Cathe, subs for pushups?

[wendy loo]

Hi Cathe,
What would you suggest as a substitute for pushups while I rest my aching wrist for about the next two weeks? I have the strength/endurance to keep going through all the pushup reps in STS so far, but I have too much pain in my wrist to keep it up for the rest of this mesocycle. I'm hoping if I rest long enough, I'll be able to jump back in to mesocycle 2...

So, today (M1D4) when I had had more than my wrist could take, I switched to bench press. But this exercise is so much easier than push ups. Should I increase the weight beyond 65% when I'm subbing for pushups--and if so, how much heavier should I go? Is there another exercise or combination of exercises you would recommend?

Thanks for any advice you can give me

Wendy
PS I have seen my doctor about this and she just said to avoid the exercises that are causing me pain. All other chest work is fine...

 

[meowracer]

Don't you love it when docs tell you something like that!!? Have you tried the Perfect Pushups? Or just using a pair of DBs? Either option really, really helps the wrists. The Perfect Pushups have the added benefit of doing additional moves with the twisting motion. Pushups are a little harder with them though, IMO.

 

[dbelden1]

I agree with Shana about using something like the Perfect Pushups... I really like mine although I don't have those exact ones, but anything that gets the wrists into a different position is a plus... I also do pushups against the wall and try to keep up on my fingers rather than having my palms flat on the floor... it works much better, and the only way I can get through the endless pushups!

IMO it's hard to judge what weight to use on the presses because pushups use your body weight but I guess if it were me I would use the heaviest I could go and maintain good form, even if it is a little higher than the 1RM at 65%... I never thought about doing those as substitutes.. I will have to remember to try them

 

[teddy16410]

All the suggestions thus far are great & I use them all when my shoulder acts up on push ups. ~ The bench press you are doing is also a great option.
As far as how heavy: The rule in every meso will be the same...Go until the last 2-3 reps are KILLER to do w/ good form - so in Meso 1 that would vary... The fisrt 2 sets are those 1.5's (easy enough to do w/ presses) then ya have those 30 singles.

Also remember when using your Barbell or DBs to get your hand position as close to what Cathe is doing on the floor as possible.

For the bootcamp push ups- try those on the wall or using the perfect pushups as suggested.

Good Luck! Any (bad) pain at all during a workout just messes w/ the brain imo.

Traci

Hi Cathe,
What would you suggest as a substitute for pushups while I rest my aching wrist for about the next two weeks? I have the strength/endurance to keep going through all the pushup reps in STS so far, but I have too much pain in my wrist to keep it up for the rest of this mesocycle. I'm hoping if I rest long enough, I'll be able to jump back in to mesocycle 2...

So, today (M1D4) when I had had more than my wrist could take, I switched to bench press. But this exercise is so much easier than push ups. Should I increase the weight beyond 65% when I'm subbing for pushups--and if so, how much heavier should I go? Is there another exercise or combination of exercises you would recommend?

Thanks for any advice you can give me

Wendy
PS I have seen my doctor about this and she just said to avoid the exercises that are causing me pain. All other chest work is fine...

 

[wendy loo]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the responses. I have Perfect Pushups, and they really don't help me at all. Dumbells don't cut it either... I don't think doing pushups against the wall is going to be challenging enough, although I haven't tried them so I can't really say
I do sometimes go up on my fingers for pushups, which relieves the wrist pain, but I'm afraid it will put undue stress on my fingers and cause other problems! I guess I could try going to my fists.

My wrist is so bad right now that even doing a plank is impossible (though easily modified to my elbows). Downward dog hurts it, as does sitting here and flexing my hand back. Yuck.

Thanks again for the responses!

Wendy

 

[rose2boys]

Try a step...

Something as simple as putting my hands on the step top(no risers) can elevate me in a way that relieves wrist/elbow strain, yet i can still maintain the flat hand position that i find more comfortable. I know that using DBs definitely does not work for me, perfect push ups are just ok.

Or sometimes I just go to knees w/feet in air position, althoug not as challenging as on feet, but sometimes I figure i just need to avoid injury & it doesn't really matter THAT much....