Women’s ‘pushup hack’ is trending on social media – anatomist explains why it works

Push-ups may be difficult for some of us. However, many women struggle to do it even after months of training in the gym.

So when so-called “women’s push-up hacks” started trending on social media, it’s no surprise that some of these videos went viral.

This hack involves making simple adjustments to your hand position. It is said that it is better for women to place their hands at their sides, with their fingers pointing outwards from the body, rather than pointing them forward along the body.

There is an anatomical explanation for why women can more easily perform push-ups by changing the position of their hands. It involves a part of the body you wouldn’t expect: the pelvis.

The pelvis affects the position of the arms in relation to the body. In women, the angle where the forearm and upper arm meet at the elbow (known as the carry angle) relative to the pelvis averages about 15 degrees for women and about 10 degrees for men. For women, the carry angle is larger to give the pelvis more room when moving.

The carry angle not only affects how the bones of the upper extremity connect to each other and to the torso. It also affects the direction in which muscles contract.

This is why women find it difficult to perform push-ups the traditional way. By holding your hands slightly apart and pointing them slightly outward, you allow your woman’s muscles and bones to follow more natural movement patterns.

Women also often have a greater range of motion in their joints because their ligaments and tendons are more flexible. This can lead to increased joint tension and pain if the biomechanics of the movement are not properly aligned.

The torso, which connects the top of the shoulder to the arm, is 12.4% larger in men than in women. This also affects biomechanical differences such as center of gravity and which muscles are most efficient during a particular exercise.

Push-ups aren’t the only exercise that women may want to adapt to their anatomy. It may also be worth changing the way you do other arm exercises, especially those that raise your arms above your head.

Women are more likely to injure their shoulders due to overuse or repetitive injuries. This is because women’s shoulder joints are smaller and more mobile than men’s, giving them a wider range of motion.

However, the shoulder is a highly mobile joint, and increased mobility can lead to instability. This means the shoulder relies heavily on the rotator cuff muscles to hold the joint in place.

This is further exacerbated by the fact that women have less muscle mass, the contact points with the bones of the shoulder joint have a different shape, and the clavicle is shorter and thinner.

All of these anatomical differences combine to put women at a higher risk of injury during exercises that involve shoulder internal rotation and overhead movements. This includes shoulder presses, tricep dips, lateral raises, upright rows, and overhead presses.

Skull crushers (a triceps exercise where you lie on a bench and slowly lower a barbell toward your head), neutral or thumb-up lateral raises, and seated dumbbell presses are safer shoulder options.

If you choose dips as your exercise choice, keeping your torso perpendicular to the ground will reduce the strain on your shoulders.

You can also try using angled bars instead of parallel bars. The angled bars are slightly tilted toward each other, allowing for a more natural wrist position than having the bars parallel and the thumbs pointing straight ahead.

movement and anatomy

Your pelvis can also influence how you perform lower body exercises.

Each of the two halves of the pelvis is formed from three separate bones that fuse together during growth. Women’s pelvises are about 25% wider than men’s to accommodate the fetus that passes during childbirth. This difference affects the position of the lower limbs.

Women have wider pelvises, which results in a larger Q angle (short for quadriceps). The Q-angle is formed by the intersecting lines that pass between the patella (kneecap) and pelvis, and between the patella and tibia (shinbone).

Adjusting the Q-angle affects how easily the leg muscles move. Therefore, women may need to be careful when performing exercises such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, and box jumps. This is because the combination of these anatomical differences and technique can increase the risk of injury.

In general, women are eight times more likely to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) than men, and Q-angle is one of the risk factors. Therefore, exercises that place a high load on the joints may require some modifications.

A wide pelvis can also cause the knees to bend inward toward each other, known as caving. This can significantly increase the risk of injury when landing from jumping movements or squats. Rotating your feet outward about 30 degrees when performing these exercises can reduce caving by up to 50% and reduce your risk of knee injury.

When squatting, make sure that your pelvis is always horizontal (parallel to the ground) and that your knees do not bend in toward each other. Your feet should also remain in contact with the ground at all times, making sure your knees don’t go past your toes. Given their wide pelvis, some women find it beneficial to take a slightly wider stance, with their feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart.

Small adjustments to accommodate anatomical differences could mean women reduce their risk of injury and increase the efficiency of their training.