< strong>Push-ups: Will the wider the chest muscles, the more chest muscles will be trained?
I often hear experienced gym masters say: “When doing push-ups, the narrower the distance between the arms on the ground, the narrower the distance between the arms will be. The more arms you have, the wider the distance, the more chest you will train!”
Because there is a saying that many people think that the wider the distance, the more chest muscles will be trained!
Is this really the case?
Wide-grip push-ups
Using a wide-grip push-up is considered to train more pectoralis major and anterior deltoid muscles. But the risks of using a wide grip outweigh the rewards.
Cogley found in 2005 that narrow push-ups were more Push-ups with a wide stance will produce higher EMG values for the triceps and pectoralis major muscles. The popular view in the market is that wide push-ups will stimulate more pectoral muscle fibers, but this study shows that this is not the case.
Also, when you use more than 1.5 times shoulder width to perform push-ups, you will put too much pressure on the shoulders, increasing the torque and pressure around the shoulder joints.
In a study published in 2007, researchers found that the risk of chronic and acute shoulder injuries increased when the shoulders were closer to 90 percent abduction during push-ups
The researcher went on to say, "Research has also confirmed that changing the width of the grip, from 100% to;—190% shoulder width will not have a significant impact on pectoralis major or anterior deltoid muscle recruitment. In other words, using a wider stance (greater than 1.5 times your shoulders) does not stimulate the pectoralis major or anterior deltoid muscles any more.
So, when performing push-ups, the wide stance does not develop more chest and shoulder muscles than the distance less than 1.5 times shoulder width.
In addition, research has also found that using no more than 1.5 times shoulder distance can reduce the peak torque and pressure on the shoulder joint, thus reducing the risk of shoulder injury.
Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of shoulder injury, you should choose a distance less than 1.5 times the shoulder when performing push-ups to keep the shoulder abduction angle within 45 degrees.