Women + press ups

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Tats1000
Tats1000 Posts: 36 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've recently started doing press ups as part of my exercise routine. The ladies type ones on your knees, not the full men type ones as I'm not strong enough yet. I'm doing an extra 5 per night to keep getting better. I just wanted to ask if these are actually beneficial to women or are they best left to the men for chest building? If you do think hell yeah women should do them, can you let me know what they work?
I am very excited to be honest cos I never thought I could do a press up but now doing sets with reps of 10 :) Let me know your thoughts! Xx
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Replies

  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    They are good for women too as they work your pectoral muscles - which help keep your "girls" from bumping on your knees.:laugh:
  • m4ttcheek
    m4ttcheek Posts: 229 Member
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    The weight involved in press up's is too light to build muscle, it just builds stamina.

    Try to do proper press ups, i've seen lots of women do them.
  • anonymousKel
    anonymousKel Posts: 92 Member
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    I have had some cracking core results and I put it down to adding press ups, planks, burpees and squat thrusts in my reg routine. Full ones and travelling press ups. love them. enjoy. Also nice shoulders in maxi dresses in the summer :)
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    They're not just great for chest muscles, the address your triceps and core too, a great all-round upper body exercise.

    Here's a blog on how I built up from super-easy versions to full ones following a shoulder injury:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/BerryH/view/how-to-do-10-full-push-ups-what-worked-for-me-126396
  • Schann7
    Schann7 Posts: 218
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    I always feel it in my abs when I do military style push ups!
  • pennydreadful270
    pennydreadful270 Posts: 266 Member
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    They work your shoulder, triceps, pecs and your stomach and back as well as you keep everything straight. Once you've worked up to doing lots of girly push-ups, I'd try full ones but at an angle- using stairs or a table/worktop/bed. You'll find the higher the angle is, the easier they are. I find using a bench about knee high is more challenging than girl pushups, but easy enough that I can get properly low and complete the reps. :)
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    I do push-ups with my feet on the dining table and my hands on the floor. working my way up to handstand push-ups.

    Yes i clean the table afterwards :flowerforyou:

    If anyone tries to tell you women shouldn't do any particular exercise, ask them how the heck they think we survived the palaoelithic era if women were so weak and fragile. Good form in important, and ensuring that any weights and resistance is not too much for your current level of strength.... but that applies equally to men and women.
  • Frazzlenz
    Frazzlenz Posts: 32 Member
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    I like your blog BerryH. I've been doing bootcamp for 9 months and still struggle to do a proper pushup. Its really frustrating. Will follow your plan and see if I can get some improvement happening.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    Of course we'll benefit from push ups...they're a great compound exercise using many muscles!
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    Pushups are awesome, I'll never forget when I started being able to do full pushups. Now I can crack 10 out at a time, <3 them.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    this is what I want to be able to do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0mNQsPMuHQ

    I can do about the first 4 kinds so far and that's it... different varieties work different muscle groups so including a variety is good.

    also when you get to the stage where you can do 15 regular (knees not on the floor) push-ups, these varieties give you something to progress too, and there are others besides these.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    They are good for women too as they work your pectoral muscles - which help keep your "girls" from bumping on your knees.:laugh:


    Does not do a whole heap for women though. Boobs are fat, once the fat is gone there is not a huge amount you can do about what happens to them. You can only work the muscle under it, but without the fat there is only skin.
  • gabijadc
    gabijadc Posts: 90 Member
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    I used to be not able to do press ups but now I can do the full ones from toes or one leg press ups.

    I suggest doing both from knees and also some from toes even if you bend your arms just a tiny bit - that is how I got strong
  • SamanthaClarexo
    SamanthaClarexo Posts: 353 Member
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    Pushups are awesome, I'll never forget when I started being able to do full pushups. Now I can crack 10 out at a time, <3 them.

    Me too! Was so excited when I could do my first proper push up! Now they're one of my favourite exercises on chest day! x
  • JeninBelgium
    JeninBelgium Posts: 804 Member
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    also, I find when I do press-ups/push-ups on my knees that I really don't engage my core, but I am not yet strong enough to do them military style, so I now do"elevated" push-ups - in standard position (ie on my toes not my knees) but off the edge of a coffee table- much easier than on the floor but I still engage my abs

    at work I use my desk (higher than the coffee table and thus easier still - so somewhat less effective) and now at home, in addition to the coffee table or blanket trunk that I sometimes use, i am using a step- which is lower than the table, and thus harder- I can only do about 2 or 3 off of the step but that's more than I could do last month!

    so, my advice, is next time you do them try on your toes or off of an elevated surface
    One day I will get to the military style press-up/push-up and then on to the declining version

    http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/Upper-Body-Exercises/a/Decline-Push-Ups.htm
  • paruls86
    paruls86 Posts: 188 Member
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    try incline pushups with a bench support they are far better than girly pushups... i could never get the bun with girly ones... now i do regular though i can barely go three quarters but i feel worked out ... m working on getting to the chest touching floor types...
    i sometimes feel it also has to do something with ur upper arm length... may be not ...
  • twelfty
    twelfty Posts: 576 Member
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    The weight involved in press up's is too light to build muscle, it just builds stamina.

    Try to do proper press ups, i've seen lots of women do them.
    ?!?!?! the weight on a press up is about 60 - 70%% of your body weight!!! spread over shoulders, arms and chest ..........
  • rosettafaery
    rosettafaery Posts: 102 Member
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    My press ups are pathetic! I can maybe do one knee press up and then I just end up lying on the floor...
    Checked out the blog post by BerryH and I think that will really help me to build up and improve.
    Thanks for the advice!
  • twelfty
    twelfty Posts: 576 Member
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    also for anyone serious about press ups check this out:

    http://www.hundredpushups.com/#sthash.nBA6Li6P.dpbs

    i started this yesterday and it's great :)
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    The wide-leg version was the light-bulb moment for me in building up to to full ones.

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