push-up question

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7elizamae
7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When I started with my new friend, Jillian Michaels, about 6 weeks ago, I could only do one sorry little lady push-up. Now I can do about 20! :smile:

I can only do about 5 or 6 military-style push-ups. And I don't think the form is great -- I can't go all the way down with these and feel pretty shaky.

So, the question is: do I do 20 lady push-ups or 6 military-style-with-imperfect-form push-ups?
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Replies

  • PunkyDucky
    PunkyDucky Posts: 283 Member
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    I'd say stick with the military form.
    It's best to try to do 6 now and just continue working your way up each week. :wink:

    By the way, good for you to getting to that level. I can't even do more than 5 lady-push ups. :(
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    I'd say stick with the military form.
    It's best to try to do 6 now and just continue working your way up each week. :wink:

    By the way, good for you to getting to that level. I can't even do more than 5 lady-push ups. :(

    Maybe you should meet my friend Jillian. :wink:
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    Just one bump...
  • NotGoddess
    NotGoddess Posts: 1,198 Member
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    I'd say do as many as you can military style, then switch when it gets too hard.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,523 Member
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    Make sure your hands are inline with your chest. Many females have their arms inline with their shoulders. And start with your elbows closer to your body and as you get stronger, flare them out.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    When I was working on building pushups I learned two methods:

    1) Do as many full pushups as you can, then drop to your knees, do as many of those as you can, and then hold plank for as long as you can.

    2) Do as many full pushups as you can, rest for 60 seconds, then do one less, rest for 60 seconds, then do one less, etc. until you are doing only one pushup. In this case, because you can do 6, by the time you are done the pyramid, you will have completed 21 pushups during that session.

    I have found both of these methods very effective at improving my pushup count. I managed to get up to 43 consecutive before dropping! Best of luck :flowerforyou:
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    When I was working on building pushups I learned two methods:

    1) Do as many full pushups as you can, then drop to your knees, do as many of those as you can, and then hold plank for as long as you can.

    2) Do as many full pushups as you can, rest for 60 seconds, then do one less, rest for 60 seconds, then do one less, etc. until you are doing only one pushup. In this case, because you can do 6, by the time you are done the pyramid, you will have completed 21 pushups during that session.

    I have found both of these methods very effective at improving my pushup count. I managed to get up to 43 consecutive before dropping! Best of luck :flowerforyou:

    Interesting. Thanks for sharing these tips.
  • KBjimAZ
    KBjimAZ Posts: 369 Member
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    Don't discount the "Grease The Groove" idea. Randomly throughout the day, drop and do one (or two) really good push up(s). That's how I improved my pull ups, and it's easy to accomplish.
  • jassnip
    jassnip Posts: 116 Member
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    Hold out for good/great form. If your form isn't good you aren't getting the benefit of the exercise you are trying to do...
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    Make sure your hands are inline with your chest. Many females have their arms inline with their shoulders. And start with your elbows closer to your body and as you get stronger, flare them out.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    My trainers always taught me that flaring my elbows out would cause unnecessary stress on my rotator cuff and that I should keep them close to my body. In both my CF classes and a sports conditioning class I take elsewhere, the instructors will stop us mid-push up and tell us to keep our elbows closer to our body to prevent shoulder injury. Just curious why you differ in opinion?
  • RhiannonBaugh
    RhiannonBaugh Posts: 45 Member
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    Do both!!! DO as many full push ups as you can and after that do as many half push ups as you can :) and each time try and do more and more of the full push ups until your strong enough and only need to do them. 2 weeks ago i couldn't do any full push ups now i can do 15 before i need to take a 30 second break! practice makes perfect ;) good luck! :)
  • Tatyanne
    Tatyanne Posts: 471 Member
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    Jillian is one of my best friends!
    In one month I lost 2.8lbs and 11.2inches thanks to her videos and my commitment :blushing:

    I can do 20 lady push ups as well, and so far only 5 military one.
    I prefer the good form to the type of push up, so I've been doing it lady like in the videos, but I'm also doing 30 Day Challenge Push up (started last week), so in this I try to do it military style :smile:
    Make sure your hands are inline with your chest. Many females have their arms inline with their shoulders. And start with your elbows closer to your body and as you get stronger, flare them out.

    Great advice!
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    ...I can't go all the way down with these and feel pretty shaky.

    To increase your range of motion, use negatives - get into the military push up start position and lower yourself down very slowly until you are millimetres off the floor. Then drop knees down and push back up.

    Here's a good guide for how to progress your push ups: http://fivex3.com/2011/09/05/everybody-can-do-a-great-pushup-heres-how/
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    Reply to Nutmegoreo:

    Gulp. That sounds completely intimidating. :huh:

    But I'll try it.
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    I like this idea. I might try it with pull-ups. I can not do one single pull-up.

    But we have a bar that my teenage boys use, so I might try this 'grease the groove' thing.
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    .
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    ;
  • thesupremeforce
    thesupremeforce Posts: 1,207 Member
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    If you're serious about doing more push ups, you should definitely use a program that's specifically for push ups. I recently completed this one.

    http://hundredpushups.com/index.html

    Granted, our starting points are different, but I did increase how many I could do at once from 40 to 100 in less than a month. Like with most things, if you want to get better/good at something, you need to put an emphasis on doing that particular exercise (or whatever).
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    If you're serious about doing more push ups, you should definitely use a program that's specifically for push ups. I recently completed this one.

    http://hundredpushups.com/index.html

    Granted, our starting points are different, but I did increase how many I could do at once from 40 to 100 in less than a month. Like with most things, if you want to get better/good at something, you need to put an emphasis on doing that particular exercise (or whatever).

    I am starting from almost 40 and hoping to get to 100 and just started this program last week. Awesome to hear of your success!
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Reply to Nutmegoreo:

    Gulp. That sounds completely intimidating. :huh:

    But I'll try it.

    It might sound intimidating, but honestly, it works really well. Try one, then try the other and see what you are comfortable with. You will be surprised at how far you can come and how quickly.

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