The pushup is a challenging exercise in which you press down your body weight from an elevated position. Since pushups require strong arms to complete, you may experience pain in the wrist and forearms. If you can't finish a set of pushups successfully, don't give up. You can make modifications to your form until you build enough upper body strength for standard pushups.
Forearm Strength
Pushups put large amounts of strain on the wrists. If you have not developed enough strength in your forearms, you may experience discomfort each time you press your chest to the ground and return to the starting position. "Fitness" magazine recommends strength training the forearms on a regular basis to alleviate pain. A sample exercise would be to place a dumbbell in each of your hands with your palms facing the ceiling. Keep elbows bent at your waist. Curl your wrists to move the weights until your knuckles are pointed to the ceiling. Push the wrists back to the starting position to finish the repetition.
Elevated Pushups
When you elevate your body during pushups, you will put less pressure on your wrists. You can use dumbbells to complete an elevated pushup. You grip the dumbbells instead of placing your hands on the floor. Since you are elevated, you lower down until you are comfortable and do not need to touch your chin or chest to the ground.
Bent Knee Pushups
If you are feeling any pain in your arms, you can also perform pushups on bent knees. Instead of lifting your body up onto your toes, you keep your knees on the floor. However, your hips should not have a bend and must be alignment with your back as you perform the pushups.
Considerations
Your arm pain may be related to your weight. If you are overweight, the excess pounds can make it difficult to support your own body weight. You may want to consider consulting your doctor about strategies to get to a healthy weight in order to perform exercises like pushups. You should also mention arm pain to your doctor in case an underlying medical condition is causing the discomfort during pushups.
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