I've been told by an orthopaedic doctor never to do pushups again. Basically I have arthritis in my big toe joint, which is aggravated by any force pushing the toe upwards. My instructors are all cool with this. In fact they insist I don't ignore medical advice. But I'm not cool with it. I fully accept that I have to modify and adapt. But I want to remain as 'normal' as I can. So I have devised an alternative way to do pushups. I simply point my feet down, almost like I'm roundhouse kicking the floor. Ie such that the weight on my feet is spread across the tops of my feet. I've only tried it once so far. I certainly felt a significant stretch on the top of my feet and into my shins. It wasn't painful as such though, but after a string of silly injuries lately, I don't want to be busting myself again too soon.
Could you prop your feet on something? Hard to explain....like put something on the ground and go into the position with the thing under your shin to keep your feet off the floor?
I like the idea. It would potentially help solve another problem I have to, which is stupidly soft shins. I knock my shins in sparring, it hurts for a weak, so I am planning on some conditioning for them. I will do that in my training regime at home. I'm not sure if I can make it work at class though, because we do a group warmup in our lines.
Could you do them from your knees with the tops of your feet flat on the floor? Or do them with your hands on the wall or some other raised surface so your feet are flat on the floor.
Yep, I would do them with knees on the floor or your shins placed on something that is above the floor. Those push-ups with your legs up would be harder, so you certainly wouldn't be slacking EDIT: Oh, I missed it was already suggested. Sorry for the useless post, then.
I just tried to upload a photo of what I meant, but it won't upload. Thankfully Nachi has better English than me and explained it a heck of a lot clearerer. I just did it with a foam roller, it's a bit on the small side and didn't get my toes off the ground quite enough, but it could work for you. You could take a yoga block to the club, they're kinda small and won't look too out of place in a gym. http://www.yoga-addict.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/yoga-block-reviews.jpg But honestly, if you're only doing a few sets in the gym, I would skip them, do something else and just do press ups at home and save you lugging extra equipment around...but I'm lazy like that.
Thanks all. I'm liking all the good ideas. I'll be trying them all at home even if I can't wangle them in to class. But what about tops off feet with knees off the floor? Will I end up tearing something?
Everyone has something whether it's an old injury or health problems, so don't worry about it if you can't do them, just get creative with the push ups or find other exercises to do that are ok and you can manage.
That doesn't seem something that would be that bad to me (considering kicking with the foot in that shape happens all the time and rarely causes injury as far as I can see). It will make the press ups harder though as the lever will be 6-7 inches longer than doing it on bent feet and toes. An extra 6 inches can make a real difference.
Plus that's how your feet have to be placed when you sit in seiza which I think puts far more pressure on your feet and ankles than doing a few press ups on them.
Maybe put a stack of throw pillows or couch cushions under your lower shin, just enough to bring your toes off the ground.