I can't do push ups

jilltaylor86
jilltaylor86 Posts: 87 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone have any advice on doing a full push up? I can barely get my arms half way down. I even struggle doing the girl style push up's. I have a decent amount of strength in my arms, and have decent definition. Lifting weights isn't a problem..so why is doing push ups? It makes all the burpees I do especially difficult. Plus it makes me feel really weak and out of shape. Tips, anyone?
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Replies

  • kmchambers64
    kmchambers64 Posts: 158 Member
    I started the 30Day Shred on February 4, and I could not do the girlie ones either. I modified by leaning on a wall the first ten days, that helped then I moved to the on my knees. I am now doing the Ripped in 30, I can do exactly two military and then it is back to my knees for the next twenty. Just keep working at it, you will get there.
  • ModoVincere
    ModoVincere Posts: 530 Member
    Do the girl pushups for a week. Then do girl pushups with a weighted vest with a couple pouds on it. Then add more pounds, and repeat. and repeat. and repeat.
    Then try regular pushups.
  • marypatmccue
    marypatmccue Posts: 521 Member
    Well, this isn't super helpful but uh... change your mind set, and just do it... :noway:
  • dangerxbadger
    dangerxbadger Posts: 396 Member
    Just do them. Seriously. The more you do, the better you will become at them. I did 30 Day Shred as well, and what really started improving my form/ability was simply making upper body strength gains doing body weight exercise. Try yoga, P90X, Insanity, anything that is going to push your body to use it's own weight.
  • CarlaChalk78
    CarlaChalk78 Posts: 60
    I couldn't either lol

    I did upright push ups against the wall till they were super easy, then I did them against the counter in the kitchen till that was easy, then I did girly ones on my knees till that was easy, then planks till I could hold it for 2 mins and then SUCCESS I could do one :D

    Slow and steady ;)
  • freckledLeanne
    freckledLeanne Posts: 111 Member
    Keep at it and your muscles will build up over time. I started with pushups probably a year ago (girly push ups) and then moved to military-style push ups (though I couldn't get my arms to 90-degrees, I kept doing them). Now I can do full push ups! It just takes practice... your muscles have to build to support the movement.
  • RiversideBabe
    RiversideBabe Posts: 75 Member
    Try a different modification like against the back of your couch or a chair until you can build up to the "regular" push up. Girl push ups don't work most of the muscles like a regular push up does.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Just keep working at it....you will build more upper body strength eventually...just don't give up!
  • imhungry2012
    imhungry2012 Posts: 240 Member
    Start with wall push ups to work your way up to girl push ups then incorporate 1 or 2 (or as many as you can) of real push ups mixed into the sets w/ girl ones. Doing chest presses and planks will also increase your ability to do push ups, it's not just about arm strength. This is the progression I did and now I can do 25-30 in a row! Good luck, you can do it.
  • tomomatic
    tomomatic Posts: 1,794 Member
    Don't feel bad about not being able to do a push-up. Men and women have different centers of gravity and this makes it harder for women to do a pushup. (I'm speaking generally so please don't beat me up for this).

    I think CarlaChalk78 has the right approach. Do the girly ones on the knees and graduate to doing them regular.
  • junejadesky
    junejadesky Posts: 524 Member
    Practice, practice, practice..... you can hold the top of a push up and put a micro bend in your elbows.... remember that shaking is good because it is building muscle. It's all about the core and the legs also... try doing a push up while squeezing a pillow, a block, or a ball between your legs. That is going to get your core to fully engage plus your thighs will also be engaged.... it's not about arm strengh. You have to think about pulling all the muscle to bone in the rest of your body.... engagement in the core, legs, back, and arms.
  • sierra_12
    sierra_12 Posts: 249 Member
    i agree with kmchambers, you can start by leaning on a window sill (sturdy one!), bed, bench, chest, chair, anything that brings you a couple feet off the ground. its a nice way to get into doing push ups. then make your way towards push ups on your knees, then military style (: hope this helps!
  • Scar1964
    Scar1964 Posts: 92 Member
    http://www.hundredpushups.com
    Maybe a different approach may be helpful. It's worth working on them because they are a great overall upper body exercise.
    Good Luck.
  • julesassid
    julesassid Posts: 49
    Push ups are hard! Keep trying your best! You'll get better with time and repeatedly doing them. Try doing as many push ups on your knees as you can. Do that many week 1 and then the next week try doing a couple more. They take time. And for the record, I do push ups at least 3 times per week (since summer 2012) and I can still only do five regular then back to my knees I go.
  • palmerar
    palmerar Posts: 489 Member
    Try adjusting the width of your arms, sometimes (with well-endowed ladies) it can be difficult to work around the boobs, when the arms are right by the sides. Also try breaking the push-up into 2 movements, half-way down, all the way down, half way up, all the way up. I don't know why but doing them with wide arms (elbows out) and breaking it down helped me.
  • alamarana2885
    alamarana2885 Posts: 91 Member
    I had a lot of trouble with push ups too until I looked up a few sites that explained how to do them (I'd never been taught). My arm positioning was all wonky so I take time to make sure my hands are positioned properly before actually trying to push up. I've also noticed that my low back strength plays a big part (which is why I can only do girly ones). If your back can't support your weight in a push up it won't matter how much you arms can lift, a push up requires full body coordination and strength to pull off.
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
    If doing full pushup is too difficult do knee pushups. If doing them on your knees is too hard, lean against a wall and do them and decrease the angle until you can do about 6-8.

