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Can Push Ups Armour-Plate one's shoulders?

KnightTemplar

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Can Push Ups help strengthen one's shoulders and prevent injury? The movement is different from a Bench Press because the scapula is not pinned and can move freely. Could this help prevent and even treat rotator cuff injuries etc?
 
Can Push Ups help strengthen one's shoulders and prevent injury? The movement is different from a Bench Press because the scapula is not pinned and can move freely. Could this help prevent and even treat rotator cuff injuries etc?
I've had more shoulder irritation from excessive push ups than benching. I honestly would take what Louie says with a grain of salt in this case. it just sounds like one of those passing comments you shouldn't read too much into
 
As a guy who used to do a metric shit ton of pushups, I don't agree but of course it depends on your form and your specific body type. I was in the army back when the physical aptitude test was 2 minutes of push ups, 2 min of sit ups and 2 mile run and my OCD wouldn't let me not train my ass off on those events when a test was coming up. I got so good at push ups that it was practically cardio, but I would flare my elbows out and bounce when my elbows hit 90 degrees to do them as fast as possible. On my last APFT I did 162 push ups in 2 min. But I started getting shoulder pain shortly thereafter and then fucked up my rotator cuff and AC joint benching heavy with the same form, which made it too painful to do bench or push ups for over a year. I've also fucked up my shoulder throwing overhand rights at a heavy bag with my elbow flared like that.

I still do (lighter) bench and push ups as part of warm ups for combat sports, but I don't focus on them anymore. Any lift that builds muscle is protective to your joints but as a middle aged dude, I've learned that SBD is the best way to build muscle. And once you're reasonably strong, it's about flexibility and ROM, especially dynamic ROM of your shoulders, hips, knees, ankles in the performance of lifts or sport specific movements. Like a lot of folks, I've found my posture getting worse and shoulders hunching forward as I've aged. And IME push ups and bench exacerbates that if they're not offset by an equal or greater amount of pulling exercises. I've become a fan of front squats, OH squats, cleans and snatches both for training full body balance and explosion and for the greater ROM they've given me. I did heavy (for me) snatches and OH squats on Tuesday and my posterior delts were sore as hell yesterday. Those lifts pull my shoulders back, improve my posture and have reduced my shoulder pain and injuries in grappling.

FWIW I also like knees over toes guy's shit and I believe they've made my knees less injury prone. A stiff joint is an injury prone joint.
 
Yes, but with some caveats.

A common issue I’ve noticed with pushups is that people often allow excessive upward rotation of the scapula during the movement. This can reduce the subacromial space, potentially leading to shoulder impingement over time. It can also create faulty movement patterns, which may carry over to other exercises. Additionally, allowing too much scapular movement shifts more of the work to the front delts and triceps, which could lead to some overuse problems (especially with the front delt).

On the flip side, performing pushups with proper technique helps improve shoulder stability by activating key stabilizers like the lower traps, rotator cuff muscles, and serratus anterior, which work together to keep the scapula properly aligned.

In my opinion, pushups are best performed slowly, with a focus on a controlled eccentric and proper form rather than high repetitions. A controlled set of 10–15 reps is much more effective than simply aiming for max reps. Adding tools like rings or a weighted vest can increase the challenge, meaning that most people won’t truly outgrow them.

Personally, I’ve always loved supersetting deficit pushups with face pulls on bench/chest days. Reminds my right scap to stay locked in place because ting kinda retarded fam. #feelsgoodman
 
Soviet unions favorite shoulder exercise was that "lift dumbbells to the sides" move

Maybe try that since SU is never wrong about sports
 
Yes, but with some caveats.

A common issue I’ve noticed with pushups is that people often allow excessive upward rotation of the scapula during the movement. This can reduce the subacromial space, potentially leading to shoulder impingement over time. It can also create faulty movement patterns, which may carry over to other exercises. Additionally, allowing too much scapular movement shifts more of the work to the front delts and triceps, which could lead to some overuse problems (especially with the front delt).

On the flip side, performing pushups with proper technique helps improve shoulder stability by activating key stabilizers like the lower traps, rotator cuff muscles, and serratus anterior, which work together to keep the scapula properly aligned.

In my opinion, pushups are best performed slowly, with a focus on a controlled eccentric and proper form rather than high repetitions. A controlled set of 10–15 reps is much more effective than simply aiming for max reps. Adding tools like rings or a weighted vest can increase the challenge, meaning that most people won’t truly outgrow them.

Personally, I’ve always loved supersetting deficit pushups with face pulls on bench/chest days. Reminds my right scap to stay locked in place because ting kinda retarded fam. #feelsgoodman
What the fuck
 
Yes, but with some caveats.

A common issue I’ve noticed with pushups is that people often allow excessive upward rotation of the scapula during the movement. This can reduce the subacromial space, potentially leading to shoulder impingement over time. It can also create faulty movement patterns, which may carry over to other exercises. Additionally, allowing too much scapular movement shifts more of the work to the front delts and triceps, which could lead to some overuse problems (especially with the front delt).

On the flip side, performing pushups with proper technique helps improve shoulder stability by activating key stabilizers like the lower traps, rotator cuff muscles, and serratus anterior, which work together to keep the scapula properly aligned.

In my opinion, pushups are best performed slowly, with a focus on a controlled eccentric and proper form rather than high repetitions. A controlled set of 10–15 reps is much more effective than simply aiming for max reps. Adding tools like rings or a weighted vest can increase the challenge, meaning that most people won’t truly outgrow them.

