Topic: Clenching muscles and Alternate push up

[greenchaoman]

Two questions here.

1. My friend told me that clenching your muscles for as long as you can, is good for them if you don't have time for a proper workout.
I've learnt by now that friends' advice should generally be taken with a grain of salt, so wanted your opinion.

2. My wrist is messed up from konging badly, and hurts whenever I put pressure on it (ie do a pushup). I've worked around this by moving my hands forwards two hand length, and continuing the pushup like this. Found it puts more pressure on the back and core.
Wanted to check this was a safe exercise, not risking bad back/paralyzation/death/whatever, through straining the back two much.

Thanks in advance. ^^

[Dan Frank]

1: No, it won't work. There must be resistance.
2: Yes, it's safe. Your core is probably weak so it feels like your back is about to break, eh? Do some core exercises and that'll go away pretty quickly.

[Steven Low]

1. Good for activation work... will it give you good gains? No.

2. Wrist: Rest. Ice. Massage. Then work light strengthening work. Stay off it.
Pushups: should not stress your back.

[Matthew Wang]

I've heard that flexing and unflexing your muscles like he said can be good for building up muscle-mind connection (MMC) or something like that. True, not true?

[Steven Low]

I've heard that flexing and unflexing your muscles like he said can be good for building up muscle-mind connection (MMC) or something like that. True, not true?

1. Good for activation work... will it give you good gains? No.

[tippy25]

Flexing your muscles is also good between sets when working out. Keeps blood flowing and helps fully work the muscle. You'll also find that when flexing between sets your muscles will become more fatigued. The more stress you put your muscles through, and the more fatigued they become, generally speaking, the greater your gains will be.

That advice comes from none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's not word-for-word, but that's the general idea. Also helps with visual definition of the muscles.

Also, I could use some advice on what to do for push ups. I have kind of bad shoulders and my tendons will move around with rather painful popping when doing pushups. I have the same problem when doing bench presses. I stick to dumbbell presses so I can adjust each arm independently. I went to the doctor and went through some minor rehab, turns out it was all posture related and exasperated by a previous job. Fixing the pain is a matter of fixing my posture (which I have been seriously working on), but still after over a year, the pain is still there in certain activities (push ups, barbell bench presses, and upright rows). Not being able to do many pushups (3 before it gets too bad) is actually kind of embarrassing, especially since I'm a high school football coach. Would push up bars help?

[Jake Vigil]

Flexing your muscles is also good between sets when working out. Keeps blood flowing and helps fully work the muscle. You'll also find that when flexing between sets your muscles will become more fatigued. The more stress you put your muscles through, and the more fatigued they become, generally speaking, the greater your gains will be.

That advice comes from none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's not word-for-word, but that's the general idea. Also helps with visual definition of the muscles.

Also, I could use some advice on what to do for push ups. I have kind of bad shoulders and my tendons will move around with rather painful popping when doing pushups. I have the same problem when doing bench presses. I stick to dumbbell presses so I can adjust each arm independently. I went to the doctor and went through some minor rehab, turns out it was all posture related and exasperated by a previous job. Fixing the pain is a matter of fixing my posture (which I have been seriously working on), but still after over a year, the pain is still there in certain activities (push ups, barbell bench presses, and upright rows). Not being able to do many pushups (3 before it gets too bad) is actually kind of embarrassing, especially since I'm a high school football coach. Would push up bars help?

Uhh... No.


Time for me to suggest something for you to read. Please click here

[Steven Low]

Flexing your muscles is also good between sets when working out. Keeps blood flowing and helps fully work the muscle. You'll also find that when flexing between sets your muscles will become more fatigued. The more stress you put your muscles through, and the more fatigued they become, generally speaking, the greater your gains will be.

No, you should let yourself recover between sets.

That advice comes from none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's not word-for-word, but that's the general idea. Also helps with visual definition of the muscles.

Activation work is fine and even advisable before you start sets.

Getting the pump and stuff... not exactly helpful.

