Help with push ups

loopybec2002
loopybec2002 Posts: 313 Member
edited November 10 in Fitness and Exercise
I am really struggling with doing ANY push ups. I can do a blank on my arms for 30seconds holding my core very strong. I can do a plank on my hands for about 40seconds with the core strong holding a nice line but whenever I try to bend my arms even a little i collapse on the floor. I have tried lady push ups on knees but the more i move. My legs back the harder i find it. The only way i can do these are to be completely on my knees& just moving my head but then there is no weight on my arms.

Any advice would be great.

Replies

  • ladywolfkahn
    ladywolfkahn Posts: 77
    I too would be interested in a way to help do them. They are very hard for me to do. I have heard to do them standing up and using a wall but no clue if they are benificial.
  • alexbusnello
    alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
    I can only do the "girl push up" and maybe one proper one. I can do 20 girl versions, though...but struggle to.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,805 Member
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=S990kHLMVFg#t=03m15s

    Scooby showing how to do push-ups from knees.

    He recommends "push-up stands" to protect the wrists, but it's not required.
  • tinyjourney
    tinyjourney Posts: 198 Member
    Start at a higher incline. In addition to on your knees try full push ups against the wall, progress lower to a stabilized chair, the lower to a stair, then the ground. Check your hand position, there are several ways to do a push up, each way works different muscles differently. A different hand placement may be easier for you. I like wide arm, but many women find it harder when their arms are set wider. Build your muscles individually to get the combined action, back, biceps, triceps, chest.
  • zeeeb
    zeeeb Posts: 805 Member
    i started doing push ups last year and started with 1 man push up before i had to go back to my knees, worked my way slowly up to 3, 5, 10... now i can easily do 3 sets of 10 proper man push ups.

    just try, just do one, and then do 10 girly push ups after to work on your strength, and each week force yourself to add an extra 1 and in 10 weeks you should be able to do do 10 proper man style push ups.
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
    One of the most misleading things about pushups is the amount of weight your arms have to take. If you can hold a plank, you have a good feeling for the amount of suspension required to hold your core up, and stable. But the problem for a lot of people is that the minute they go for the pushup, they let their core go, because they think "down"; nose to the floor, arms taking all the weight.

    In reality, a good pushup maintains all that core, and you just bend your arms. It's a hard concept, because it's going against what you "see", but instead of thinking "down" to the floor, hold your core, your back, and your legs "up". Think about putting your back to the sky (not curved, just lifted, like a plank of wood), like someone stuck velcro on your back and pulled everything back, and then just bend your arms, withiut losing that collected sense of "up". Takes so much weight off your arms, it's amazing.
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