Developing upper back/shoulders

[Matt]

Hi

At the moment when faced with pull ups and push ups I find that after a couple my body seems to become weak and i cannot do any more. I believe that my upper back and shoulders are the result of this, however I am not certain because I do not feel the 'burn' any where, even after I reach the point where I cannot do anymore.

In order to fix this i have devised a routine of wide, normal and close grip pull ups, focusing on the negative motion. Pushups with my hands out wide, normal, by my side and close (all done on my knees).
To work my lats and shoulders I have been doing hand stands for as long as I can hold them, hopefully progressing towards handstand pushups.

I was wondering if anybody could assess this routine and point out anything that may be too dangerous or counter productive.

All feedback is appreciated.

[Shotokai]

Heres some information which might help you a bit.
The 'upper back' is actually made up of a group of muscles, prodominantly the traps, lats, middle back and shoulders.

From what you described, concerning the no 'burning' feeling, it is likely that the exercise you are doing to build them are not correctly suited to the weaker muscles. A sensation like that can sometimes be felt when doing fast twitch exercises on slow twitch muscles and vice versa. Ultimately its all up to you, just find some exercises that work those muscles i mentioned earlier and see what works best for you.

[Guest]

Personally mate I would focus on varying the types and reps of pressups you do, go from doing super slow ones to fast ones, legs on high objects, different widths, etc. it'll take times but you'll eventually overcome it, I doubt your upper back and shoulders are to blame.

http://www.combatfitness.co.uk