Identifying and Addressing Your Primary Limiting Factor for Maximum Progress

If you’ve been following my recent Instagram stories, you might have seen some videos of Kelly performing push-ups with her feet supported by an elastic band. This wasn’t a random modification—it was a deliberate strategy to address a specific mechanical deficit and ultimately improve her gymnastics pressing strength. I thought it’d be interesting to share the "why" behind this drill and how it’s helping her rebuild strength and capacity.

A few months ago, Kelly and I began working together. She had been struggling to build strength and capacity in gymnastics pushing movements like strict handstand push-ups (HSPU) and ring dips. Recurring shoulder pain and injuries only made things more challenging.

During our initial assessment, we identified several key issues. Kelly was unable to perform a full-range push-up with her hands in a wide position; her range stopped 15–20 cm from the floor, accompanied by acute pain in her right shoulder. However, when I placed her feet on an elastic band, she was suddenly able to complete three full-range push-ups with minimal discomfort.

Why Did This Work?
The elastic band was forcing her core to engage more and stabilise her trunk throughout the movement. Previously, her core was under-recruited, leading to compensatory patterns that overloaded her shoulders. This poor trunk stabilisation increased demand on the shoulder complex, triggering pain and limiting her ability to move through a full range of motion.

By externally challenging her core to activate, we reduced the stabilisation demand on her shoulders, allowing for pain-free movement. This revealed a clear mechanical and strength deficit: insufficient core engagement relative to the demands of upper-body pushing movements. Our strategy became clear—address this weakness at its source.

Progression Strategy
The first phase of Kelly’s program focused on building capacity in the wide push-up with feet on the band. The goal: achieve 15 controlled, full-range repetitions. This served as a foundational strength marker before progressing to more demanding movements like strict HSPUs and ring dips.

Fast forward a few months, Kelly is now performing deficit wide push-ups and has started building strict HSPU strength. Just a few weeks ago, she hit her first pain-free, high-quality reps after a long period of being unable to do so. Our next target is strict ring dips.

Beyond Upper-Body Pushing: Broader Implications
Identifying and correcting Kelly’s core function deficit had implications beyond her pressing movements. Core instability was also limiting her in other areas, particularly in movements requiring full hip extension.

• Gymnastics (Kipping Movements): Limited control in the arch position is affecting efficiency and power generation during kipping gymnastics movements like toes-to-bar, chest-to-bar pull-ups, and muscle-ups.

• Weightlifting: Insufficient hip extension reduced power output in Olympic lifts, while poor trunk control in the bottom of the squat compromised her positioning and is contributing to her recurring back pain.

At best, these inefficiencies have been capping her performance. At worst, they have been contributing to chronic pain and increasing injury risk.

Coaching Takeaway: Find the Limiting Factor
As a coach, identifying an athlete’s current limitation is always the starting point when improving performance or addressing pain and injury.
Is it a gap in Technique? Biomechanics? Strength? Conditioning? Mindset? A combination of them?
The key is to avoid viewing movements or performance gaps in isolation. Look for commonalities across movements and find the primary common limiting factor. Focus on that, and you’ll unlock improvements across the board in the shortest amount of time.

Time is a valuable resource in CrossFit, where there are so many skills and capacities to develop. Efficient training is a priority, and addressing the root cause with precision allows for faster, more sustainable progress ensuring that every minute spent in the gym has maximum impact.