Push Ups Question

kylielouttit

This has probably been asked a million times, bear with me.

Which is better: be on my knees and go LOW or on my toes and do more reps without the depth.

Thoughts?

learnbygoing

Bump

I'm curious too. I'm horrid at pushups

olag00

Better would be depth. I would do them on your knees until you can build enough strength to be on your toes with good depth.

sammys1girly

Pushups are the worst...the second set on level one of the 30ds are the hardest thing for me in the whole video! Interested to see the answer to this...

ckdub428

which ever provides you with the ability to do them with proper form. The last thing you want is to hurt your lower back doing bad pushups. This happened to me and it really sucks! Start on your toes and work up from there. Google hundred pushup challenge for a 6 week program.

es0torok

Stay on your knees until you can do the standard (toes) in good form. This means you should be able to go just as low on your toes as your knees and keep your back straight.

DeviantDarkwolf2

I would suggest either doing them on your knees until you build strength and then move onto full ones. I believe it is important to always have proper form so only going half way will not benefit you. Also there is the Hundred push up challenge that may help you just google it. The reps build up slowly depending on ability. I wish you luck with them they are my worst exercise and I have to be able to do 100 full ones before I can go for Black belt

rileysowner

To decrease the difficulty of push-ups you either need to go from your knees or raise your hands on something like a step and do it from your toes. Either way, you want to do a full range. Doing only part of the range will not eventually get you to the point of doing a full range as you only strengthen in that range you us. So whether you want to do it from your toes or knees, go all the way down. Here is an excellent video on how to do push-ups properly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwRLWMcOdwI

iamthepreston

The best thing for you to do is do them on your toes for as many as you can do, say 4 or 5, and then go to your knees and do as many as you can. This way you will build the strength faster to be able to do regular pushups on your own.

Trust me I am always right.

denitraross

To decrease the difficulty of push-ups you either need to go from your knees or raise your hands on something like a step and do it from your toes. Either way, you want to do a full range. Doing only part of the range will not eventually get you to the point of doing a full range as you only strengthen in that range you us. So whether you want to do it from your toes or knees, go all the way down. Here is an excellent video on how to do push-ups properly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwRLWMcOdwI

I second this post - push ups are all about form...do them on your knees until you build up enough strength to do from your toes..i had permanent bruises on my knees until I got strong enough to do them from my toes...and still, when I get tired, instead of sacrificing form, I go back to my knees....

kylielouttit

The best thing for you to do is do them on your toes for as many as you can do, say 4 or 5, and then go to your knees and do as many as you can. This way you will build the strength faster to be able to do regular pushups on your own.

Trust me I am always right.

LOL! I am doing P90X and I think Tony says the same thing. My worry is that when I am on my toes I can only go down a couple inches on some of the pushups.

reepobob

The best thing for you to do is do them on your toes for as many as you can do, say 4 or 5, and then go to your knees and do as many as you can. This way you will build the strength faster to be able to do regular pushups on your own.

Trust me I am always right.

I will second my X-brother...do as many as you can from your toes with good form...it doesn't matter if it is 1,2, 3, or 20. When you get gassed and can no longer do them with proper form, drop to your knees. You can't progress in pushup land if you don't challenge your body to do them the way God intended...from your toes!

I will also strongly recommend push up stands. I use them for P90X for the first time during my 2nd round of P90X and I have seen monumental increases in my reps. The ones on BeachBody.com are expensive, but they are the best made in the universe. You can do wide flange without them tipping, they are very cushy on the handles, and the handles are slightly angled for good body positioning. I LOVE them!

AZackery

A pushup is a pushup, regardless if you are doing a full pushup or knee pushups. Both ways get you the same result. A lot of people can't do a full pushup, even people that have been working out for a long time and look as if they can do a full pushups.

I can't do a full pushup. I'm happy to do them on my knees. My core isn't strong enough right now. Plus, I have lower back problems.

Dagnytaggert

I agree with most people on the topic- do them on your toes as much as you can, then switch to your knees. Also, don't forget about auxiliary exercises- if your goal is to do good pushups, then bench pressing weights that are heavy for you 2-3 times a week, 3 sets of 5, with weight increases every week, will make you stronger surprisingly fast.

I used to not be able to do a single pushup, but I did like you are doing, and added some bench presses, and now I can do 50 in two minutes. Good luck!

KarenLouise1981

I am such a girl when it comes to push up - my upper body strength is pretty pathetic so I started on my knees 4 months ago and have JUST started doing full range on my toes!! I think I can do 4-5 before I fall on my knees again haha! Even if you just do one, make sure you get all the way down and back up - halfies are no good :-(

Good luck!

mideon_696

As has already been said. Form is king.

How is you're form? Tight core throughout? (remember the pushup is also like a plank...you're just pressing at the same time)
Also, with you're hands, its best to pretend that you are trying to "grab the ground" with you're hands, if that makes sense??
And always look straight ahead, or atleast 3-4 feet in front of you. most people look down. not good.

If you cant manage more than 3 or 4 full form pushups, then use a step to raise you're hands. I more recomend this than knee pushups, unless the person cannot do a full pushup, I find it helps more with conditioning using the correct form.

A simple program for progression could be as follows:
4 x 8pushups using a step height that allows 6-8 reps.
then next time(if you make all 4 x 8 reps that is), lower said stepping object say 2 inches. You might start out at 10 inches from the floor (i have no idea how strong you are, just an example).

es0torok

One more thing. *some* of the ability to do push-ups, especially for women, is psychological. This goes for pull-ups as well. It takes time to understand how to use your muscles to perform the movement. Even after you begin a set, you can easily convince yourself, mid-stride, that you absolutely can't move. You become frozen.

it takes time to move past the freeze. Normally, I try very hard to stay focused on counting during the set. If I stop and let my brain analyze the number, I'm pretty much done for that set.