Mistakes while doing push ups or press ups

Often while doing push ups we, in the fear of falling and failing, do wrong sets. In lieu of doing few but correct push ups we end up doing wrong ones which can prove less effective or even injurious at times.

Getting them right is not some rocket science that can't be pulled by someone who has some knowledge about how to move his body muscles.

Listed below are some of the common mistakes that you might be doing. Have a look through all of them for you might be doing some of them without even realizing them.

A perfect rep:- Hands not too wide and elbows at 45-60 degrees

1. Placing your hands too wide

 While this is a variation but that is supposed to be done differently. What you might be doing is to keeping your hands too wide which might give you a feeling of lesser distance between you and the ground.

You can rectify it by placing the end of your palm exactly under your shoulder and exactly as wide or just slightly wider than your shoulders. This will help you create a firm base letting whole of your body to engage.

2. Flaring your elbows too wide

This is a common predicament that most of us do. While lowering your body you might be letting your elbows bend outside, it might look great to you but it is not very healthy for your shoulders. Make sure you are not forming "T" while going down. To put it simply, imagine you are pushing a wall how would you push it? would you spread out arms like you do all out like you might be doing in push ups or would you prefer them in a way that keeps your balance and ensures that your most of your body is able to contribute towards the push.

To get it right. Place your wrists neither angled inwards nor outwards, you can do this by enduring that your middle finger is pointing straight ahead. At the same time, try to form a shape of arrow rather than a "T" for arrow shape is more stable and shoulder friendly. To attain it keep your elbows around 45 - 90 degrees from your body.

3. You form a Worm like structure

You are supposed to shape like the one above , not like this

Too tired, giving up on hands width and looking like a worm

While you might be giving it your all in doing those last reps but you can't ignore your spinal cord and the rest of your body, right? Your whole body is supposed to move up and down together. Not like a snake or a worm who has been flipped vertical and is being forced to move at the same place this one is very much similar to a push up variation called HINDU push up but it is not. this one puts strain on your bones rather than your gut and glute. 

The solution is to clench your gut and butt as if someone is going to kick them while lowering your body, this self manifested illusion is therefore the best remedy to the worm that you might be becoming.

4. Keep your head slightly up.

The other common mistake is to drop your head downwards in an urge to touch the ground by hook or crook. Trust me it is you who is being fooled and by guess who? yup, you know it that legend is YOU!! It is your chest that supposed to touch the ground first not your nose. This not only steals your chance to do one rep right but also affects your spinal cord in a way you'll never wish it to.

The solution is rather easy. keep you head slightly above and try to make sure that chest is what , that touches the ground first.

5. Not doing a complete rep

While all the mistakes considered they may leave some injurious consequence that you surely do not seek but this is just plainly being rude to your own self. You do not do a full rep but expect your body to grow significantly, It is just like not working or putting effort at all and hoping to see a 7 figure income each month. The hardest and the most fun part of doing a push up is the part where you go completely down and touch your chest to ground. One complete rep is when you all the way up and just before your elbows straighten you go down and touch the ground and then again up till you complete one complete cycle.

The solution is well, as obvious as it may sound, make sure you touch your chest to the ground.

6. Trying a very hard variation

Trying a variation that is too hard, with too little strength. When we load too much weight on an exercise, try a body weight variation that is too difficult, or attempt more reps than we have the strength for, form breaks down in all sorts of weird ways. If you try the solutions we’ve presented above and STILL can’t manage a pretty push-up, then an easier push-up variation is the best course of action.

The solution is Easier push-up variations! If you can’t do a push-up with proper form, work up to them! If you need to, start with knee push-ups. If you need to start with something a little easier, try doing push-ups with your hands on a stable elevated surface. You can also combine the two and do knee push-ups on an elevated surface. Set good form now, and you will make progress much faster. It is far better to do easier variations with proper form than to do crappy regular push-ups.

GOOD LUCK!!