Finger Tip Push Ups - Is There a Correct Finger Position?

[Travis Hall]

I've always wondered this about finger tip pushups- What is the correct form to best increase strength while maintaining joint health?

Going by the name I would guess on the 'tips.' However, I have never actually seen anyone doing them this way. I have only seen people on the 'pads' of their fingers. Performing them on the pads is much easier, which means it is probably wrong!

I’ve attached pictures to better illustrate what I am describing. Look forward to everyone’s thoughts on the matter.

Cheers.

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz348/wolf_of_buddha/Misc/th_fingerpushup.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz348/wolf_of_buddha/Misc/?action=view&current=fingerpushup.jpg)

[Mark Fenner]

Tips, definitely.

Out of curiosity, what's your interest in finger-tip pushups?

Best,
Mark

[Steven Low]

Any position works as long as you are not hyperextending your fingers.

I'm pretty wary of that because it likely stretches out the joint capsule which may weaken your grip strength and make you prone to dislocations and stuff.

Fingers look fine in pic 1, but I would be wary of the thumb there.

[Travis Hall]

Out of curiosity, what's your interest in finger-tip pushups?


I was messing around today and decided to give them a try. I don't think I've done the movement in years and I ended up surprising myself. It was quite difficult!
I remember these being as easy as regular pushups 'back in the day.'

So I'm going to start devoting more time to them as I've discovered a weakness. This led me to wondering about proper form and posting the question to get others experience and knowledge,

That's the long story, by the way...

Thanks Steven. Hyper extension was what I was thinking about too... seems all to easy to slip into when on the 'pads.'

[Mark Fenner]

I'll definitely the pad version a break -- if you aren't hyper-extending your first knuckle joints.

My preference for tips comes from the advice of a breaking expert as a method for training to develop a spear hand break (knife hand position using the finger tips instead of the edge of the hand). Not everyone is after that technique, though.

Best,
Mark