day or every third day until your muscles become accustomed to this new activity.

    Keep up the good work.

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