Exercises to Avoid: Dumbbell Pushups

Going too low during pushups places excessive stress on the shoulder joints possibly leading to an injury

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Pushups with dumbbells are becoming more popular. Besides looking cool there are some excellent exercises you can perform with dumbbells in this position. You can do floor rows, burpees, pushups, walking pushups, body drags etc. I'm not against using dumbbells to perform pushups but you must avoid the extreme low position.

you can sometimes see the bones of the shoulder protruding during this exercise

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​This position place excess stress on the front of the shoulders. You may feel a good stretch in this position, but it's not good for your shoulder joints. It's safe to go down until your arms are at a 90 degree angle. If you go down further (bottom picture) you run the risk of over stressing the front capsule of the shoulders. This can cause a nagging injury that stays around for a long time and hinders other exercises such as bench press, shoulder presses etc.