Push-ups are the devil!
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Buffalogal, do you bench press? how much can you bench
Honestly I am not sure - we have been spending more time in my training on heavy lockouts (the up portion) because I can do the down portion of the pushup ok but can't get myself back up. And more other lifts and things like rows.0 -
I can hold a plank for 2 minutes with really good form but still can't do a push up.
And I love that captains chair exercise that other person hates!
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I don't know if I agree about the weight being a factor. I didn't have a problem doing push ups or climbing a rope at 190. I was even able to knock out 5-8 pull ups at that weight. Obviously, as I lost weight my performance would also get better. Maybe it is a "brain" issue as you mentioned.2
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I have to do push-ups since I'm in the reserves. Fortunately, since I'm over 55, I only have to do a few of them. I injured my right wrist last spring and push-ups put my wrist in a painful position. I manage 10 and call it good.
It seems fine that you can't do push-ups. You can do a whole lot of other things that are building your strength.4 -
Push ups are awesome. However, I have never climbed a rope so I don't understand how you can do that yet you can't do 1 push up? Do you feel any pain wile doing them?0
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IceQueen1986 wrote: »Push ups are awesome. However, I have never climbed a rope so I don't understand how you can do that yet you can't do 1 push up? Do you feel any pain wile doing them?
No pain. Just can't push myself up. I managed rope climbing by learning how to grip the rope with my feet and use my legs to help propel me up. Obviously, there is upper body and core needed, too, but the legs help a ton. Also short-burst cardio, which is where I "fail out" on rope before any "muscles" actually tire. I get pooped! :-)0 -
Pushups and rope climbing are different tasks requiring different strengths and skills.
As the OP has noted, she learned how to use her legs to assist in rope climbing. Unless you are doing it leg free, you do not have to pull yourself up the rope only using your upper body, because climbing a rope efficiently involves the alternating and coordinated use of BOTH your upper and lower body to inch your way up the rope.
On the other hand, pushups (as well as pullups and dips) are an exclusively upper body exercise involving only the use (to varying degrees) of the arms, shoulders, pecs and back and is therefore a much more difficult exercise for people (particularly women) w/o sufficient upper body strength to do.
FWIW, I have always been able to climb a 20-25' rope. Did it when I was a young boy of12 in jr high school and can still do it now as an old man at 66. Coordinated use of my arms and legs has always been the key.
I haven't always been able to do many, if any, pullups but have always been able do at least a few dips and pushups. However, I now do 5 sets each of 7 pullups, 12 dips and 17 pushups (35/60/85 total) everyday but I worked up to this and am continuing to increase the # of each per set by 1 each month with the goal to do at least 10, 20 and 25 per set for 5 sets each (50/100/125 total), respectively, each day.
As I suggested earlier, time, patience and peserverance is what is necessary to achieve this.3 -
Are your elbows flared or by your side?
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It sounds like you really workout hard and can do quite a bit, so at this point I'm leaning toward what your one trainer said about push-ups simply becoming a mental hurdle at this point.
I have to practice push-ups all the time. I'm at 3 sets of 8 right now and then I just build on gradually. Guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses because I couldn't climb a rope if my life depended on it. Even if you use your legs to assist that's quite impressive IMHO.1 -
Have you tried band assisted push ups? My trainer had me do these and I went from 0 to 10 full push ups in about 2 months. Tie a resistance band to a pull up bar. Start with the band around your upper chest. Once you can do 10 there, move on to having the band around your waist. Once you get 10 there, change to a lighter band. I've never seen anyone else do this at the gym but it worked like a charm for me. It allows you to practice the full range of motion which helps get over the mental "I can't do this" barrier.
If you Google "band assisted push ups" you'll find some YouTube videos.2 -
Have you tried band assisted push ups? My trainer had me do these and I went from 0 to 10 full push ups in about 2 months. Tie a resistance band to a pull up bar. Start with the band around your upper chest. Once you can do 10 there, move on to having the band around your waist. Once you get 10 there, change to a lighter band. I've never seen anyone else do this at the gym but it worked like a charm for me. It allows you to practice the full range of motion which helps get over the mental "I can't do this" barrier.
