Stuck on push-ups

sapalee

I've been stuck at 6-7 continous standard push ups for what feels like months. Sometimes I feel like I'll never be able to bang em out, and other times I feel like I'm making great progress. (I couldn't even do one in Jan) Please tell me it will get better....

XFitMojoMom

I was just commenting on this... I'm 2 years into CF'ing and yeah, I hit 6-7 toe push ups and I bonk. I have no lat/scapular strength. I can't even do a friggin' pull up either!, but I can bench press 110,& strict press 100.

I believe my coach mentioned working on bench press and bench dips to increase your strength and help your push up.

BerryH

You've made amazing progress, well done!

Here's what worked for me:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/BerryH/view/how-to-do-10-full-push-ups-what-worked-for-me-126396

So from where you are now, do the 6 or 7 you can do with good form then move your feet apart to make it easier and finish a set of 10. Rest for a minute then repeat twice, bearing in mind the number of full ones you can do might go down with each set.

Hope that helps! :flowerforyou:

iWaffle

The two primary muscle groups in push ups are the triceps and pectorals (chest). You can work these muscles individually and strengthen them to increase your push up capacity. Of course the best way to get better at push ups is to do push ups but increasing the individual muscle strength will help a lot too. After you finish your push up routine try throwing in some isolation exercises on your chest and triceps. Use heavy weight that you can't move more than 6 times without rest. This does more for strength than size but that's exactly what you want. Don't do it before since it will make you too tired to do pushups.

If you're doing 6-7 standard push ups then you're in better shape than most women. Don't be down about that. I'm fighting the same battle with chin ups. I'm using negatives to finish my sets when I can't do anymore. The same thing could be done with push ups too I suppose. Try it out.

Spanaval

I was going to suggest negative push-ups as well. Do as many as you can with good form, then do as many negatives as you can, and then do girly push-ups if you still have more to do to finish the set.

That said, I saw the greatest increase in my push-up ability when I started to do power yoga - the one I do is ashtanga, and the primary vinyasa involves planks, down sloooooow (until your chest touches the ground), then push into an up-dog, then do a push-up into a down-dog. You do about 3 bazillion of these, and pretty soon, you can bang out a dozen push-ups without a second thought.

DaveRCF

Maybe you aren't eating enough to gain the necessary strength. Keep in mind that "real" pushups can be a challenge for women. But in the end, the best thing to be able to do more pushups beside the obvious is improved core strength and shoulder strength. Maybe as an accessory exercise to improve your pushups you should be doing lots of planks.

IronSmasher

Grease the groove

DaveRCF

I was just commenting on this... I'm 2 years into CF'ing and yeah, I hit 6-7 toe push ups and I bonk. I have no lat/scapular strength. I can't even do a friggin' pull up either!, but I can bench press 110,& strict press 100.

I believe my coach mentioned working on bench press and bench dips to increase your strength and help your push up.

I actually find this amazing that you can properly bench 110 pounds but you can only get 7 pushups in a set. And if you can "strict press" which I interpret as a military press (am I wrong?) 100 pounds it again doesn't add up.

I can military only press 90 lbs on a good day 5X5 but no problem doing 5X20 pushups. What gives? You are a seriously strong gal.

ninerbuff

Once you hit 6-7, then go back down and do as many half ones as you can. Eventually it will help to lead to an extra push up. The other way to get more reps, lose more weight.

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IronSmasher

I was just commenting on this... I'm 2 years into CF'ing and yeah, I hit 6-7 toe push ups and I bonk. I have no lat/scapular strength. I can't even do a friggin' pull up either!, but I can bench press 110,& strict press 100.

I believe my coach mentioned working on bench press and bench dips to increase your strength and help your push up.

I actually find this amazing that you can properly bench 110 pounds but you can only get 7 pushups in a set. And if you can "strict press" which I interpret as a military press (am I wrong) 100 pounds, it again, doesn't add up.

I can military only press 90 lbs on a good day 5X5 but no problem doing 5X20 pushups. What gives?

I see this a lot, but usually in reverse. Most of the time, women that can to push ups can't bench anywhere near what they're pushing off of the floor. Mostly it's psychological, some of it it's learning or practise that's required.

chuisle

I see this a lot, but usually in reverse. Most of the time, women that can to push ups can't bench anywhere near what they're pushing off of the floor. Mostly it's psychological, some of it it's learning or practise that's required.

This makes sense...there are several things I've aspired to be able only to find out I could if I just engaged my muscles differently. This usually involved not getting psyched out about it. I worked up to push up starting at an incline 30 degree and lowering it until I was on the floor ('girl' push ups are not great imitations for real push ups). Maybe try this and you'll be surprised that 1 step away from the floor (using a stacked step) thing you can do 10 etc.

Examples: chin up, one legged (pistol) squat

XFitMojoMom

I was just commenting on this... I'm 2 years into CF'ing and yeah, I hit 6-7 toe push ups and I bonk. I have no lat/scapular strength. I can't even do a friggin' pull up either!, but I can bench press 110,& strict press 100.

I believe my coach mentioned working on bench press and bench dips to increase your strength and help your push up.

I actually find this amazing that you can properly bench 110 pounds but you can only get 7 pushups in a set. And if you can "strict press" which I interpret as a military press (am I wrong?) 100 pounds it again doesn't add up.

I can military only press 90 lbs on a good day 5X5 but no problem doing 5X20 pushups. What gives? You are a seriously strong gal.

Yes, seriously frustrating!! :explode:
My coach says it's a weight thing. Most thicker girls are strong, but cannot pull or push their body weight.. I'm 5'6" and weigh 180, but only wear a size 9-10.

aaronf289

Once you hit failure on your regular push ups, change to your knees and try do do some more until failure. This will build up endurance and help you push out more regular push ups over time........Keep up the GREAT WORK!