Common mistakes in push-ups: lumbar hyperextension (collapse)

Push-ups are the most widely used exercise on the planet. Training moves! I believe everyone has done it, but not everyone can complete a perfect push-up!

Many people make some mistakes when doing push-ups. Leading to a wide variety of injury symptoms! Among them, lower back discomfort often bothers everyone!

The main cause of low back pain is the hyperextension of the lumbar spine (slumped waist) when doing push-ups

As shown below: Spine and lumbar spine problems Excessive stretching (hyperextension) causes the lower back to collapse, and the front core exerts almost no force. Instead, it contracts eccentrically, causing a lot of unnecessary force. Eventually, the intervertebral discs will be squeezed and herniated in the opposite direction, causing lumbar spine injury!

There are two main reasons for this situation!

1. The body already has bad posture!

It is impossible to expect a person who is hunched over and has an anterior pelvis to maintain a good posture during training!

2. Insufficient core strength (or inability to use core strength)

During push-ups, our core muscles are required to perform strong isometric contractions to stabilize the spine. The rectus abdominis and gluteal muscles are the main stabilizing muscles that prevent the lumbar spine from extending and tilting the pelvis forward. The oblique muscles mainly prevent lateral displacement and twisting.

When your abdominal muscles and gluteal muscles are lazy, your lumbar spine will naturally move away from the neutral position!

Not only will it cause injuries, but also due to the lack of core stability, it will hinder the transmission of force, resulting in the inability of the limbs to complete the movements more powerfully

What should you do?

Try it now: work on tightening your abs and squeezing your butt! Lower your shoulder blades and step back with both feet; tighten your whole body (shoulders, hips, and ankles in a straight line)

You will find that push-ups under such conditions will be more powerful and easier, and at the same time Also more stable!

If you can't feel the contraction of your core and buttocks, you can try placing a soft cushion or yoga brick on your thighs, which will help activate the pelvic floor muscles, hip adductors and transversus abdominis.

Remember: Treat the whole body as an individual

Regardless of the movement At any stage (especially in the lowest position), you must maintain the strength of the muscles of the whole body and imagine yourself as a complete individual (no matter you want to think of yourself as a table, iron or any board, anyway, just don’t Just destroy your body's balance!)

Tip: When you feel that you cannot maintain your body's stability, stop immediately! Don't force yourself to continue with bad posture!

< p>If it is too difficult, it is recommended to choose incline push-ups and kneeling push-ups to reduce the difficulty! Pay attention to the posture of the body and learn the correct movement pattern

In addition: you need to strengthen your core step by step Strength, increase the stability of the core! Only when the core is stable will there be more powerful performance!