i am having trouble getting some clients to stop the space between their shoulder blades sagging while doing pushups. Also their lower backs sag as they lower themselves towards the floor. For some people I have corrected it by simply showing them the correct way... others dont seem to get it and I'm looking for some positional cues to give them or somethin....
Hmmm.... Sounds like your clients need more core work before they are able to do a proper pushup. Can they do a proper plank yet? If not perhaps start there and get core strength up. Also you can do incline (even off the wall) pushups to get people used to pushing with thier arms and get the motion.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
And I was going to make some joke comment about putting a board with nails under them...and you bring up a different plank.
hahahah, classic!
Sagging hips most likely weak hip flexors. Try leg raises and planks for a month, bring those up and retest the pushup.
Also, make sure your client is strong enough to do a pushup. If they aren't, they are going to spend so much time and concentration pushing that they are not going to flex the hip to keep the ass up. If this is the case, then switch to BB or DB flat presses and get their upper pressing in check.
If your client can't press 60% of their bodyweight then they are going to have a bitch of a time with pushups. For example, if you have an overweight male that is 250lbs and he can't press 150lbs on a close to medium grip bench press, then he is probably not going to be able to do a pushup. If he can press that weight or more, then it's definitely the hips and abs, and quite possibly the quads as well.
If they aren't strong enough to do a pushup, then start them doing pushups at an angle. Hands on a bench or step risers.
I like the risers, because you can start lowering it, week by week, after they hit about 10-15 at that height.
The higher you go, the less weight on the hands, shoulders, chest, and core. So, you train the whole system to get strong enough at the same time. On the knees won't cut it. It's not the same movement.
Another thing. Newbies don't know to make their body rigid for pushups. Make sure that you train that or they'll sag all over, and get fewer reps. My ten year old went from 5 to 10 reps by stiffening up and using his whole body to do pushups. In the last few, even your toes, calves, and ass are helping to push you back up.
If they aren't strong enough to do a pushup, then start them doing pushups at an angle. Hands on a bench or step risers.
I like the risers, because you can start lowering it, week by week, after they hit about 10-15 at that height.
The higher you go, the less weight on the hands, shoulders, chest, and core. So, you train the whole system to get strong enough at the same time. On the knees won't cut it. It's not the same movement.
Another thing. Newbies don't know to make their body rigid for pushups. Make sure that you train that or they'll sag all over, and get fewer reps. My ten year old went from 5 to 10 reps by stiffening up and using his whole body to do pushups. In the last few, even your toes, calves, and ass are helping to push you back up.
I have to disagree with you on this. Using risers you are performing what is basically a decline bench press. You will see much faster progress training the flat bench concurrent with hip and ab exercises and then moving to flat pushups. If you try to do this with elevated pushups it's going to take forever and a day to get stronger.
Here is the progression I use with clients:
1.) Push up against wall (body at slight angle)
2.) FLoor push-ups with modified lever (knees bent)
3.) Push-up agsinst smith bar/bench/object
4.) Push-up planks Hold (10-30 sec.)
5.) Push-ups
Amount of time it takes to get to a standard push up depeneds on individual.
AUXILLIARY Exercises to Hlep
1.) Scap Press
2.) Planks
3.) Bird Dogs
4.) Any upperbody weightlifting
I think hip flexor involvement is most seen when people tend to push their buts up in the air when pushing up.
assuming they can do them, and are just not getting the cues, you can try a few of these
to start in the right position, take a good plank form
-middle finger should be pointed forward and force should be spread throughout the entire hand, not just fingers or heel or whatever.
-inner elbow joints should be facing in toward each other
-scapulae should be slid slid down the back, not hunched up near the neck
-upper back should be rounded enough to pull the sides out. I've had people use the cue to (ok, this gets goofy) imagine your armpit hair being pulled outward away from you, and move accordingly.
-stomach/abs should be braced, as if they're about to get a gut punch. not sucked in, just braced
-but should be slightly tucked, as part of that brace
-glutes should be activated, not clenched, straightening the hips, almost trying to pull the legs back, in order to make them in line with the torso
-quads somewhat flexed to straighten the leg
All of that should make a good plank. A lot of the perfectly strong dancers at school had the problem of the sagging in the back, and those cues helped them a lot. *shrug*
I have to disagree with you on this. Using risers you are performing what is basically a decline bench press. You will see much faster progress training the flat bench concurrent with hip and ab exercises and then moving to flat pushups. If you try to do this with elevated pushups it's going to take forever and a day to get stronger.
I think you need both aspects, strength and stability. Flat Bench, while building strength isn't training your core to hold that rigid position and it isn't teaching you to press in a way that allows for movement of the scapula(s). If it were me (actually, it is me), a combination of planks, inclined pushups and traditional bench would be in order to bring up all aspects. But perhaps those are just my deficits talking.
I am speaking about training both aspects, but training them concurrently and separately. If someone can barely hold a plank and barely has the upper body strength to press themselves up, then why not break the components down and train them separately and with easier movements? Why not do this for a month and then go back to the pushup? Train the easiest movement and progressively move to complex. I have chosen this route from years of training older women who could do neither portion of the movement properly, which led to client frustration. After separating the components I was able to build confidence and then after a month or two we could go back to the pushup and viola, no issues.
Here is the progression I use with clients:
1.) Push up against wall (body at slight angle)
2.) FLoor push-ups with modified lever (knees bent)
3.) Push-up agsinst smith bar/bench/object
4.) Push-up planks Hold (10-30 sec.)
5.) Push-ups
Amount of time it takes to get to a standard push up depeneds on individual.
AUXILLIARY Exercises to Hlep
1.) Scap Press
2.) Planks
3.) Bird Dogs
4.) Any upperbody weightlifting
I think hip flexor involvement is most seen when people tend to push their buts up in the air when pushing up.
What is your definition of a "Scap Press" just to clarify
Scap presses are your standard scapular activation exercise where you position yourself in a tight push-up position (or can be modified against the wall or on knees) and simply use the scapular to push away from floor.
tips on teaching correct pushups...
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