If you Google "band assisted push ups" you'll find some YouTube videos.
That's a good idea. Once a week I have been getting strapped into a harness to practice 5 sets of 20 with counter weight but this might help me get more used to my own body weight, too!
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Are your elbows flared or by your side?
Have to do by my side, not flared, forearms straight up and down. We have worked on both wider and narrower hand placement. My trainer thought wider (so more strength came from my chest) would help but I actually find that harder than the closer ones.0 -
i think there are some things where once-a-week doesn't help me. i have a pretty shallow memory pool for proprioception in the first place. and for the things that don't make sense to my body, a week is plenty of time to completely forget what i did, how i did it and what it felt like the last time. it's like square one once a week, every week.
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buffalogal42 wrote: »Are your elbows flared or by your side?
Have to do by my side, not flared, forearms straight up and down. We have worked on both wider and narrower hand placement. My trainer thought wider (so more strength came from my chest) would help but I actually find that harder than the closer ones.
Those are military press ups, they engage the triceps more and are significantly harder
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buffalogal42 wrote: »Are your elbows flared or by your side?
Have to do by my side, not flared, forearms straight up and down. We have worked on both wider and narrower hand placement. My trainer thought wider (so more strength came from my chest) would help but I actually find that harder than the closer ones.
Those are military press ups, they engage the triceps more and are significantly harder
My trainer is in the military! Lol
But all the trainers at my gym make us do that form.0 -
You should look into Pavel Tsatsouline's "greasing the groove". His idea is that strength is a learned skill and that you can learn that skill by practicing the exercise of choice for just a few reps a set (he recommends half your max or maybe one in your case), but do multiple sets spaced throughout the day. That eliminates the fatigue factor and allows you to perform each rep with the best form. It trains your nervous system as well as your musculature.
http://www.strongfirst.com/one-good-rep-perform-perfect-pushup/
https://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/greasing-the-groove-how-to-make-it-work-for-you
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/20/get-stronger-by-greasing-the-groove/
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buffalogal42 wrote: »I'm a 39 year old woman, 190 lbs and 5'9" (down from 284) ... I have been doing group training classes for 2 years (3x wk) and now personal training for 4 months (2x wk with a goal of being able to do ONE "real man" push-up) ... and I still can't!
My first trainer focused a lot on triceps, shoulders, core, push-up negatives, chest ... my new one straps me into a harness once a week and has me do 100 push-ups (5 sets of 20) using the stack weights to help take weight off me. We started at 100lbs and are down to 40 lbs of counter-weight, but at 40 lbs I have to take a zillion breaks and I want to cry. I also do push-ups on my steps at home ... but I still can't do even one regular one.
I can push 750 lbs + on the prowler sled, climb the rope multiple times, do deadlifts/squats and weights I never imagined ... but the stupid push-up escapes me. What more can I do???
I hate push-ups. Can I do them? Yes. But something has to be off with my form because they make my back hurt so bad, it isn't even worth it.0 -
You should look into Pavel Tsatsouline's "greasing the groove". His idea is that strength is a learned skill and that you can learn that skill by practicing the exercise of choice for just a few reps a set (he recommends half your max or maybe one in your case), but do multiple sets spaced throughout the day. That eliminates the fatigue factor and allows you to perform each rep with the best form. It trains your nervous system as well as your musculature.
http://www.strongfirst.com/one-good-rep-perform-perfect-pushup/
https://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/greasing-the-groove-how-to-make-it-work-for-you
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/20/get-stronger-by-greasing-the-groove/
Thanks - will check these out!0 -
i just did a circuit of a local park and stopped at every vacant bench to try a few pushups against the edge of the seat.
my intention was to go do pullups from the jungle-gym bars, but all those little elementary-schoolers intimidated me
they actually seem to kill my upper back and rear shoulder girdle more than my pecs atm . .. probably shows how bad i am at holding a 'shelf' when i'm in this position. 0 -
I can't even imagine what a 750lb loaded sled would look like. To get better at a movement, you need to do the movement. Start with incline pressups against a wall (standing and leaning forward). As you progress decrease the angle so that eventually you are doing normal pressups.0
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