    I would also highly recommend doing bench press at the gym.
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    Just keep practicing with the "girl push-ups"
    I did girl push ups for FIVE months....then I was like, "ok, time to try real ones." And BAM! I did 20.
  • SariC3
    SariC3 Posts: 69 Member
    I couldn't either lol

    I did upright push ups against the wall till they were super easy, then I did them against the counter in the kitchen till that was easy, then I did girly ones on my knees till that was easy, then planks till I could hold it for 2 mins and then SUCCESS I could do one :D

    Slow and steady ;)

    Definitely this^.
  • stephdeeable
    stephdeeable Posts: 1,407 Member
    Just keep trying. I'm still very heavy so any body-weight exercises are difficult for me. I try to do dips every day and I still can't do it, but one day I will.
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
    There are many different types of push-up, maybe try some other kinds and see how they feel on your arms. When I first started working out, I could only do a couple of 'girl-pushups' but now I'm almost able to do one-handed!
  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 942 Member
    This is a good progressive process that will get you doing pushups in no time (if you work hard at it) :laugh:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL1593kROa8
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
    Does anyone have any advice on doing a full push up? I can barely get my arms half way down. I even struggle doing the girl style push up's.

    Struggle with the girl push ups (on your knees). Just do them. This won't be easy but do them anyway. Once you get to the point that you can do 8-10 in a row for a couple sets then start with real push ups. Of course you might not be able to do one so switch to doing negatives. Do one set of negatives where you cheat to the up position and then slowly lower yourself down to the floor. Finish out with a couple sets that you can do on your knees.

    Keep adding in more and more of these negatives. The more you can do the easier it's going to be to do actual push ups. This is going to work better and faster than anything else. Why? Because doing negatives is exercising the exact same muscle in the exact same position that a real push up done in. A negative is an actual push up. You're just doing the down half of the exercise. You're also engaging your core, back, legs and all the other muscles you need to strengthen to do push ups.

    Do these 2-3 times a week. If you're serious and keep this up you should be able to do actual push ups in a reasonable amount of time.
  • sk2775
    sk2775 Posts: 699 Member
    I can't either, but I am working it. Some great suggestions from others...I guess we just have to keep working out and hope that one day we'll get it. Good luck.
  • Queen_JessieA
    Queen_JessieA Posts: 1,059 Member
    Does anyone have any advice on doing a full push up? I can barely get my arms half way down. I even struggle doing the girl style push up's. I have a decent amount of strength in my arms, and have decent definition. Lifting weights isn't a problem..so why is doing push ups? It makes all the burpees I do especially difficult. Plus it makes me feel really weak and out of shape. Tips, anyone?

    I can't either. My shoulder doesn't go in that angle since I had surgery there. It makes it feel like it will pop out of joint again. Not something I am willing to do. I will just do chest presses instead!!
  • aekimz23
    aekimz23 Posts: 112 Member
    You should do the 100 push up challenge, first do wall push ups for the whole 6 weeks, then do another round with knee push ups, then another round of regular push ups (or if you find you're still not at that level, do it on an incline. It sounds like a lot of time and work but it's really not, if you're willing to put the work in and get to the point where you're able to do real push ups. :smile:
  • SnicciFit
    SnicciFit Posts: 967 Member
    Does anyone have any advice on doing a full push up? I can barely get my arms half way down. I even struggle doing the girl style push up's. I have a decent amount of strength in my arms, and have decent definition. Lifting weights isn't a problem..so why is doing push ups? It makes all the burpees I do especially difficult. Plus it makes me feel really weak and out of shape. Tips, anyone?

    Don't do girl push ups. Roll your body up to a plank and then plank yourself down. Eventually, you'll get to where you can push yourself up!
  • Spartan_Maker
    Spartan_Maker Posts: 683 Member
    Hi, Jill.

    As one other poster mentioned, try doing incline push-ups, against your kitchen counter for instance, and before long you'll be able to move to the floor and do regular push-ups. At that point, just keep doing them throughout the day and you'll improve your upper body strength.
  • Lane1012
    Lane1012 Posts: 211 Member
    forget I can't, say I presently struggle with .. and if you keep that mindset, someone who's dream it was to do 2 or 3 can turn it into 20 or more.

    -- Tony H

    Seriously just try and do one more than you did the last time, start shallow and go deeper when you start feeling stronger.
  • InnerConflict
    InnerConflict Posts: 1,592 Member
    http://www.hundredpushups.com
    Maybe a different approach may be helpful. It's worth working on them because they are a great overall upper body exercise.
    Good Luck.

    I highly recommend this program. I haven't completed it yet, but the amount I can do is steadily increasing.

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