push up question

justjenn1977
justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
before the broken foot I had made a plan to do 50 consecutive push ups by christmas... after spending two weeks bored on the couch... and still unable to do a "normal" push up... decided today to work on this goal with "girl" push ups... I did 14 today!!!


so my question is this... when I get released to put weight on my foot again I know I should take it easy and pressure on my toes will be difficult until I am fully healed so I plan to continue to do "girl" push ups and "normal" push ups (mostly girl and a few normal and progress incrementally to not injure my foot) but how does it compare to do them... is it about the same arm work out? are normal ones harder on your arms? I am worried about stressing my foot... should I just continue to do girl ones for a couple months until my foot feels strong?



also I am looking for exercises I can do... the resistance bands just feel like waving my hands around :(...

Replies

  • emmaclnt
    emmaclnt Posts: 3 Member
    Extend your arms and move them a quarter of an inch up and down in very slow motion and it works your arms. You can feel it right away and you don't feel as if you're flapping your arms.
  • cartoonfruit
    cartoonfruit Posts: 28
    push ups on your knees take about 3/4 of the effort of normal pushups. (I think. It feels like that). so aim for like 75 pushups girls, or something. If you're worried about your foot, don't even bother with normal pushups, just continue doing them on your knees :)
    have fun
    you can also make the intensity harder by putting your elbows and hands closer to your body and still going to down to 90 degrees.
  • cartoonfruit
    cartoonfruit Posts: 28
    there are a lot of things you can do with resistance bands. they're so great lol. ummm okay
    google some exercises if you want
    but I like this one:
    lying on your back, arms straight up, vertical, holding band horizontally. pull one hand down to the ground horizontally (or as far as you can go). then other hand.
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
    Short answer: Girl push ups for now.

    Long answer: when you do push ups from your knees you are doing less work cause the weight of your body is cut down to almost 1 half (depending how your body is proportioned) . So the pressure on your arms is less since it's less weight being moved by them. Now when you do normal push ups you are adding your whole body weight and depending on how you position your feet you are also adding a balancing factor. So with regular push ups you have more of a workout from the weight and the balancing. The Balancing is were the stress on the feet comes in, since the feet main job is to act as support for the weight, and help balance your body through out the push up motion. So until you feel comfortable with how your foot is healing I wouldn't give it extra stress.
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
    thanks for your help guys :flowerforyou:
  • seamonkey789
    seamonkey789 Posts: 233
    not sure what your arm strength is, but when I was dancing in 1 of my classes, we had to do 40 push ups. When I hurt my foot, I balanced the hurt one on a towel and just went for it
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
    not sure what your arm strength is, but when I was dancing in 1 of my classes, we had to do 40 push ups. When I hurt my foot, I balanced the hurt one on a towel and just went for it

    I do yoga and work with weights... I have never done 40 push ups... :) I am trying to think of a way to balance it so there was no weight whatsoever on my injured foot... I will keep thinking
  • Larisonlj
    Larisonlj Posts: 426 Member
    Articles published within the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research revealed that men lifted about 66.4% of their body weight with each rep when they did a push-up on their toes. On their knees, they lifted about 52.9% of their body weight.
    Women lift slightly less of their body weight per rep, but the difference is negligible.
  • PollyWolly98
    PollyWolly98 Posts: 112
    You can do them on a stability ball (or bosu). Just roll out to where your shins are on the ball. It will prevent pressure on your foot, but will better replicate a full pushup. We have also done them from a step in my Bodysculpt class (start with thigh on step, then move out farther on your legs to make it more difficult). Good luck!
  • baoneill29
    baoneill29 Posts: 138 Member
    I love your persistance! There are some good replies here, I would keep with the knee push-ups for now and try to see how many you can work up to. It's still hard work and will build muscle and burn calories! Great Job!
  • fitQueenbeast
    fitQueenbeast Posts: 298
    not sure what your arm strength is, but when I was dancing in 1 of my classes, we had to do 40 push ups. When I hurt my foot, I balanced the hurt one on a towel and just went for it

    I do yoga and work with weights... I have never done 40 push ups... :) I am trying to think of a way to balance it so there was no weight whatsoever on my injured foot... I will keep thinking

    P90x has what is called a Stacked Foot Push up. Basically, you position your hands at two different angles (one forward, one set slightly backward) and stack your injured foot on top of the other one so the good foot does the balancing. The only drawback is you won't be able to switch feet. However, it will still give you your full push ups. All you have to do is switch hand/arm positions.

    Erica
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
    I love your persistance! There are some good replies here, I would keep with the knee push-ups for now and try to see how many you can work up to. It's still hard work and will build muscle and burn calories! Great Job!


    I think it is more boredom... than anything else... and the knowledge that when bored I tend to eat everything in sight... so I am really really trying hard to avoid boredom... (I don't have cable... and there is only so much internet surfing I can do!!!)

    You can do them on a stability ball (or bosu). Just roll out to where your shins are on the ball. It will prevent pressure on your foot, but will better replicate a full pushup. We have also done them from a step in my Bodysculpt class (start with thigh on step, then move out farther on your legs to make it more difficult). Good luck!


    I actually considered this... I don't own one... and would have to buy one... my only fear would be that I would fall... I don't have the best balance... and I am not sure if I could do it... I will continue to consider it though... I thought about getting one for the house anyway to continue my sit ups... (coxyx injury many years ago prevents me from doing them flat... but I LOVE them on the ball) but I am kinda terrified of trying to do it and falling :(


    Articles published within the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research revealed that men lifted about 66.4% of their body weight with each rep when they did a push-up on their toes. On their knees, they lifted about 52.9% of their body weight.
    Women lift slightly less of their body weight per rep, but the difference is negligible.

    this is actually what I wanted :) the difference between on the knees and the toes... but I wasn't sure how to word it... I am oik with that... at my weight... both percentages are a lot!


    after I get a little more comfortable I may try the p90x stacked push up... that sounds good :)

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