Knuckle Push-ups (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum 

Knuckle push-ups are a great way to build upper-body strength, along with strengthening your wrists and conditioning your knuckles.

Your depth doesn't matter. What matters is maintaining a neutral spine and plank position. Keep your elbows in as you would when throwing a punch. When coming up, complete the upper part of the shoulder push-up by pushing your upper back into the sky and prying your shoulder blades apart. If you can go down deep enough, try squeezing your shoulder blades together.

You can do this exercise on your palms and knees. But whether you modify or not, even going down an inch while maintaining your plank is better than going all the way down while breaking form. Again, the point is posture above all else.

To help maintain our posture, we have to breathe. Inhale on the way down, nose or mouth. Either way, don't open your mouth wide. We want our jaw in alignment. On the way up, however, strictly exhale through your mouth. Keep your teeth together and breathe out while making an s sound or a ch sound. Ssss or chhhh.

Keep your core engaged and expand your stomach and lower rib cage (diaphragm) as you breathe in (not upper chest/shoulders), and when you exhale, tighten your core even harder. This will strengthen our movements, sync our breathing with our movements, and increase our resistance to impact.

– Sam