Personally, I’ve always loved supersetting deficit pushups with face pulls on bench/chest days. Reminds my right scap to stay locked in place because ting kinda retarded fam. #feelsgoodman

what is this coherent shit man
 
I've put my shoulders under a lot of stress for the last 20 years in both combat sports and blue collar labour work, and I would say that pushing movements like push ups are nowhere near as good at bulletproofing shoulders at pulling movements or even banded rotations and abductions.

After some surgical repairs and experimenting with lots of rehab and strength and conditioning programs,/ exercises, I would recommend more focus on pull ups, rows and resistance band routines like rotations and various forms of abductions, and even static yoga poses that focus on mind-muscle connection for shoulder stability.
Once you are really stable then rope climbs are great, they even increased my punching power more than bench ever did.

Any benching and push ups should be done with focus on scapula stability and flexion, and you should spend double the time in the gym pulling to offset the pushing stress on the shoulders, particularly if you want to avoid any issues.

And really really make sure you have done a scapula stability routine for some weeks/months and then warmed up before doing any overhead or olympic lifts, they really take a toll on the shoulders.
 
Yes, but with some caveats.

A common issue I’ve noticed with pushups is that people often allow excessive upward rotation of the scapula during the movement. This can reduce the subacromial space, potentially leading to shoulder impingement over time. It can also create faulty movement patterns, which may carry over to other exercises. Additionally, allowing too much scapular movement shifts more of the work to the front delts and triceps, which could lead to some overuse problems (especially with the front delt).

On the flip side, performing pushups with proper technique helps improve shoulder stability by activating key stabilizers like the lower traps, rotator cuff muscles, and serratus anterior, which work together to keep the scapula properly aligned.

In my opinion, pushups are best performed slowly, with a focus on a controlled eccentric and proper form rather than high repetitions. A controlled set of 10–15 reps is much more effective than simply aiming for max reps. Adding tools like rings or a weighted vest can increase the challenge, meaning that most people won’t truly outgrow them.

Personally, I’ve always loved supersetting deficit pushups with face pulls on bench/chest days. Reminds my right scap to stay locked in place because ting kinda retarded fam. #feelsgoodman
You mix up accounts dude?
 
I've put my shoulders under a lot of stress for the last 20 years in both combat sports and blue collar labour work, and I would say that pushing movements like push ups are nowhere near as good at bulletproofing shoulders at pulling movements or even banded rotations and abductions.

After some surgical repairs and experimenting with lots of rehab and strength and conditioning programs,/ exercises, I would recommend more focus on pull ups, rows and resistance band routines like rotations and various forms of abductions, and even static yoga poses that focus on mind-muscle connection for shoulder stability.
Once you are really stable then rope climbs are great, they even increased my punching power more than bench ever did.

Any benching and push ups should be done with focus on scapula stability and flexion, and you should spend double the time in the gym pulling to offset the pushing stress on the shoulders, particularly if you want to avoid any issues.

And really really make sure you have done a scapula stability routine for some weeks/months and then warmed up before doing any overhead or olympic lifts, they really take a toll on the shoulders.
I have been hearing more of this recently

aren't pulling stuff more on he rear dept while pushing is more on he frontdelt?
maybe stability is the key because it could be easy to neglect pulling stuff especially when focusing solo on benching or being gym bro
 
i fucked up my shoulders benching when i was young. luckily, i corrected it through pullups and shoulder presses in my 20s. my shoulders have never given me problems since.
 
I have been hearing more of this recently

aren't pulling stuff more on he rear dept while pushing is more on he frontdelt?
maybe stability is the key because it could be easy to neglect pulling stuff especially when focusing solo on benching or being gym bro

it's easy to neglect also because for most people it's hard to get a mind/muscle connection with muscles you can't actively see. i had this problem too where it felt like my biceps were doing all the work instead of my back. strangely enough, i fixed this by having someone slap my back muscles, or i'd whip myself with a belt in the back to "activate" the mind/muscle connection. it sounds weird, but for whatever reason it worked for me.
 
I have been hearing more of this recently

aren't pulling stuff more on he rear dept while pushing is more on he frontdelt?
maybe stability is the key because it could be easy to neglect pulling stuff especially when focusing solo on benching or being gym bro

a classic recommendation is to be able to strict barbell row as much as you bench, it's far from a perfect recommendation but it's something

if someone's benching 100kg but can onyl strict row 60kg that's a clear weakness
 
it's easy to neglect also because for most people it's hard to get a mind/muscle connection with muscles you can't actively see. i had this problem too where it felt like my biceps were doing all the work instead of my back. strangely enough, i fixed this by having someone slap my back muscles, or i'd whip myself with a belt in the back to "activate" the mind/muscle connection. it sounds weird, but for whatever reason it worked for me.

In my younger days of going to the gym me and my mates would also tap each others muscles and a favourite was we would put the fingers in the middle of the upper back and tell him to squeeze that shit, try to crush it like a grape or something
 
I have been hearing more of this recently

aren't pulling stuff more on he rear dept while pushing is more on he frontdelt?
maybe stability is the key because it could be easy to neglect pulling stuff especially when focusing solo on benching or being gym bro
The shoulder joint is weird, it relies on the scapula so much otherwise its ridiculously vulnerable.
Get a strong scapula and the shoulder will follow.
Even when I have kinda skinny arms/shoulders if my scapula is strong and stable, I have more strength and mobility than ever.
Unfortunately not a mirror muscle.

Rotator cuff/labrum etc are also important so those band routines and mobility are good prep for any intense workouts.
 
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