I want to do a real push up not a girly one.

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florange323
florange323 Posts: 50 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My endurance is zero, my lifestyle is sedentary, and my goals are big. I would like to start strength training with the goal of being able to do a real push up. Getting strong and toned are added bonuses. There's no time or money for a gym membership or personal trainer. I would need to workout at home. Any suggestions? If I buy free weights and ankle weights? How many pounds? How many reps / sets? How long will I need to train before I'll be able to do a push up?

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  • Just_Dot
    Just_Dot Posts: 2,289 Member
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    The best way to do push ups is to just do them. hundredpushups.com has a great site that "trains" you to do 100 push ups in one go. When I started it, I could barely do 5 without dying, now I can do about 30. My goal was never to do 100 pushups, but they have a great tiered system for people of every level.

    As far as working out at home, there are a ton of different exercise websites, free workouts online or On Demand. There are some awesome people here that can help you with workout advice. Good luck!
  • bsoxluvr
    bsoxluvr Posts: 183 Member
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    I'm in the same boat. I can only do girly pushups on my knees and I would love to be able to grow up and do a real one at some point. I'm working out at home and just trying to build up my strength by doing what I can. At first I could do about 3 or 4, now I can do 10-12 per set and about 3 sets at a time.
  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,311 Member
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    Definitely What she said. I use it. Start out just doing girly ones till you can actually do 5-10 real ones then start over doing real ones.
  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,311 Member
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    I worked my way up from 1 really strained man push up when I started. Now I can pop 30 out at a time and when I do all my sets I do about 100 total.
  • kadye
    kadye Posts: 136 Member
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    Doing pushups on your knees doesn't really train your body to do "real ones". It's better to start doing them at an angle, such as with your hands on a bench and feet on the ground. When you can do them that way fairly easily, decrease the angle. Keep doing this until your hands are on the ground.
  • petey49
    petey49 Posts: 58 Member
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    Hi. I found www.myfit.ca to have some good plans that have helped me with some overall toning.

    Doing pushups is a work-up-to thing. Start leaning against a wall and do 10, when you can do them without much effort, then move down to a counter. Once this becomes easy move down to the second from last stair in a flight. Once this becomes easy move to the last stair in a flight. Once this is easy you are ready to do 10 on the floor. Be patient, do them daily, it does take time ( a few weeks at least) to go from zero to 10.
  • jwd28
    jwd28 Posts: 765
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    A " real" push up was a big goal of mine too. Here's how I worked up to it.

    Start with "girl" push ups. You know - the one where your knees are on the floor rather than your toes?

    If "girl" push ups are still too hard, start with "wall" push ups.

    I started with 5 pretty shallow girl push ups. Then worked up to 5 good girl push ups. Then worked my way up to 8. Then up to 10.

    When I could do 10, I pushed myself to do 2 sets of 10.

    Once I could do 2 sets of 10 girl push ups, I tried a regular push up. I could do one pretty shallow regular push up.

    After keeping at it and keeping at it, I can now do 2 sets of 10 regular push ups. I'm not good at them by any stretch but I am WAY WAY WAY better than when I started and I"m still working on getting better.

    You'll be surprised at how fast you build strength.

    Keep at it! Best of luck to you!
  • bethikabob
    bethikabob Posts: 128 Member
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    I just looked at the hundredpushups site and I'm so in, I'm definitely going to follow that and see where I can get to. Thanks :)
  • believetoachieve
    believetoachieve Posts: 675 Member
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    It's okay to not have the money for a gym (like you said), but you definitely do need to invest the time. It's like anything else (school, a job, child rearing, etc) - it takes time and dedication. But you will get there!! My goal is to be able to do pull-ups one day!! :laugh:
  • spaboleo
    spaboleo Posts: 172
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    Some great advices here in this topic :smile:

    @ Topic-Starter:
    Don't force yourself into doing "a real pushup"...if you are untrained and your body is unfamiliar with such loads and stresses you might create more harm than good!
    I'm training with weights for about 8 years now on regular basis.

