Chest exercise with no lower back impact

[superstition]

I have problems with my lumbar discs and can't use machines for my pectoral muscles because I end up putting to much pressure on my lower back. I have done push ups and they don't usually bother the back much. However, I'm wondering if there are other exercises that would be good, for the shoulders and other areas in the upper body, mostly in the front. Sit-ups may put too much pressure on the back.

I know swimming is good, but aside from that, what else is there?

My body is pretty strong everywhere but my chest because my upper back and arms always tend to do the work and I don't want to put strain on my lower back It really helps my tennis to have pec strength. I don't enjoy doing pushups because of the stress on my wrists.

 

[purbeast0]

i dunno man i hurt my back over a year ago and after it never fully going away i got it checked out recently w/mri's and i have 2 bulging discs in my lumbar region that are partially herniated.

i still bench press with free weights no problem. as long as you do proper form with bench pressing i don't see why it would be putting pressure on your lower back at all. i do incline, decine, and flat bench. i also do flies on the machine to burnout at the end if i feel like it.

i bench heavy too so it's not like i'm just doing fly weight or anything.

the only exercise that id on't do which indirectly puts a ton of stress on the lower back is leg presses.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Stress on your wrists? Sorry, sounds like an excuse to me. Keep doing push ups and your wrists will strengthen and won't be sore anymore.

 

[superstition]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Stress on your wrists? Sorry, sounds like an excuse to me. Keep doing push ups and your wrists will strengthen and won't be sore anymore.

How old are you?

 

[superstition]

i still bench press with free weights no problem. as long as you do proper form with bench pressing i don't see why it would be putting pressure on your lower back at all.

I haven't tried free weights in quite some time. That might work. We have elastic pull machines as well as old style machines. Even the pull machines put pressure on my lower back. I did mild weight once and got back pain later.

I have two forms of genetic spinal curvature (front/back and left/right). Before my tennis injury, my lower back used to be rock-solid. I used to do a lot with the lower back weight machine and never had any trouble. However, I think aging and too much weight on the machines may have combined to lay the basis for that tennis injury (I hit a two handed backhand behind my body and couldn't stand upright after for days).

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: superstition

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Stress on your wrists? Sorry, sounds like an excuse to me. Keep doing push ups and your wrists will strengthen and won't be sore anymore.

How old are you?

19. Did not take in account your age

 

[superstition]

When you're 19, you can do almost anything and your body will comply. Enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[presidentender]

Dips.

 

[everman]

Try dumbbell bench and flys

 

[superstition]

Did not take in account your age

It's also from tennis, I just realized. I play tennis and badminton with my right hand and it's the right wrist that hurts when I do pushups. Plus, I use a mouse right-handed, so it could be related to carpal tunnel.

 

[NewSc2]

I've found that machines isolate their specific muscle really well, so if you're having a problem with those, it might be an issue of weight. Try dropping the weight down low to where you can be sure your lower back isn't involved in the movement at all. I'd think free weights would be a bigger issue for you -- the nature of free weights tend to put some stress on supporting muscles. But if they work, then all the better.

I was recovering from a right wrist injury recently too. It took me out about 2-4 weeks. Before I injured it I was repping about 185, after 2-3 weeks I started benching again, but really low weights, around 115-135, and gradually built it back up to 185 over a couple more weeks.

If you say your shoulders/back is taking over most of your chest during the exercises, then you really need to focus on proper form and contracting the right muscle during each exercise.

Also, a lot of injuries take place due to either people being overweight or having an unbalanced muscle group. If you ever recover from your lower back injury, I'd recommend doing very light deadlifts. I used to have some back pain after doing the lower back machines, and deadlifts strengthened my back more than any machine ever did.

 

[kindest]

i do pushups on my fists.. never do them on your hands .. super bad for the wrists.