Strengthening upper body so I can do pushups?

azwen
azwen Posts: 237 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay, my upper body (especially my chest/triceps) is not keeping up with my lower body in gaining strength. I can, on a good day, do a poorly executed pushup. I would like to improve this. Are there other exercises that are easier than a pushup that would help me get there? Or do I just keep trying to do pushups every day? What about planks?

Don't laugh. I've gone from 45 lbs. to 130 lbs. on leg press, but my upper body has not gained much strength at all.

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    http://www.hundredpushups.com/#sthash.jXIqmJQG.dpbs

    ^^ Great site! They have an app for the phone as well. Do the best you can - do as many as you can with good form, even if it's just one. Then drop to your knees and continue to do the best you can. Some people start out doing them against the wall, or with your hands on the edge of the coffee table, etc.

    Keep at it and you will get stronger and be able to do more and more "regular" pushups. The app is awesome - I followed it for awhile and had great results - steadily increased how many I could do.
  • psychedmom
    psychedmom Posts: 39 Member
    I am built very much like you it sounds. My legs have always been so much stronger than my top. I have been doing chest press, flys dips, and curls. To work my way up to pushups I have done girly pushups for the last month. I can do 12 modified ones now and just tried standard pushups the other day and could do 3! That is a massive improvement for me actually. I would try doing girly ones first and work your way up. If you are losing weight don't forget that it's very hard to gain muscle while doing that. So don't beat yourself up. I am lifting to maintain the muscle mass I have and then plan to add muscle mass when reach goal weight.
  • Sycoholic
    Sycoholic Posts: 282 Member
    Well, in the Army they say if you wanna do more pushups then just do more pushups. What's your hand positioning? If you go wider than your shoulders you are engaging more shoulder muscle and might find this easier. You can start this way and work your hands closer as you get tired, engaging more tricep. Also you could try spacing your feet up to a foot apart to help stability. When you do shoulder width (or narrower) you're focusing more on the tricep. bodybuilding.com should have plenty of suggestions for tricep exercises depending on what equipment you have/don't have. Try holding yourself at the low position. Give yourself 2-3 second breaks when you max out and keep pushing. If you're finding problems sagging, ab or lower back getting sore then planks will help.
  • seekingstrengthX2
    seekingstrengthX2 Posts: 771
    Chest press, butterflies, bicep curls, etc.....you know, upper body stuff.
  • jimmie65
    jimmie65 Posts: 655 Member
    Try either knee push-ups or push-ups with your hands on a table, chair, etc. Do multiple sets each workout and build up to 20 a set, then try lowering the height your hands are at. And just keep at it.
  • psychedmom
    psychedmom Posts: 39 Member
    Wow! I just checked out the hundredpushups website and am very excited about it. thanks!
  • ohnoetry
    ohnoetry Posts: 129
    One thing my trainer has had me do is in between sets of pushups, I hold at a plank position for about 15 seconds, it's supposed to strengthen your core and it's definitely helped me. Good luck!
  • madrose0715
    madrose0715 Posts: 463 Member
    I had the exact same problem you have described...besides regular upper body strength movements, PLANKS are what finally got me to do my first set of 8 'proper' push ups last weeked. At first, I could only hold a plank for 5 seconds (8 weeks ago), I can now hold plank for 1 minute. Once I got to the one minute mark, I finally excuted my first set of full pushups...

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