In this episode of the Fitness Hacks Podcast…
00:00 – Introduction
00:35 – Quality Over Quantity
04:00 – Dietitian Corner – Behavioral Changes
16:44 – Macro Hacks – Healthy Swaps
21:45 – Fast Fix – Wrist Pain and Push Ups
23:31 – Maximizing Movements- Squat form
Want to improve your push ups, but feeling like all of the push up training you’re doing isn’t adding up?
Do you feel like no matter what you try your push ups end up looking like you’re doing the worm?
Or like you’re just getting better at modified push ups?
If you’re struggling to achieve that first full push up and then build up to double digit reps, this video is for you!
In this video, I’ll go over 5 things no one tells you about improving your push ups so you can start busting out those picture perfect reps from your toes!
Hey guys it’s Cori from Redefining Strength where we help you build functional strength at any and every age!
Push ups are an amazing bodyweight exercise, but one that often doesn’t get the credit for being the challenging move that it truly is.
Just because you can “do” a push up, doesn’t mean you’re using the correct muscles or actually replicating the move with picture perfect form.
Sometimes you have to regress to progress.
And that’s why in this video I want to go over 5 things no one tells you about improving your push ups so you can adjust your training routines to help you actually move forward.
And in the final tip, I’m going to go over why you may find all of your modified push up work feels like it is NEVER actually helping you progress but just only helping you get stronger at doing more modified push ups!
#1: It all starts with your hands.
Do you have annoying wrist pain or elbow pain during push ups?
Feel like you’re ok on the lower down but for the life of you just can’t seem to maintain proper form during the press back up?
Focus more on your hands and then tension into the ground!
Creating tension from the ground up in your push ups will lead to better muscle activation and engagement, creating a stronger press.
When you set up for a push up, don’t just put your hands outside your chest.
Think about spreading your fingers and pushing your hands down into the ground.
Create that pressure and tension through ALL of your fingers. You may notice when you do this, you even want to rock out on your hands.
This rock out could be leading to the overload that causes wrist and elbow issues.
So focus even on pressing that thumb down into the ground.
Then as you press down, pretend to pull the ground apart slightly like you’re ripping a piece of paper.
This pull apart will help you even feel your chest muscles engage.
Then keep this tension through the entire push up, even focusing most on pushing the ground away as you transition from the bottom of the push up to pushing back up!
#2: Stick with incline push ups.
The next tip is to stick with incline push ups
There will definitely be times we simply don’t have an appropriate incline to use so turn to knee push ups; however, the more we can use the incline, the better.
The incline is so key because it allows us to learn to engage everything in the exact way we will need to as we move to that full push up off the ground.
It allows us to train creating tension through our lower leg and quads by driving back through our heels.
Because the push up is basically a moving plank.
If you only ever train that knee push up position, you never learn this full engagement which could be holding you back.
It is part of why you can feel like you’re getting stronger, BUT you’re never actually able to achieve that full push up from your toes.
Simply put – that knee push up may be holding you back!
And using an incline allows you to create a clear progression you can track. Over time you can slowly lower the incline you use inch by inch.
A smith machine or rack is a great way to create an incline you can incrementally lower.
And if the incline is too low, you can even start with just slowing down the eccentric only to reset at the top.
#3: You’re stronger in the eccentric phase of the push up.
To learn to do a more challenging variation of a move, we need to actually DO the harder movement.
The question is – how can you do the more advanced movement pattern though if you haven’t yet earned it?
Using an incline is one answer.
But so is focusing on the eccentric portion of the push up.
We are stronger in the eccentric phase of the push up or the lowering down portion.
By slowing down the eccentric, we can help ourselves build strength and muscle, spending more time under tension.
And by even doing an eccentric ONLY movement, we can help ourselves start to train a more challenging variation than we are fully yet able to do.
So if you’re feeling stuck at the incline you’re at currently, try a lower incline, performing only the eccentric or lowering down portion of the push up.
Really slow down and control that full lower down.
When your chest touches the incline, you can drop to your knees and push back up or even simply step a foot up and reset at the top.
But that time under tension just lowering down in the push up, using a harder version of the movement, can help you break through that stick point and advance to the next level!
#4: Strengthening your back is key.
Another often neglected area when we’re trying to improve our push ups is our back.
Yes, the push up is a press and targets our chest, shoulders and triceps while working our entire core.
But for a more powerful press, whether it is a push up or bench press, we need to have proper scapular control and be able to effectively engage our backs to support our shoulders.
A lack of scapular mobility and stability and back strength can lead to neck, shoulder and even elbow aches and pains as we compensate during the movement.
The more pressing you include in your routine, the more you will want to balance out your workouts with pulling exercises to also increase your back strength.
And not only that, you’ll also want to make sure that your warm up routine on days you do work on push ups includes scapular mobility and back activation work as well.
This helps you make sure you’re able to properly retract your shoulder blades (draw them together toward your spine) as you lower down in the push up and then protract them (pull them apart away from your spine) as you press back up.