Also, I could use some advice on what to do for push ups. I have kind of bad shoulders and my tendons will move around with rather painful popping when doing pushups. I have the same problem when doing bench presses. I stick to dumbbell presses so I can adjust each arm independently. I went to the doctor and went through some minor rehab, turns out it was all posture related and exasperated by a previous job. Fixing the pain is a matter of fixing my posture (which I have been seriously working on), but still after over a year, the pain is still there in certain activities (push ups, barbell bench presses, and upright rows). Not being able to do many pushups (3 before it gets too bad) is actually kind of embarrassing, especially since I'm a high school football coach. Would push up bars help?

Stay away from upright rows. Not a very good exercise.

Do only pulling work... horizontal pulling especially.

It's likely you have a muscle imbalance if your posture is much better and your shoulders are still jacked.

[tippy25]

Stay away from upright rows. Not a very good exercise.

Do only pulling work... horizontal pulling especially.

It's likely you have a muscle imbalance if your posture is much better and your shoulders are still jacked.

Upright rows have actually hurt in my shoulders for a good year before the problem became prominent, and haven't done them since. The way the doctor explained what was happening with my shoulders was that since I was keeping them forward, one of the tendons was being put in a bad position and there was cartilage or something that was moving between that one tendon and one of the bones in my shoulder to protect the tendon. And after so much time with my shoulders like that and the job I had ended up causing the cartilage to harden and scrape the tendon. I was told that it would eventually go away, but hasn't yet. It improved to a very liveable level (I could do a lot of things I couldn't do before, like carry things) after the rehab. I'm going to have to get back into what they had me doing in rehab. I don't remember all of the exercises, though.

What do you mean by pulling work? Do you mean like bent and seated rows for my back? Or are you talking about pull ups and muscle ups?

[Grayson]

Upright rows have actually hurt in my shoulders for a good year before the problem became prominent, and haven't done them since. The way the doctor explained what was happening with my shoulders was that since I was keeping them forward, one of the tendons was being put in a bad position and there was cartilage or something that was moving between that one tendon and one of the bones in my shoulder to protect the tendon. And after so much time with my shoulders like that and the job I had ended up causing the cartilage to harden and scrape the tendon. I was told that it would eventually go away, but hasn't yet. It improved to a very liveable level (I could do a lot of things I couldn't do before, like carry things) after the rehab. I'm going to have to get back into what they had me doing in rehab. I don't remember all of the exercises, though.

What do you mean by pulling work? Do you mean like bent and seated rows for my back? Or are you talking about pull ups and muscle ups?

Pullups, Chinups, muscleups, front lever, iron cross, etc.

Pulling basically means using your pulling muscles which are your biceps, lats, traps, shoulders, forearms... did I leave any out?

[Steven Low]

Pullups, Chinups, muscleups, front lever, iron cross, etc.

Pulling basically means using your pulling muscles which are your biceps, lats, traps, shoulders, forearms... did I leave any out?

Actually no.

Best thing for muscle imbalances for most peoeple is horizontal pulling so any types of rows except upright.

Bent over rows, cable rows, C2 rower, one arm DB rows, etc.

[Shae Perkins]

Actually no.

I don't like to associate muscles with pulling v pushing motions. For instance, if you were to bear hug some one, bringing them in close to your body (pulling) it would engage your chest. Likewise, I notice flexion in my biceps when I do planche work.

[Dan Frank]

I don't like to associate muscles with pulling v pushing motions. For instance, if you were to bear hug some one, bringing them in close to your body (pulling) it would engage your chest. Likewise, I notice flexion in my biceps when I do planche work.

Well, it's generally known what you're talking about when you refer to "pulling" and "pushing" muscles. You're never going to do pushing with your laterals, for example. As for the biceps, they're used in just about every motion of the arm, pulling or pushing. You'll notice the same thing doing any other pushing motion, like dips or pushups.

[Steven Low]

When I clicked to respond I was referring to his exercises,... not his question. Oops for not differentiating.

To answer

Pulling basically means using your pulling muscles which are your biceps, lats, traps, shoulders, forearms... did I leave any out?

Anything that pulls something towards your center of mass or your body towards your hands.

There's a lot of muscles that overlap

[tippy25]

When I clicked to respond I was referring to his exercises,... not his question. Oops for not differentiating.

