Finding the right position for you of the shoulders and elbows in a press-up is more about activating the right muscles. This helps protect the shoulder, wrist and elbow joints from injury.
Shoulder and elbow position in press ups
The position of your hips in plank pose
The sun salutation sequence in yoga moves through a number of physical poses including plank and movements that resemble a press-up. We often mistakenly think plank and the movement of lowering down and pressing up are about arm strength. But
Turning on the core in a press-up
Last week I revisited the cue of tightening your armpits. I explained when you try to pull your armpits down, you’re actually tightening the muscles in your core around your sides and back. Not actually tightening your armpits. You can feel
The opposite to a press-up (stretch chest and shoulders)
We’ve been working on building strength in the shoulders and back through plank and chattaranga (press-up), down dog and cobra. Purvottanasana (or up dog) is often called the counter pose to press-ups because it stretches the muscles across your chest,
The muscles of plank and press-up
There are several muscles you can and should be using in plank and a press-up. This example from Daily Bandha focuses on just the rectus abdominis (some of the muscles that make up your ‘abs’) and gluteus maximus (your bum) in