Five Cues to Help You Get More Out of Your Pushups & How Mobility Influences Them
To me, if exercises were artists then pushups would be ‘Queen’. Everyone knows them but I still don’t think we listen to them enough. I’d even debate the more you listen to Queen the stronger your taste for music will become. Okay that’s a stretch — i’ll stop. No more fluff. Here are five cues to help you get more out of your pushup and how mobility impacts them. This is not an exhaustive list, nor are in order of importance. Just written as they came to me. Here we go!
.
Pre-cursor: What do I mean by ‘mobility’? I simply mean the ability to achieve a range of motion actively.
.
Protract scapula at the top and retract scapula at the bottom
If you ask ten people to show you what a pushup looks like, you might get 6–10 different iterations. The role of the scapula in it’s end ranges are so under-utilized. Honestly it might be because many don’t know how to use them in end ranges. People often ‘fail’ in a pushup at the very bottom in end range. Being stronger in that end range (scapular retraction) can help you blast through a plateau. Being stronger in the top range (scapular protraction) can help that connective tissue to become more well rounded. Nobody actively chooses to train in a way that creates disproportionate strength, right?
.
Turn your hands outward as you push. They won’t actually, but keep the intent — kind of like screwing your hands into the ground
Attempting to turn your hands outward in a pushup would be challenging external rotation isometrically. Having more capsular space in your glenohumeral joint allows you to feel a ‘deeper’ sensation during the rep. This can also contribute maximal voluntary contraction (mvc) being easier to understand and ‘ramping up’.
.
Open up your chest keeping the shoulders back to avoid the front delts from taking over
Heard this one from an Athlene X video. It would be a lie to say that hasn’t resonated with people. This cue challenges T-Spine extension and Scapular Retraction/Depression. You could look at this cue from a ‘muscle perspective’. You could also look at it from a ‘joint perspective’ and realize the better your joints move, the easier this position is to ‘own’ and feel comfortable in.
.
Do a push up like you’re shoving someone away from you
This is a super popular cue that touches on some of the same points as above in ‘protract scapula at the top’. This cue would just resonate more with people that don’t want the technical description.
.
Squeeze your glutes
This is one of those cues that for better or worse end up being mentioned all the time. For pushups thought you can see why. During the eccentric phase people are more likely (not guaranteed) to keep a disciplined spine position. During the concentric phase though, everything goes out the window. People often fake their range of motion while almost keeping their waist inches from the floor. Having the awareness of squeezing at your glutes during the entire repeptition helps our spine so much. It helps keep our spine from moving or ‘dipping’ from eccentric forces caused by gravity or bodyweight distribution/strength levels.
.
What’s your favourite cue when doing pushups? Comment below! 👇 Tag a friend who thinks they can do more pushups than you!
.
.
.