Palm placment variations for push-ups
Introduction
I have already mentioned that making slight changes in your exercise form can bring many benefits in terms of increasing exercise difficulty and providing new challenges for your muscles.
When performing push-ups people usually tend to keep their hands in a neutral position – fingers pointing forward, palms parallel to the body. There is nothing wrong with it, because it is the most natural position for your wrists and it’s very unlikely that you will injure your joints.
The only drawback is that by using the same hand placement all the time your muscles adapt only to this one position. Changing the width of your grip provides additional challenge but it’s not nearly enough to prepare the chest muscles and triceps for real world challenges. I think you will be surprised how much harder push-ups can be if you change your palm placement.
In this article I will go over some do’s and don’ts regarding the palm placement variations while performing push-ups. Please remember that some of these palm placement variations can hurt your joints if not performed carefully and with the right technique.
Placing palms inwards. This will cause your elbows to bend outwards when going down. While it will put more stress on your chest muscles, triceps will also have to work really hard because this is a very unusual position. Changing the width of this grip will also make a huge difference. Be very careful if you place your palms so close that your fingertips are touching. You may experience an unpleasant feeling in your elbow joints also your triceps will be strained very hard. Stop if you feel any pain.
Placing palms outwards. This will cause your elbows to tuck in. If you are using a shoulder width grip your elbows may even rub against your torso. Don’t use grip that is narrower than your shoulder width in this variation. Otherwise your forearms will be rubbing against the rib cage and you will put unnecessary stress on your wrist joints.
Reverse palm placement – fingertips pointing backwards. Make sure to place your palms as close to your waist as possible. Your triceps and even biceps will work hard in this push-up variation. If you try to perform this variation with your palms placed in front of your shoulders you will most definitely damage your wrist joints, because your palm is not supposed to be bent at more than 90 degree angle against your forearm.
Fist push-ups. This is s a very good and quite safe push-up variation. It allows you to go lower than a regular push-up thus putting more strain on your chest muscles and also providing a good stretch. This push-up variation is very good for people with wrist injuries because the wrist stays straight all the time. Your knuckles might feel a little uncomfortable but if you do this exercise on a soft surface everything should be fine.
Fingertip push-ups. Like the fist push-up, this variation lets you go lower and keeps the wrist joints straight. Additionally this exercise strengthens your fingers. If you haven’t done this exercise before, be very gentle. Start slowly and do just a couple push-ups at a time. If you feel that your fingers might be too weak for this exercise try simply assuming the push-up position and holding it for a second or two. You can even try that on an elevated surface to relieve the load.
Knife edge push-ups. Place your hands on the edges of your palms. This is a really hard push-up variation that puts a lot of strain on triceps and hands themselves. You probably will have a hard time keeping your palms on the edge. Try to find a comfortable angle for your palms when performing this exercise. Rotating them a little outwards or inwards might do the trick.
Triangle push-ups. This push-up variation mostly trains triceps and it shares some similarities with the knife edge push-up except that you use extremely close grip and the palms rest against each other. There is another similar variation that is called the diamond push-up because the index fingers and thumbs form a diamond like shape. The biggest difference is that in the triangle push-up your elbows are tucked in but in the diamond push-up your elbows are pointing outwards thereby working the chest and triceps slightly different.
Conclusion
These are the palm placement variations that I use however, I know that in some military structures and police academies cadets have to perform push-ups with their palms facing up. While it could be a great way to test their mental toughness and raise the threshold of pain I don’t suggest this exercise to anyone. It’s definitely not a natural position for palms or good for joints.
