Fingertip Pushups and hypermobile fingers

Hey guys!

 

Almost every joint in my body is hypermobile, which most of the time doesn't lead to problems for me. However my fingers are probably the most flexible part of my body.

 

Now I'm testing my way through the wrist stuff and a problem occured. I'm fairly good at most of them, I have full Wrist Pushups, full First Knuckle Pushups and full Wrist Rocks. On Fingertip Pushups however, I didn't get further than Long Hollow Fingertip Pushups because my fingers really hurt when doing them. The first few progressions were alright, but as soon as I really have to put some load on my fingers, they hurt due to the quite severe hyperextension.

I need to lock them out I guess to put weight on them in a stable way, but when locking them out, my fingers are pretty curved instead of straight and loading them hurts.

Should I still bother to get mastery on these and the more difficult progressions because I will get used to it or should I just stay with the simpler ones to not hurt or injure myself? Or isn't it necessary to lock the fingers on this exercise?

 

Any input appreciated!

You must work towards mastery of fingertip pushups. That is the exercise that translates most directly to balancing on your hands. If you can't put weight on your fingertips in a long-hollow without them hurting, you're asking for trouble when you go to put your full bodyweight on them. Train them at a level where it doesn't hurt your fingers. Work very slowly up from there. Never progress to a point where your fingers hurt. As your fingers gain strength, you should find yourself able to put more and more weight on them without them hurting. 

 

 

With the other wrist exercises, what is your tempo like? It's very easy to 'master' those exercises with a fast tempo; quite another to do them slow and controlled. 

It is slow and controlled, as shown in the video. I've already been working this stuff before I got Handstand One.

 

On a sidenote, I'm already used to long handstand like over a minute and I don't have balance issues or problems with my fingers there, if that is what you meant by your second and third sentence but I also may be getting that wrong. It's only the Fingertip Pushups that cause me problems.

But thanks for your advice, I guess I'll do what you said, training them slowly at a level they don't hurt.

I have very flexible fingers, strangely enough. It's the only part of my body that isn't naturally inflexible. Nonetheless, I don't have problems with these anymore.

 

What you want to be doing is spreading the fingers out away from the hands  and pressing them into the wall. You may need to get used to doing this with a flat palm at first, and pretend like you're gripping the ground. Not like trying to make a fist through the ground, just pressing the entire finger into the ground while also spreading the fingers, in a way that kind of centers the force on the last bone of the fingers.

 

This is a good general hand strengthener.

 

The fingertip push ups are a bit different since the fingers are together, but not THAT different. The general idea of force application is the same. You'll have to discover for yourself how far you can get your wrists off the wall before you notice that the fingers lose form (you'll feel them buckle, and the middle finger may kink).

 

I like to do statics in the long hollow. That worked well for me back in the day when I was getting used to these, but the holds that I described first are also a very good place to build some beginning hand and finger strength.

 

You may just need to reduce the lean of your long hollow so that you find your sweet spot for the moment, but if that isn't enough then give the above recommendations a try!

Alright, thanks for the advice guys!