push ups

[EasyNow]

At kung fu I was always taught to do push ups with my elbows always being next to theside of my bodie. But I'm always seeing people doing them with elbows pointing outwards, whats the deal with this? does it make a difference?

[Mr. Nemo]

If your elbows are closer to your body, then your hands are probably under you shoulder, while if they're pointing out, your hands are probably wider than shoulder width. Generally speaking, the wider your hands, the more you're exercising your chest muscles; the narrower your hands, the more you're exercising your triceps.

[CrushingFist]

adding to what was posted, the reason they probably have you do more tricept pushups VS pectoral muscle pushups is because the pectoral muscle isn't used as much in kung fu or lion dancing or anyt of that stuff vs the tricept muscle but some acrobatics and whatnot do use the pectoral muscles so i'd say it's still not a bad idea to do a few pectoral muscles pushups just to keep them strong.

personally i hate pushups, they make my muscles way too tight and i don't think they have a purpose. i only do handstands and pushups from handstands, which were reccomended to my by peking opera people. but im not criticizing you for them, it's just personally they make me too tight, a lotta ppl say they have no problem doing them.

[rubthebuddha]

i don't think it has as much to do with width of hand placement as it does direction of the elbow.

elbows out focus more on the shoulder, but most i know who know about shoulder structure recommend against this, as it puts a lot of negative stress on the joint. the shoulder is the most flexible joint in our body, but it's also extremely weak structurally. stick to doing pushups with the elbows pointed toward your feet, regardless of where you place your hands. if you want to work your shoulders, try exercises like deltoid raises(each anterior, medial AND posterior).