The T Push Up

As I took a regular client through her usual weight loss routine this afternoon, I found myself making a slight alteration to her session. I exchanged the push up to a T push up. This variation simply incorporates a point to the sky with consecutive hands, between the regular exercises. So why make this strange alteration to the classic, universally known military favourite? Well her shoulders were not operating as they should have been.

She has poor thoracic vertebra mobility and a T push up requires thoracic mobility.

She has poor scapula stability and a T push up requires activation of the Serratus muscles, those which holds the scapula against the rib cage.

Finally, there came the benefits of the standard push up. It does incorporate dynamic flexibility of the glenoid-humoral joint.

I appreciate the work of Grey Cook and Mike Boyle, especially in turns of their joint by joint approach to conditioning. They claim that each joint should be seen in an alternating fashion when it comes to mobility and stability. In this example, the shoulder needs mobility, the scapular needs stability and the thoracic spine needs mobility. All of these areas are engaged with the T push up. It's not just a fancy fad!