Suspension Push Up and Progressions

Suspension Push-up:

1. Start by having your client or patient grasp the handles of the suspension trainer.
2. Cue your client or patient into a position in which the straps and their fully extended arms are aligned. This is achieved by asking them to adjust the strap length, foot position, body angle, and shoulder and arm position appropriately.
   • The foot position and strap length may need to be repositioned during the first few repetitions to ensure that the straps and forearms maintain alignment throughout the motion.
3. Ask the client or patient to assume optimal form/posture:
   • Feet perpendicular to the floor and 2nd toe aligned with ASIS
   • Ankles, knees, and hips in alignment
   • Pelvis neutral (absence of anterior or posterior pelvic tilt)
   • Torso, scapula, and head in neutral alignment
4. To enhance core muscle recruitment and trunk stability, ask your client or patient to maximally dorsiflex their ankles and attempt to get as much of the ball of their foot on the floor as possible. Have them “squeeze (contract)” their glutes and quads as if they are pushing the balls of their feet back into the floor. Last, have them perform the abdominal drawing-in maneuver before initiating the eccentric phase.
5. Cue the client or patient to maintain trunk stability as they bend the elbows and slowly lower themselves into the bottom position.
6. Ensure that your client is maintaining the drawing-in maneuver, glutes contracted, and quads contracted, before they push themselves up (or push the ground away) to full elbow extension and scapula protraction; achieving a plank position with fully extended arms.
7. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Regressions and Progressions:

• Load: Load is reduced if the body is positioned more vertically, increased if the body is positioned more horizontally, and the feet may be elevated for additional load.
• Stability: Single-leg, bilateral to unilateral, unstable surfaces
• Strength: Additional resistance with a weight vest.

Common Mistakes:

• The scapula should not be cued into a fixed position. The concentric phase of a push-up should include protraction, and the eccentric phase should include retraction.