Cant do a push up

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Cat_A_89
Cat_A_89 Posts: 93 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
As the title says I find it difficult to do even 1 traditional push up. I can do a couple when Im on my knees but not when all the way up. How would I go about training to be able to do push ups?

Replies

  • jalapenos6000
    jalapenos6000 Posts: 13 Member
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    Yes you can
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    73 lbs ago, I couldn't do 2 full pushups in a row. Now I am doing 40-50 in a row ... get the negative thoughts out of your head and keep trying.
  • papayahed
    papayahed Posts: 407 Member
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    I couldn't any either 2 months ago but yesterday I did 5! Like other posters I started doing modified push up and worked up to real ones.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
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    What everyone else recommends. I literally just started on my stairs and when I could do twenty on one stair, I'd move down a stair and do as many as I could on that one and then finish to twenty on the previous stair.
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
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    I am still working on mine. I don't like knee push ups because you don't get the full body feel from them. I find incline ones are better - either as middlehaitch has described, or by holding on to the bar of a Smith machine and gradually lowering the bar height. Also, do negatives. Start in the top position and lower yourself to the ground as slowly as you can.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    There is a challenge group doing the Hundred Push-up Training Prigram. Week 1 helped me a lot but I need to start over after taking a break.

    https://hundredpushups.com/
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
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    Stress / recovery / adaptation. Like any strength program - even when you start out not being able to do one of a particular thing.

    For me, being overweight I could never do a pull up or chin up. Even when I dropped from 245-195. I started with a machine that 'assists' you buy adding weight under your feet. The effect of pulling up say 140 pounds instead of the 195 that I weighed when I started lifting. Gradually reduced the assistance / increased the reps over time. Eventually got to the point of doing up to 10 at once unassisted, and 40 over a 7 minutes, weighing my current weight of 205.

    It was a process. It's the same process that works for every strength training movement there is: progressive overload. By the way - in that same process, there are mini-setbacks. Just keep training the movement.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    middlehaitch wrote: »
    Wall,
    Kitchen counter,
    Table,
    Kitchen chair,
    Stairs. 3,2,1
    Floor.

    Work your way down.

    Cheers, h.

    Gold!

    Also get in push up position and hold it. Planking will help engage your core as well.

    Make sure you're making the correct movement and pushing with your arms and chest.
  • igutt
    igutt Posts: 97 Member
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    There is a lot of good advise commented but one thing which I found helpful was doing bench press, i could already do push-ups when I first started doing bench press but they helped out a lot
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,311 Member
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    hmhill17 wrote: »
    As the pt sergeant in ROTC told me, the only way to get better at push ups is to do more push ups.

    How I started.. do in sets..

    Do the push-up.. on knees etc. Then progress to regular ..


    Currently I'm on 50 pushups.. 4 set.
  • koalathebear
    koalathebear Posts: 236 Member
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    I couldn't do pushups either so concentrated on learning how to plank. After I could plank quite well, I could suddenly do a push up.

    I still can't use the ab wheel properly though :( If I go out too far, I faceplant. It's very frustrating.
  • Cat_A_89
    Cat_A_89 Posts: 93 Member
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    Thanks for all the advice. I'll just keep working on it will make sure to let everyone know when I finally accomplished one 😁

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