To answer

Anything that pulls something towards your center of mass or your body towards your hands.

There's a lot of muscles that overlap

That wouldn't include flys for both the chest and back, would it? They both seem like pulling motions to me, but don't exactly fall under your definition of a pulling exercise. Thanks for all the help guys.

[Steven Low]

That wouldn't include flys for both the chest and back, would it? They both seem like pulling motions to me, but don't exactly fall under your definition of a pulling exercise. Thanks for all the help guys.

Flys for chest is technically a pull... weight comes slightly closer to your center of mass

"push" for back flys

I honestly don't like classifications too much.. well, or isolation work like flys.

Just do what works!

[Zombehs]

Two questions here.

1. My friend told me that clenching your muscles for as long as you can, is good for them if you don't have time for a proper workout.
I've learnt by now that friends' advice should generally be taken with a grain of salt, so wanted your opinion.

2. My wrist is messed up from konging badly, and hurts whenever I put pressure on it (ie do a pushup). I've worked around this by moving my hands forwards two hand length, and continuing the pushup like this. Found it puts more pressure on the back and core.
Wanted to check this was a safe exercise, not risking bad back/paralyzation/death/whatever, through straining the back two much.

Thanks in advance. ^^

1. According to Pavel Tsatsouline tension in other areas of your bodies helps to give you energy while clenching(tensing) your muscle. So he says if you clench your fist while doing a squat the energy from your flexed muscles while clenching your fist actually travels all over your body and can cause you to get that last squat. Example: Try clenching you fist as hard as you can, if you feel your bicep you can tell it's expands as if it's being used, but it's not, there is no movement of the elbow. He also says this applies to glutes and abs as well and can help with squats, pushups, pullups pretty much everything. Hoped this helped and if anyone wants The Naked Warrior(where this came from) I have an e-book copy that you can 'borrow' just pm me

[Chris Salvato]

Well thats not really true...

In order to hold a bone still if a muscle is contracting, another muscle needs to contract to hold it in place.  This leads to a chain of contracting muscles that stabilize the joints in question.  This has nothing to do with "energy" but with biomechanics.  Clenching during some movements is helpful (like focusing on forced grip in a DL or pullup) but that sort of thing happens a bit more naturally and is more obvious than clenching your muscles for no apparent reason.

[Zombehs]

Well thats not really true...

In order to hold a bone still if a muscle is contracting, another muscle needs to contract to hold it in place.  This leads to a chain of contracting muscles that stabilize the joints in question.  This has nothing to do with "energy" but with biomechanics.  Clenching during some movements is helpful (like focusing on forced grip in a DL or pullup) but that sort of thing happens a bit more naturally and is more obvious than clenching your muscles for no apparent reason.

Did you even try it? o.O Cause it works, give me your email and I'll send you a copy if you want.
All from Pavel's book Naked Warrior:
"Tension = Force . The tenser your muscles are, the more strength you will
display and build."

"In a recent study, subjects increased their bicep strength 13
p e rcent in three months by simply visualizing tensing their biceps hard but
doing no exercise whatsoever. The only possible explanation for this stre n g t h
gain is greater tension through increased “nerve force ” ."

Interesting:
"A dirty little secret of bodybuilding is that one of the best ways to build the
biceps is with the powerlifting-style wide-grip bench press. Your bis may fight
your tris in doing skull crushers, but they assist your triceps, deltoids, and
pecs in the bench press or the one-arm pushup. In multijoint, high-re s i s t a n c e
e x e rcises, the antagonists often act as synergists, especially in experienced
athletes. In other words, the “brakes” become “engines.”"

"Hit the deck and give me 5
pushups, comrade! Only 5 but of a
challenging variety—for instance,
with your feet up or on one arm .
When you are done with 5, you
should be able to grind out another
couple but no more than that.
Please do pushups on your hands,
not your fists, fins, or fingert i p s .
That way, you will do a better job
of driving the Naked Wa rr i o r
principles of power generation
h o m e .
Note the difficulty of your first set.
Rest briefly. Do another fiver but
with one diff e rence: On the way up,
grip the deck hard with your fingertips. Don’t go up on your fingertips; just
grip the floor so that your fingertips turn white. Do this only on the way up.
Experiment with whether you get the best results by gripping all the way up
or just at the sticking point.
You cannot help noticing that your arms suddenly received a jolt of extra
e n e rg y, as if your tensing fore a rms sent some juice up into your triceps. That
is exactly what has happened. Whenever a muscle contracts, it irradiates a
‘ nerve force’ around it and increases the intensity of the neighboring muscles’
contractions."

