In the proper push up position, the feet are together, glutes are squeezed, and the back is in a neutral position. There should be no sag in the back and everything should be tight. The entire body should move in straight line, with no sag and with your elbows at approximately a 45-degree angle.

At the bottom of the movement, your forearms should be vertical to the ground. The entire body is working together, in sync, throughout the entire movement. The core and glutes are stabilizing the lumbar spine, the back is engaged, and the chest is set up in an optimal position for work. This is really just a moving plank.

Now, let’s compare this to a push up with your knees on the floor. In this position, you are taking your legs out of the equation entirely. It becomes more difficult to engage your glutes (just try to squeeze your glutes in this position – it isn’t as easy). You also don’t need to stabilize your lumbar spine as much, and you couldn’t anyway as you are effectively turning off the stabilizers of the hip (which play a huge role in lumbar spine stabilization).

So….we do push ups from an elevated surface so we can still do all of these things, but alleviate some bodyweight as we work to get stronger!


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