    I would recommend a twist in mind-set...don't see the "real pushup" as the "must-do". See it as an incentive! Try to reach that goal...to someday be able to do real pushups. (And until that time...delete the term "real pushup" in you word usage :wink:)

    I did the http://hundredpushups.com/ program, too a few years ago.
    It is a really good program to follow, even if you initially start with "girly pushups".

    Pushups are a great exercise because they strengthen your overall upper body, including arms. Plus, they improve your body tension. :smile:
  • hemlock2010
    hemlock2010 Posts: 422 Member
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    Another way to work up to a regular push-up is to start with plank pose (yoga pose that is essentially the raised position of a real pushup), then move into downward facing dog (bum goes up as the point of a triangle with your hands and feed still on the floor) and then back into plank.

    A real push-up requires a lot of core strength (more than girl push-ups because you use your core to keep your legs and bum and back aligned), which plank pose can help you develop. It also uses upper body strength, which is where the move to downward facing dog comes in.

    As with the other approaches described here, start by doing as many of these as you can and then work up. If you can't even do one at first, then do plank and downward facing dog separately every day (holding for as long as you can each time) until you have the upper body strength to push up into downward facing dog and go back to plank without using the floor on the way.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    For me it was a matter of just doing it, getting over the fear that I was incapable.

    I have a neck injury and when I went to PT she had me do push ups on the wall. 12 wks later when I was released I asked about pushups. She suggested I start on my knees 3x week for a few weeks, then when I could do a CLEAN perfect knee pushup, to add in 1 full out pushup.

    I did this for a few weeks before I could actually do a full out, toe push up.

    You can do this. Don't over do it or you will be out for weeks, but also try one more when you think you can't just to show YOU that you CAN!!

    Good luck!:flowerforyou:
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    Another way to work up to a regular push-up is to start with plank pose (yoga pose that is essentially the raised position of a real pushup), then move into downward facing dog (bum goes up as the point of a triangle with your hands and feed still on the floor) and then back into plank.

    A real push-up requires a lot of core strength (more than girl push-ups because you use your core to keep your legs and bum and back aligned), which plank pose can help you develop. It also uses upper body strength, which is where the move to downward facing dog comes in.

    As with the other approaches described here, start by doing as many of these as you can and then work up. If you can't even do one at first, then do plank and downward facing dog separately every day (holding for as long as you can each time) until you have the upper body strength to push up into downward facing dog and go back to plank without using the floor on the way.

    Ohh I forgot about the plank...........she made me do those too!
  • Just_Dot
    Just_Dot Posts: 2,289 Member
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    Ditto plank! The longer I could hold plank, the more pushups I could do (and they were better quality.) The more pushups I could do, the longer I could hold plank.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    Lots of good info for you here. I agree it is better to have this as an incentive than the out and out goal. Here is why: My goal was to run 1 mile. As a young'en I was tiny 100 lbs and when I hit the gym class each year the coach always assumed I was going to run like lightening. Each year I was a major disappointement when I ran 20 feet and got a stitch in my side. Any one of these coaches could have helped me learn to run, or at least be more fit (I was not getting proper nutrition at home) but they just shook there head and said.........back of the line Patricelli!

    I wanted so badly to run I started the c25k program which is awesome. One day at the gym, after going to the allergy doc-who gave me a breathing treatment- I felt so good I ran a full mile in less than 15 minutes. I kept plugging until I hit 1 mile and was WOOT WOOTING all over the place. I was so happy I forgot to stretch. I cooled down by walking to my car, but stretching afterwards is super important and I didnt know this.......because my eye was on running a mile.

    I could not walk up or down stairs for 2 weeks. The 3rd day after my run I awoke to such pain I was scared to death, but not as bad as when I went to the theater and could not get up the stairs. I lady told me to go sideways, so at least I could get to my seat and back down. She talked to me after the show and said she was a runner and I should get someone to train me if I really wanted to run.

    Needless to say I also could not work out for the 2 weeks etiher, but I do NOT have any desire to run again. :laugh:

    So go slow. Take your time and before you know it you will be doing a beautiful perfect push up and will WOOT for us to know!!

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