"You will increase your strength in any
upper body exertion by strongly gripping
the floor, the bar, etc. What is truly remarkable is that tightening your fists
can enhance your leg strength, as well!"


Sorry, It's really long but worth it.

[Chris Salvato]

Sigh.

Did you even try it? o.O Cause it works, give me your email and I'll send you a copy if you want.

It works to do what?  Increase performance on a particular move like the squat?  Of course, a rigid body is better than a loose body when moving a load, generally speaking.  Randomly contracting your muscles will not make you very strong though unless you are REALLY new and untrained.  People who train frequently will see no benefit from this sort of thing.

All from Pavel's book Naked Warrior:
"Tension = Force . The tenser your muscles are, the more strength you will
display and build."

This doesn't make any sense.  Tense muscles are contracting muscles.  Contracting muscles produce force.  Strength is displayed through force production, yes, but just tensing a muscle just makes it so another muscle will have to tense up to hold it in place.  There is no work being done and the only force that is produced is enough to hold the joint in place.  I have a feeling that won't make much sense to some people but thats how it works.

"In a recent study, subjects increased their bicep strength 13
p e rcent in three months by simply visualizing tensing their biceps hard but
doing no exercise whatsoever. The only possible explanation for this stre n g t h
gain is greater tension through increased “nerve force ” ."

Somewhat related, I will give you that, but as stated above that doesn't really matter for most people.  Once you have some exposure to a movement just thinking about it won't do very much.  On a front flip, for example, if I never flipped before then of course I will get better just thinking about how to flip better - my brain will be more ready to tell my body what to do, in lay terms.  However, this only goes so far...and not very far at all for people who are trained and train often.

Interesting:
"A dirty little secret of bodybuilding is that one of the best ways to build the
biceps is with the powerlifting-style wide-grip bench press. Your bis may fight
your tris in doing skull crushers, but they assist your triceps, deltoids, and
pecs in the bench press or the one-arm pushup. In multijoint, high-re s i s t a n c e
e x e rcises, the antagonists often act as synergists, especially in experienced
athletes. In other words, the “brakes” become “engines.”"

Interesting -- but unrelated all together.

"Hit the deck and give me 5
pushups, comrade! Only 5 but of a
challenging variety—for instance,
with your feet up or on one arm .
When you are done with 5, you
should be able to grind out another
couple but no more than that.
Please do pushups on your hands,
not your fists, fins, or fingert i p s .
That way, you will do a better job
of driving the Naked Wa rr i o r
principles of power generation
h o m e .
Note the difficulty of your first set.
Rest briefly. Do another fiver but
with one diff e rence: On the way up,
grip the deck hard with your fingertips. Don’t go up on your fingertips; just
grip the floor so that your fingertips turn white. Do this only on the way up.
Experiment with whether you get the best results by gripping all the way up
or just at the sticking point.
You cannot help noticing that your arms suddenly received a jolt of extra
e n e rg y, as if your tensing fore a rms sent some juice up into your triceps. That
is exactly what has happened. Whenever a muscle contracts, it irradiates a
‘ nerve force’ around it and increases the intensity of the neighboring muscles’
contractions."

Rigid body allows for forces to pass through more easily.  This is not in disagreement with what I was saying.  Just clenching your muscles while you are sitting at a desk does nothing but keeping your body rigid during a movement has benefits.

I feel like you found some good principles in The Naked Warrior but didn't go the extra mile to figure out exactly what Pavel was talking about.  Since Pavel isn't the greatest communicator, his really good ideas get lost in translation a lot of the time.  You may want to check this out in regard to checking sources...

http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/11/intellectual-maturity-rising-above-misinformation/