Top 8 Things That You Should Know In Order To Do Push Up More Effectively

Push up is one of the most difficult forms of exercises out there. In fact, some people still struggle with it even if they’ve been doing it for some time. While others just don’t do it because for some reason they’re arms gives easily or they can’t push themselves up at all. However, it is also a great full body workout that can really train your muscles to work together and become stronger. If you’re still determined to reap the benefits of this work out, but like many others still find it difficult, here are some tips that may make it easier and effective for you.  

1.      Tighten Your Core

One of the reasons why it’s so hard for people to do it is because they rely on their arms alone to do all the work. In this case, you’ll naturally feel like your back is dragging you down. What you can do is engage your core fully so that your body is perfectly still. With this posture, this movement becomes easier to execute.

2.      Turn Your Hands Out

Your hands are crucial for support as well as how your arms, shoulders, and elbows will move. If they’re not coherent when it comes to their movement, it can put a lot of strain on your wrist. Try rotating your hands outward until your index finger is pointing forward and you’ll notice the difference.

3.      Dig Your Fingers Into The Ground

Instead of letting your finger lay flat on the ground, how about you dig your fingers as if you’re grabbing onto it for support. This will engage your forearm muscles more for added support and reduce the strain on your wrist.

4.      Focus On Your Butt

Always remember that your back should always be neutral, not arching up or dragging down. To be able to achieve this posture, focus on your butt. Adjust your butt to engage your hips and core for better posture. This way you engage your core better and shift the weight correctly.

5.      Keep Your Head Up

Beginners often feel like they have to look down while doing push-ups. However, when it comes to push up, it’s important that you keep your spine straight, which includes your neck. So, keep your neck muscles relaxed but your head firmly in place to reduce risk of strain.

6.      Less May Be More

When working out, it’s crucial not to be cocky. Instead of forcing a lot of counts, it’s always best to focus on perfect posture first. In this case it’s better to do 3 perfect push-ups instead of 10 push-ups with bad posture.  Once you’ve mastered the posture, then you can add reps as you go. It’s also important that you visit your chiropractor regularly for injury prevention and treatment which often happens when working out.

7.      Spread Your Hands

Most instructors will tell you to put your hands directly beneath your shoulders to perform a push-up. But that could actually strain your wrists and reduce your range of motion. Although chiropractic care is a great treatment for musculoskeletal injuries like this, it’s still best to avoid it as much as possible. Instead, spread your hands just slightly wider than shoulder width. You'll find the muscle engagement and ease of motion will improve with a wider hand placement.

8.      Do It Daily

You can’t expect yourself to be good at push-ups at one try. Like anything else, you become better by doing it frequently. This way you also build the strength necessary to be able to pull off perfect push-ups. Do a 30-day challenge, starting with 1 push-up on Day 1 and adding one more for each day. By the end of those 30 days, you'll be much stronger!

These seemingly simple tricks can make a huge difference in your push-up performance. It also helps that you keep your body in check for possible underlying issues that may be making push up harder for you like spinal subluxation or shoulder/elbow problem. If you happen to get a little sore, that’s obviously normal especially if you’re a beginner in doing push-ups chiropractic adjustment can help you with pain relief as well as treating spinal subluxation.

Top 6 Mistakes You’re Probably Making If You’re A Newbie In Working Out

Deciding to go to the gym is a great start to fitness, but we all know that the real hard work is just about to begin. This stage is can be daunting as it is; don’t make it more difficult by making these newbie mistakes at the gym! Dig in to avoid them and enjoy your gains!

1. Lacking Focus

Going to the gym and mindlessly trying every machine available doesn’t cut it. Yes, you can still get a good sweat from that, but if that’s all you’re after you might as well just go for a jog at the park. Or sometimes, you’re looking at different workout programs at once and you get overwhelmed about when to do what program.

If you want to see the results that you actually want, you have to have a clear goal and just focus on one workout that targets a few areas at a time. Schedule your workouts. If you’re planning to go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, then designate a different program for each day.

2. Neglecting To Keep Track Of Progress

You may think that this isn’t necessary because you can easily take note mentally, but not really. Results or the lack thereof when it comes to workout gains are not as evident especially when you’re still a newbie. So it can be hard to figure out where you’re lacking, what you’re doing wrong, or what to improve on.

To help you know when you need to work certain muscle groups over others, whether or not you should be progressing to the next level of certain exercises and to help  you have more set plan and focus on your workouts, keeping some sort of tracking system for your workouts is a must.

3. Trying To Do Too Much Too Soon

At first, you can’t wait to get to the gym every day and pack on muscles. But if you work out every day while trying to up your intensity level, you’ll find yourself bored so you end up skipping one too many times or getting injured which leaves you with no choice but to put your workout on hold for treatment and recuperation. Although chiropractic care is an effective way to address these types of injury, it still would have been better to avoid injury at all cost. Remember that your body needs at least 2 days off in every 7 days of exercising to allow your body to heal, rebuild itself stronger and bigger.

4. Ignoring Proper Exercise Form

Most of the time, people who are new to the gym are most concerned about lifting heavy weights instead of their form while executing any exercises. This is because they feel pressured to keep up with what everybody at the gym is lifting already, not realizing the fact that those individuals are more likely been going to the gym for months if not years.

If you’re a beginner, hiring a trainer for at least a couple of session is a good idea to get all proper techniques down. So that in you can do them right even if you’re alone later on. This way you can avoid injury and gain as much as you should from any given exercises.

5. Doing Stretch Holds Before A Workout

This practice tends to sedate the muscles, and research shows it will decrease strength and power. Also, static stretching prior to activity may actually cause injuries, not prevent them. Although some exceptions apply for very tight muscles, for the most part you should perform static stretching after activity or exercise. If you should stretch, better go through a dynamic stretching routine instead of static one, because bringing the body through a range of motion can actually prepare it for the demands of the exercise session.

6. Spending Too Much Time In The Gym

For beginners, it may seem like you need to spend every waking moment at the gym just to achieve your fitness goal. They go from barely exercising to doing 2 hours every day at the gym. This will most likely lead to burnout. It would be better to start out gradually and give your body rest days. For example if you never exercise, start with 2 days a week and then build up from there. If you want exercise to be part of your routine, remember it is a marathon not a sprint. Plan your gym schedule in a way that you’ll be able to sustain it in your day to day living, instead of treating it like a month or two challenges.