GIRLY push ups vs. MANLY push ups?!?

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Monroe121
Monroe121 Posts: 358 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi All,

I want to tone my arms-- How many push ups (and reps) should I do? The giylr ones or the manly ones? :tongue:


Toning my belly!! How many crunches (and reps) should I do? I want a wash board!! :bigsmile:

Thank you for the advice!!
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Replies

  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    to achieve what you're looking for, you need to focus on getting stronger and losing weight. Unweighted exercises are only going to get you so far.
  • grapenutSF
    grapenutSF Posts: 648 Member
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    Unforch for me, pushups are rather far from "unweighted". Real pushups are great exercises, IMHO. If you can't start there, there are other ways to work your way up besides "girl" pushups. See New Rules of Lifting for Women. Oh, and that'll also inspire you to lift other things, which kinda rocks.
  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
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    This is a very individual thing and will depend on your level of fitness. i f you know the exercises, then you almost need to work out how many you can do in 1 set yourself , with the aim of completing 3 sets yourself.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I would suggest you do as many regular ones as you can in a row, then drop to your knees and continue doing as many "girly" push-ups as you can, without taking a break, then take a 2-3 minute break and do it again.

    even if you only get 2 regular followed by 6-7 girly ones that is a start and you will continue getting better and able to do more and more of each. Once you can get 15 or more regular you can stop with the girly ones at the end.
  • safetypins
    safetypins Posts: 70
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    I prefer the term "modified" because I've seen grown men incapable of doing "manly" push ups and my 15 year old sister beast out 50...

    I like to mix them and add more non-modified as I get stronger....
  • mcdonl
    mcdonl Posts: 342 Member
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    Eric gave good advice. When I started P90X I had to resort to modified pushups on some of the exercises. You will get stronger.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    to achieve what you're looking for, you need to focus on getting stronger and losing weight. Unweighted exercises are only going to get you so far.
    When I was....er...a "guest of the state" ....lol

    We had no other options.
    Here are some great sites for those interested in Body Weight Exercises.
    ENJOY!
    http://www.unique-bodyweight-exercises.com/index.html

    http://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/equip/bodyweight.html

    http://extreme-exercises.com/body-weight-exercises/
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    sorry, their is no fixed number of reps of exercises that you need to do, or distance you need to run to be able to get the results you want.

    appearance is the end result of hard work. if you do a combination of strength training and cardio you will see results, but it will take a very long time.

    by the way, no one says you have to be able to knock out 100 push ups in one sitting. try this: do a fixed number of push ups every half hour. say you can do about 5 in a row before your arms get shaky. so do five every thirty minutes over the course of the day, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. if you need to skip a half an hour you make them up asap. over the course of 16 hours you'll have done 160 push ups. do the assisted ones, and build up to the full "manly" push ups.
  • TimWilkinson101
    TimWilkinson101 Posts: 163 Member
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    You "could" google the "100 pushup challenge" (which also has situps) and go with that.

    When I was a LOT younger, I used to do as many pressups as I could in a minute as quick as I could (stops the lactic acid build up and the hurt) just before I went to bed. I got up to 110 in a minute and I was pretty strong. It also improved my chest and stomach (I had a 4 and a bit pack - never managed a 6 pack). That was using the "manly" pressups. However, start with the easier ones and "move up" if and when you feel like it. I was doing one armed and feet raised agaisnt the wall by the end.

    i'm a lot older now, so when I recently did the push up challenge, I had to pack in at 70 something as my wrist was just hurting too much. Ah well.

    So in short, do either push up type and do what feels comfortable. Push yourself a bit more each time if you can and you'll get the results you want.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Unforch for me, pushups are rather far from "unweighted". Real pushups are great exercises, IMHO. If you can't start there, there are other ways to work your way up besides "girl" pushups. See New Rules of Lifting for Women. Oh, and that'll also inspire you to lift other things, which kinda rocks.
    Real pushups are a huge challenge for me! And I really think I need to get that book. I keep hearing great things about it. :)
    I would suggest you do as many regular ones as you can in a row, then drop to your knees and continue doing as many "girly" push-ups as you can, without taking a break, then take a 2-3 minute break and do it again.

    even if you only get 2 regular followed by 6-7 girly ones that is a start and you will continue getting better and able to do more and more of each. Once you can get 15 or more regular you can stop with the girly ones at the end.
    That's what I try to do - even if it's only a few regular pushups, I do as many as I can and then drop to my knees for the rest. As I get stronger, I do more regulars and fewer from the knees.
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    here is a good article for a beginner body weight routine.