It’s key we establish that mind-body connection to prep muscles to work correctly as we go into challenging compound movements.
For two amazing moves to help you strengthen your back and improve your scapular control, check out the link at the bottom of this post.
#5: Stop doing more reps of a modified variation.
Last but not least stop doing more reps of a modified variation.
Adding reps shows we’re progressing and building strength.
However, adding reps to each round of a more modified variation of the push up may be holding you back from progressing.
It may only be making you stronger at that more modified variation.
Instead of adding another rep or trying to do more reps each set, consider designing your push up work to have even 1-2 reps per round while creating volume through performing more rounds.
So if you want to do 10 reps of push ups and have been doing 2 rounds of 5 reps off a higher incline, instead do 10 rounds of even a single push up off a far lower incline, even using the eccentric only variation if needed.
We need to push the progression of the movement if we want to advance. We can’t just do more reps of the easier variation.
So think fewer reps of a hader movement, even if you have to modify over the rounds over doing an easier variation you can do more reps of!
Bonus Tip: Include your focused push up work first
One bonus tip is to include your focused push up work at the start of your workout.
When focusing on improving any lift or movement you want to improve, it is always best to include targeted work for it when you’re FRESHEST.
This makes it easier to focus on what you feel working and on maintaining proper form.
You can include the push up work at the start of your workout on more than one day. Push ups
Include more rounds of lower rep push up work, testing out the most advanced variation you can do.
You can even mix in slow eccentric push ups to help you advance.
And for some amazing accessory moves to improve your push ups and specifically work on your scapular control, check out my Can’t Do Push ups? Try These 2 Tips video next!
Can’t Do Push ups? Try These 2 Tips: https://youtu.be/rsf4xmIG4FI
Other push up resources:
FIX Wrist Pain During PUSH UPS | 4 Easy Ways To Increase Your Wrist Strength & Flexibility: https://youtu.be/t1d-KIwWgDw
Push-Ups For Beginners – 5 Simple Tips To Perfect Your Push Up: https://youtu.be/hosxWuzlGDg
In this week’s episode…
Lemon Tahini Granola
Makes 8 Servings
I love to eat this with even greek yogurt to boost protein. And sometimes to pack an extra protein punch, I’ll even mix my yogurt with protein powder before topping with the granola
You can do this even with a coconut or other non-dairy yogurt and vegan protein powder as well!
Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Blend 1 tablespoon of water with the pitted dates. The amount of water you need will depend on how dry your dates are, so start with 1 tablespoon and add more as required.
Add the date paste, tahini, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest to a large bowl, and mix until well combined. If your paste is very thick add 1 tablespoon of water to thin it. It should be easy to mix but thicker than cake batter.
Add the rolled oats, nuts, seeds, coconut and cinnamon. Mix well to combine and transfer the granola to the baking sheet. Spread it out into an even layer and press down with a spatula.
Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes, then carefully flip over and continue to bake for a further 10-15 minutes until golden brown, being careful not to burn the granola.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set it aside on a wire rack to cool. The granola will firm up into crunchy pieces as it cools.
15 minutes to prep. 30 minutes to cook
Macros:
238 calories
13 g Fat
25 g Carbs
8 g Protein
I freaking quit.
Do you know the #1 reason why we don’t see the fat loss or muscle gains we want.
We simply, STOP doing the habits we need to.
Honestly we’ve all been guilty of giving up right before results truly have time to snowball.
Because it’s hard to trust the process when we feel like we’re working super hard, giving our plan our all, and results aren’t building as quick as we’d like.
But here’s the cold hard truth you’ve got to accept if you want to succeed…
Results NEVER happen as fast as you’d like.
There will always be ups and downs. There will always be setbacks.
Struggles are a part of success.
But that’s why I wanted to share some tips to help you get BETTER results FASTER.
While we can’t out exercise or out diet time, and there is no magic pill, that doesn’t mean we can’t do things to help ourselves see those wins to avoid wanting to give up.
And one of the first secrets to success is actually to slow down.
So let me share the tale of the two woodcutters to highlight the importance of slowing down….
Two woodcutters were in a competition to see who could cut down more trees by the end of the day. The first was an experienced woodcutter older in years and the second was a younger, stronger man eager to prove his ability.
Both men set out to chopping. After about an hour or so the more experienced man paused, sat down to take a break and invited the other to join him.
The younger, stronger woodcutter replied, “No way! I’m going to keep chopping and I’m going to beat you.”
“Suit yourself,” said the experienced man.
This pattern repeated itself several times throughout the day.
Every so often the experienced man would pause his chopping to rest,
while the younger stronger woodcutter kept chopping away.
At the end of the day when the two woodcutters compared to see who had chopped more wood, the younger & stronger woodcutter was astonished to find that the older woodcutter who kept taking breaks had chopped a significantly greater amount of wood.
He said, “How is that even possible?
You spent far less time chopping than I did. I’m stronger and never once stopped cutting down trees. What is your secret?”
The experienced man said, “every time I sat down, I was sharpening my axe.”
