How do I justify the statement that these two respects are unnatural?<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best way to\u00a0understand how the human body is naturally meant to move is to look at how humans instinctively\u00a0move.<\/p>\n

Let’s try to find an everyday movement similar to the shoulder press. Look at a father\u00a0picking up his child. You’ll notice that in instinctive upwards-pushing movements, the elbows are\u00a0not splayed out-they are kept forwards.<\/p>\n

In fact, if you ask anybody to hold something up overhead,\u00a0if their positioning allows it, they will always keep their elbows forwards. Splaying the\u00a0elbows out to the side is totally unnatural. So is pushing from the point of contact.<\/p>\n

Think of an\u00a0instinctive movement similar to the bench press; perhaps pushing a broken-down car, or shoving\u00a0an attacker away.<\/p>\n

In neither instance would you bring the object you are pushing to your chest\u00a0first. You’d begin the movement with your elbows only bent about halfway.<\/p>\n

The body naturally\u00a0understands that its own structure has more strength and stability that way.<\/p>\n

If we lifted weights as we instinctively moved, there would be virtually no chronic injuries in the\u00a0gym. But we are too “smart” for that.<\/p>\n

We force our bodies into artificial positions they never\u00a0evolved to accommodate; certainly not progressively and with heavy poundages. And then we\u00a0wonder why we have to live with pain!<\/p>\n

The Solution: The Handstand Pushup<\/h3>\n

As soon as somebody has a shoulder problem in the gym, they will immediately gain relief\u00a0by reducing their range of motion by about half-by only doing the top half of the exercise, the\u00a0portion nearest lockout.<\/p>\n

During the handstand pushup, the body instinctively positions itself in a position healthiest to\u00a0the shoulders.<\/p>\n

The elbows are invariably kept inside the torso, opposite the chest muscles-pushing\u00a0them out to the side feels very strange and makes balancing almost impossible, because the\u00a0body wants to fall forwards in this position.<\/p>\n

The handstand pushup would be an important technique in the pantheon of training exercises,\u00a0provided it simply trained the shoulders without causing injury.<\/p>\n

But it gives so much more, it’s\u00a0almost beyond belief.<\/p>\n