    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
  • GeneveSparkles
    GeneveSparkles Posts: 283 Member
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    I like doing pyramid push ups, do 10 p/u then take a 15-30 sec break, then do 9 w/ a break etc.... until you're down to 1. You end up doing 46 P/U but it doesn't feel nearly as hard if you just did 46 in a row!!! As you get stronger you can increase your starting number.

    (Manly ones by the way, you end up using more muscles then the girly ones :) )
  • knittnponder
    knittnponder Posts: 1,954 Member
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    The like the advice to get NROL. I'm just starting the program for women and so far am really, really liking it. In his book he explains why modifying the pushup by doing them on an angle is better than going to your knees. When you go to your knees you take the majority of your core out of the equation. So while you're making your arms strong the core isn't getting much progress. If you do them at an angle (like against a wall, counter top, bench or box depending on where you need to start) you're developing ALL the pushup muscles. You wanted to work your abs, a pushup modified in this way will help! P90X has a gazillion pushup variations in it too but he does have you go to your knees. I started with that program and one benefit of all those different varieties is I have no fear of the pushup now! lol

    Body weight will get you started but there are so many varieties you can do to keep making progress. And then when you've whipped all of those you can get a weighted vest or use resistance bands to up the ante. Just loop the band over your back and hold the end snugly under your hands to get resistance. You don't need the fancy band holder some companies sell but you can buy one that is designed to make your pushups more challenging. Of course I'm all for doing the whole NROL4W program but if you don't have the space or money for all those weights there are still things you can do!
  • mhotch
    mhotch Posts: 901 Member
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    I started doing wall push ups, worked my way down to the kitchen counter. I would do them while waiting for water to boil, or something that was cooking. Worked my way down to the floor. then I would do 1-2 "manly" and dropped to my knees and finish the set in the modified push up. Each week I would add 1-2 regular, until I was able to do 2 sets of regular.
  • rovernio
    rovernio Posts: 157
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    i used this site to build my push ups range a few years ago can do 100+ now http://hundredpushups.com/
  • hlcook
    hlcook Posts: 92 Member
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    I disagree with whoever said unweighted exercises won't get you far. I was 30lbs overweight and when I joined the army I could do TWO pushups (from my toes).

    Do AS MANY from your toes as you can, when you have maxed out, do as many as you can from your knees.

    Repeat daily :)

    If you can do 30 push ups from your knees, that translates roughly to 10 ( or 1/3) from your toes.

    If you want to increase the push ups from your toes, you will want to just do as many as you can and then switch to knees... and do as many as you can. You will get stronger and your arms will get more defined.

    Heather
  • trkinsky
    trkinsky Posts: 63 Member
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    When I first started my fitness push I was 40 lb over where I am today. I couldn't do many regular push-ups and needed to build strength. I didn't care which version I used as long as I was progressing and did not injure myself. Today I can do hundreds in a workout session. One thing to try is a push-up against a stair/step, or an incline PU. Here you are keeping your back straight and toes on the ground and can "graduate" as you get stronger. A great core exercise to get you in shape for pushups is the plank. Body weight exercises will tone so do what you feel you can do, but continually challenge yourself.
  • Monroe121
    Monroe121 Posts: 358 Member
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    Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions!! :flowerforyou:
  • rebeccawalker1982
    rebeccawalker1982 Posts: 117 Member
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    If you do the "girly" push up the correct way, you will actually get a good work out. Make sure your butt is down and back is straight and you will feel it. You could always start wtih the girl push ups if you are not that strong yet and when you get to like 30 or 40 with no prob start maybe warming up with girl and then go to regular or switch it around....or alternate.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    I read that girly pushups are pointless (New Rules of Lifting). You can do them standing up, find a bench or something and use that instead of the floor. You are engaging ALL of your core muscles, but the minute you drop to your knees, you're only engaging the upper part of your body.

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