Do Pushups Cause Wrist and Elbow Pain?
Dear Friend,
From time to time the question arises: Do
high amounts of pushups cause joint pain, esp.
in the wrists and elbows?
The answer is as follows: Pain in the wrists or
elbows is almost always a pre-existing condition.
By this I mean that a person gets into pushup
position and they feel pain in the wrist or elbow -
or in my case, from some years back, shoulder
pain - which I spoke openly about at the following
link.
Anyway, in some cases, you get a "berserker" -
someone who will do thousands of pushups per
day. They love them, almost to death. And sometime
along the line their body wants a slight rest, so they
develop inflammation in the elbow or wrist.
I recently received an email from a person who has
had this problem. Let me show it to you, along with my
answer:
Matt,
Really appreciate all of your fitness "blogs". Great stuff.
Here's one for you. I've been on a push-up binge for the
past several years. Trouble is, my elbows tend to get inflamed
every month or so and that affects my grappling / punching power.
I laid off of PU's for Dec. and am back to normal, but without my favorite
exercise. Want to resume - need a fix, so to speak! Am I screwing up on
technique here?
Of course, how would you know, you're not watching me do them. Just
wonderin if there are any "Golden Rules" with regards to push-up
technique; warm-ups, stretches, etc.
Might be of interest to your readers.
Thanks for any input,
Jeff Wemmer
M.F.: Jeff, thanks for this email. First off, you're right, I am unable to
watch your form so I cannot say "for sure." Second, I don't know the
full extent of your problem, so this should not be considered medical
advice. At the same time, let me give you my opinion of what could be
the cause. Here are a few reasons (certainly not all):
1. When doing pushups you tend to snap and/or lock out your elbows at
the top of the movement. This is very bad technique and should be
avoided.
2. You are over-training on the pushups. Your body is simply telling you
"enough is enough."
3. You have worked the muscles to an extreme level of strength/endurance,
but the tendons and ligaments of your arm are lagging behind. In this case,
the key to recovery is strengthening them with exercises, such as taught in
my Carpal Tunnel Fix program ... as well as rubbing Dit Da Jow or Zheng Gu
Shui into the joint. This helps a lot with inflammation.
Now, in regard to what I've just outlined, I'd like you to read the following
email we just got. This person, like yourself, does a lot of the same
activity each day, and it created similar pain. This is what she discovered:
Hey Matt.
I ordered your Carpel Tunnel Fix program a few weeks back.
I must say that when I ordered it my carpel tunnel was going
a little better so when I got your package, I was still excited to
bring the pain way down.
The problem with me is that I type 8 hours a day almost non-stop
and sitting down at a desk. The pain was so awful in my right arm
and it was starting to develop in my left wrist - I was starting to panic.
I frantically started to dial orthopaedic surgeons to see if they could
slice me up, that is before a friend of mine recommended I order your
product on your website - www.CarpalTunnelFix.com
By starting the exercises right away I now have zero pain in either
arm. Opening jars of food is easy, I can hold heavy bags without pain
and effort. Your program gets you going and getting your arms stronger,
which is what I needed.
I'm very pleased with your product and will recommend your site to anyone
who vaguely complains of wrist pain.
Thank you!
P.S. Would it be possible to buy another of those green donuts seperately?
Stéfan Landry
Triage Centre Department
M.F.: Stefan, this is great news. I'm very happy to hear you are out of
pain. People need to know, whether it is wrist or elbow pain - or pain in
the hands, it responds well to the exercises I teach. Thanks so much for
spreading the word. Yes, you can get another green donut from us. Just
email us at
mattfurey@mattfurey.com and someone will take care of you.
Well, my friend, that's all for today.
Kick butt - take names!
Matt Furey
P.S. Again, if you ever have wrist, hand or elbow pain - you probably
need to strengthen the tendons and ligaments of the arm. Go to www.CarpalTunnelFix.com now and find out how.
P.P.S. And don't forget about my int'l best-selling program, Combat
Conditioning.
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