Hard work is key to results.
But hard work without direction, without focus, without intention, is often energy wasted.
Too often we just seek to do more in the gym.
Restrict foods while searching for magic fat burning option…
When really it’s about learning and dialing in those basics.
It’s even about doing the MINIMUM at times.
It’s not about effort it’s about efficiency.
Trust me if it was about EFFORT, I’d have lots of people in far better shape than me…people that train twice a day for hours a day and eat only “clean foods.”
While I sometimes do progressions that are 3 days a week and 30-40 minutes while enjoying my cocktails and desserts.
But sometimes we need to scale back on how frequently we train, the length of our sessions or even how much we do in terms of adjusting our nutrition simply so we can stay consistent.
Because that consistency often adds up more quickly than trying to do more in less time while burning ourselves out.
So don’t be afraid to PAUSE, assess and learn. Don’t be afraid to take time to plan.
Often by even THINKING about what we can do to consider the outcomes can save us a ton of time going in the wrong direction.
And then this even comes down to EMBRACING THE HARD.
I see it when it comes to our desire to avoid tracking.
And trust me…I get it…
I legit tried so much to avoid tracking because it seemed hard and overwhelming and tedious and boring. I even tried the potato diet.
I didn’t understand it so it felt complicated and like it wasn’t worth the effort.
But ultimately in my attempt to avoid the hard, I wasted a ton of time and effort.
I held myself back for so long avoiding the challenge of learning…and even struggling through it.
But there truly is no way around the hard.
All we can do is start by breaking things down.
What’s one small change you can make today?
Can you simply list out what you ate?
Can you start to measure out portions to see how much you’re actually consuming?
The more we can break things down, the more we are able to make changes that don’t feel as hard, but that let us build up to fully embracing the new habits.
But just realize there is no way around that learning process if we actually want to create new habits.
And then remember, you didn’t create your current habits, lifestyles, physical conditioning overnight and you won’t get changes overnight either.
Our body and brain doesn’t like change.
It wants to maintain what it feels is normal – what it’s been TRAINED to see as instinctual and natural.
And yes I do mean TRAINED.
We get good at what we consistently do!
Our body wants to maintain your current weight and will fight the weight loss process.
Your brain likes your current habits because they are easy.
So as much as 3 or 4 months is a long time if you have been working to see results, consider how long you’ve actually not been at your goal.
How long you’ve been implementing other habits…
Because often when we take this step back, we realize we’re expecting basically overnight changes in comparison to how long it took us to get away from our goal.
So as tempting as it is to say “I QUIT” when results aren’t adding up as fast as we’d like, recognizing how long you’ve actually been making changes for in comparison.
And realize that this cycle, quitting right at this point is what you’ve ALWAYS done.
Results take time to snowball
Maybe you’ve only lost 1 lbs. But 1 pound will become 2, will become 4, will become, 15 will become 50…
And the more you lose and the longer you keep it off the leaner you look.
But every time you quit, you doom yourself to keep losing and gaining the same few pounds.
Sure you’ll fluctuate as life ebbs and flows over the year and years, BUT I see my results when I focus in get better and better, not only because I’ve LEARNED as I’ve gone and focused on efficiency not effort…I’ve embraced the HARD, but also because I’ve simply stayed consistent and let time do it’s thing.
That’s why you haven’t seen the results you want.
If you’re about to say I QUIT, double down and keep going.
make changes.
Don’t do more, just keep at those habits, learning and tweaking.
But don’t give up!
And to help you avoid making 8 of the most common weight loss mistakes I see clients making, I’m sharing those tips HERE!
Hey Guys it’s Cori from Redefining Strength!
In this new season of The Fitness Hacks Podcast I’m going to be bringing you all new segments.
In this episode we’ll cover…
1) 3 tips for kickstarting the new year,
2) Get some amazing goal setting advice from my lead dietitian Michelle,
3) Discuss 3 Key Macro Hacks
4) Go over a delicious one pan chicken recipe
5) Talk about an amazing training technique and then talk about dealing with hate as you work toward your goals.
One Pot Spanish Chicken and Rice Recipe
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. (450g) skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into pieces 1⁄2 tsp. salt
1⁄2 tsp. black pepper
1⁄2 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (160g) long grain white rice, rinsed
1⁄2 tbsp. smoked paprika
11⁄2 cups (360ml) chicken broth
1 cup (240ml) tomato sauce pinch of saffron
1⁄2 cup (70g) green olives
1⁄2 cup (8g) cilantro, chopped 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes until slightly brown.
Add in the onion, red bell pepper and garlic and cook for a few minutes until they slightly soften. Now add the rice, stir to combine and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
Next add in the paprika, chicken broth and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low. Add the saffron, cover the pan with a lid and cook gently for 25 minutes until the rice is ready.
Season with a little more salt and pepper to taste, and stir through the olives and cilantro.
Serve with lemon wedges.
4 servings (macros listed PER serving)
370 Calories | 11g Fat | 43g Carb | 27g Protein
