Push ups....HELP

_SusieQ_
_SusieQ_ Posts: 2,964 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok, so I suck at pushups. No really, I do. I tried doing the "100 pushup challenge" once and miserably failed.

I've read so many different things about how to improve, but thought I would reach out to the masses and get some more/different feedback. (Though I'm sure it will just confuse me more)

So, the main question is:
Best way to improve pushup performance?
*part b to that question is: Am I hurting myself more by doing pushups on my knees then if I do them from an elevated platform or even the wall? (and by elevated I mean upper body, like on a bench or counter top, etc)

And....GO!
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Replies

  • F1uffy123
    F1uffy123 Posts: 121 Member
    Bump! I suck too at these so interested in responses
  • Pixi_Rex
    Pixi_Rex Posts: 1,676 Member
    Bump because I need this information too.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I have no advice, but would like you to know you are not alone. I have finally worked up to a whopping 10 pushups *LOL* But that is still difficult for me.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    I found doing chest/bench press to be very helpful. It's basically the same motion, you're just on your back versus your belly. Losing weight also helped a lot :P

    Honestly I don't even bother with them anymore. Once you get good at them they are too easy. I prefer the progression of using dumbbells or barbells.
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    Just keep doing them. Even if you're only doing three - try to do four next time. Don't overexert and try to do like 100 in a month or anything... just try to do a few every day.


    I think the knees are totally fine. Once you're stronger you can switch over to 'standard'.


    IMO, of course.
  • _SusieQ_
    _SusieQ_ Posts: 2,964 Member
    I found doing chest/bench press to be very helpful. It's basically the same motion, you're just on your back versus your belly. Losing weight also helped a lot :P

    Honestly I don't even bother with them anymore. Once you get good at them they are too easy. I prefer the progression of using dumbbells or barbells.

    I have been lifting also. I seem to be able to progress at bench, but can't do a decent pushup to save my life. I'm SURE it's partly my weight...that's a lot of damn weight to push off the floor!
    Just keep doing them. Even if you're only doing three - try to do four next time. Don't overexert and try to do like 100 in a month or anything... just try to do a few every day.

    Yea, I figured "practice makes perfect" was going to be the popular answer. :happy:
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
    Push ups challenge your upper body, back and core. Strengthening in those areas will help for sure. I have gone from girly push-ups (using knees instead of feet) to a military style push-up. Military style push-ups I am not kidding you are mega hard and I can only manage 5 in one go but over time I will be able to do way more than that.

    Just keep at it and keep strengthening.
  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
    What I've always been told is the best way to train up to being able to do pushups is to do them on your knees until you can do 20 or so. By then you should be strong enough to do at least a few with proper form, and then build from there.

    Are you tall, by the way? It's not unusual even for tall men to have trouble doing pushups-- it's just a matter of where the lever is placed, making the work much harder. But in any case, there's certainly nothing wrong with doing pushups on your knees so long as you're really working hard when you do it.

    I'm afraid I'm not familiar with a wall platform for pushups. Would that be putting your hands on the seat of the chair?
  • AfreezeAdventure
    AfreezeAdventure Posts: 23 Member
    Use barbells, lift regularly, continually make gains.

    Try to do push ups every day. even if it's 1, you will see gains sooner or later.
  • aminswife
    aminswife Posts: 29 Member
    I stick to the 'girly style' with the knees because my Phys Ed teacher once told me that new research had shown that the military style ones can damage a woman's womb. Thanks very much but I want my womb working perfectly!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    I found doing chest/bench press to be very helpful. It's basically the same motion, you're just on your back versus your belly. Losing weight also helped a lot :P

    Honestly I don't even bother with them anymore. Once you get good at them they are too easy. I prefer the progression of using dumbbells or barbells.

    I have been lifting also. I seem to be able to progress at bench, but can't do a decent pushup to save my life. I'm SURE it's partly my weight...that's a lot of damn weight to push off the floor!
    Just keep doing them. Even if you're only doing three - try to do four next time. Don't overexert and try to do like 100 in a month or anything... just try to do a few every day.

    Yea, I figured "practice makes perfect" was going to be the popular answer. :happy:

    I have heard that doing a pushup is roughly half your bodyweight. Doing a little testing with weights equal to half my body weight, I could do almost exactly the same amount of reps as I could do push-ups. So I'd say it's pretty similar.
  • Controversial
    Controversial Posts: 157 Member
    Doing NROL is helping me tremendously. During P90x I thought there was something wrong with me, but it just wasn't developing my upper body strength sufficiently.

    Fyi, I'm now in stage 6 of NROL4W, the pull up stage. HUGE improvement in upper body strength!
  • BigAlfrn
    BigAlfrn Posts: 173 Member
    the ONLY way to get better at doing push ups is to do push ups. Plain and simple. Get off of your knees and straighten out your back and go down and come back up while keeping your back straight. If you can only do 1 or barely do 1 then keep doing that 1 until you can do 2 within 1 minute then rest another minute and do another. As you get stronger you can lower your rest time to 30 seconds.
  • juliec33
    juliec33 Posts: 238 Member
    One of our bootcamp trainers had us do hand release pushups. Start in a full push up position. Go all the way down until you are on the floor, pick your hands up off of the floor for just a second, then push back up to a full push up position. You can belly flop down at first but try not to "seal" back up. He said that this helps with the full range of motion that is intended for the push up. You go all the way down and all the way back up....you just get a tiny little bit of rest at the bottom. Once you build up you can work on taking longer to go up and down in the push up. Eventually you can work up to a full pushup. Worked for me. I can do approx 45 full pushups in 2 minutes now...........
  • _SusieQ_
    _SusieQ_ Posts: 2,964 Member
    I have heard that doing a pushup is roughly half your bodyweight. Doing a little testing with weights equal to half my body weight, I could do almost exactly the same amount of reps as I could do push-ups. So I'd say it's pretty similar.

    Thank you, THIS is good info!
  • htimsm87
    htimsm87 Posts: 104 Member
    Check out this link..

    Zero to 100 pushups for the Complete Begineer..
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/zero-to-100-pushups-for-complete-beginners/
  • slwells1983
    slwells1983 Posts: 31 Member
    Start from your knees and set a goal for toes everyday. When I first started doing Beachbody's Power 90 I could only do a few and that was from my knees. When I got to the second half I was still doing them from my knees, but in the video they do what is called decline push ups. So for the first few weeks I kept doing them from my knees, but then one day I felt stronger and tried the decline push ups. I can do them, but not all 20. So each time I do the DVD I set a goal of +1 more than I did the time before. I am now up to 14 decline push ups and 14 push ups from my toes.

    It will take time, but you will get there ... you just have to keep at it!
  • 4_Lisa
    4_Lisa Posts: 362 Member
    Start on your knees, I still do them off my knees when I'm on the floor, but I also do pushups on the weightbench as well, different angles and different gravitational pull (I have a lot of weight on my bottom half) it's all about progression, do as many as you can then drop to your knees, next time push for one more before you drop... you'll get there
  • Melo1966
    Melo1966 Posts: 881 Member
    [/quote]

    I have been lifting also. I seem to be able to progress at bench, but can't do a decent pushup to save my life. I'm SURE it's partly my weight...that's a lot of damn weight to push off the floor!

    Try just holding in the plank position.
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
    I stick to the 'girly style' with the knees because my Phys Ed teacher once told me that new research had shown that the military style ones can damage a woman's womb. Thanks very much but I want my womb working perfectly!

    Where on earth did they get their information... how would your womb be damaged by a push-up? You might pull a muscle but damage your womb?
  • ericarae33
    ericarae33 Posts: 211 Member
    Its taken me a LONG time to work up to being able to do a decent amount of push ups, I think my max is 16. I do a ton of planks, and burpees...plus weights, I think just building up your muscles and core help a lot...I never do them on my knees....because usually the floor is hard and it super uncomfortable on my knees....
  • ericarae33
    ericarae33 Posts: 211 Member
    I stick to the 'girly style' with the knees because my Phys Ed teacher once told me that new research had shown that the military style ones can damage a woman's womb. Thanks very much but I want my womb working perfectly!

    Where on earth did they get their information... how would your womb be damaged by a push-up? You might pull a muscle but damage your womb?

    LOL, yeah that is strange, never heard of it
  • Tw1zzler
    Tw1zzler Posts: 583
    I started with knee pushups, then off a bench. Doing planks helps too as your core is a big factor. If you can only do one regular push up, then only do one and drop back to the knee position. Experiment w/ arm positions. Some positions favor different muscles. I think I do mine w/ my elbows more out vs. in which is easier for me for some reason.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I stick to the 'girly style' with the knees because my Phys Ed teacher once told me that new research had shown that the military style ones can damage a woman's womb. Thanks very much but I want my womb working perfectly!


    Wait wait wait... What does your womb have to do with it??? *LOL*
  • mikeyrs
    mikeyrs Posts: 176 Member
    I feel you're much better off doing Planks and progressing from your elbows to both full arms to one full arm. Yoga is a great way to tone your core and butt, and there too, planks are done in Yoga class. The only thing you don't get is muscular arms like you otherwise would with push ups. Even I prefer planks over pushups because it helped me tone my belly and ditch the fat around my mid-section.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    I stick to the 'girly style' with the knees because my Phys Ed teacher once told me that new research had shown that the military style ones can damage a woman's womb. Thanks very much but I want my womb working perfectly!

    No. It is running that can make your uterus fall out. Also, your fallopian tubes can get tangled. Push ups are okay.
  • KilannaFit
    KilannaFit Posts: 35
    I have found that form is key.

    When I get my body tense and kept my core tight I found to easy to lower by body and then tense and power back up.

    Got me from girly pushes up to standard push ups
  • jamk1446
    jamk1446 Posts: 5,577 Member
    When I did bootcamp, my coach had me do negative pushups. Start at the top in military position and lower your self to the floor, all the way if you need to. Then push yourself back up from the knee position. I don't know for sure that I made faster progress than just going from knees to full military but it made me feel more confident in mastering the exercise.
  • frood
    frood Posts: 295 Member
    My trainer has me doing inclined pushups using a bar. I've seen other people use those giant rubber bands around their waists or chests for assistance.

    Also, just to get this uterus thing cleared up, I went on a small google spree. The source is sports illustrated.

    Q: My coach told us that doing push-ups with your legs extended can damage your ovaries. Is this true?
    A: "The ovaries and uterus are fantastically well supported and protected by ligaments, pelvic bones and abdominal muscles," says Otis. There's no evidence that push-ups or any other common training technique can damage your organs. "Go ahead and do as many straight-leg push-ups as you can," says Otis. "Then challenge your coach to a few wind sprints."
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I stick to the 'girly style' with the knees because my Phys Ed teacher once told me that new research had shown that the military style ones can damage a woman's womb. Thanks very much but I want my womb working perfectly!

    No. It is running that can make your uterus fall out. Also, your fallopian tubes can get tangled. Push ups are okay.

    Duuuude.... I totally had to untangle my BFF's fallopian tubes the other day. It was worse than untangling my 1980's gold chains. Seriously ladies. Don't make this mistake.

    Do. Not. Run.

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