Push Ups

Rosa1213
Rosa1213 Posts: 456 Member
edited December 18 in Fitness and Exercise
So, guys, I can do ZERO push ups. As in: not even a single one.
I get in the position, and as I bend my arms to go down, about halfway there, my arms start to tremble, then they suddenly give out and I end up smacking my face on the ground.

I can do "girl push ups", the ones that have you resting your knees on the ground instead of your feet.
Will doing these ever help me do a real push up? Does the fact that I can't do a single push up mean something horrible?

I just don't understand: I used to play softball in high school and we did weight training all the time, and even then, I was never ever able to do a single push up. What's wrong with me? :(

Replies

  • sjeagle30
    sjeagle30 Posts: 292 Member
    I am in the same boat as you. I cannot do even one single push up. Only the girl kind....sigh
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    Nothing "wrong with you," you just have a weak upper body. Start pressing some light dumbells and work your way up.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    what you are doing now is how i worked up to pushups. Do as much of a regualr one as you can and then drop to your knees to finish them. Pretty soon you'll do one regular one, then 2, then 3....etc.
  • ElHombre23
    ElHombre23 Posts: 126 Member
    Countinue doing assited pushups visit this hundredpushups.com its a week by week program aimed at helping pushup progress
  • dorothytd
    dorothytd Posts: 1,138 Member
    You will absolutely do them. How long have you been doing the "girl" ones? Took me 2 months of doing them just about every night (as many as I could) until I worked up to the first real one. And then once you do a real one, you will do another, and another. I did that until I got up to around 40-50. Probably took 4 months total. (It was a while ago.) I broke my wrist after that and went through the same process after it healed. Started with "wall" push-ups, then to girl, then back to real. Back to 40-50.

    We women just don't have the upper body strength that guys do, so you gotta work it. And there are lovely little muscles that will show up as your reward! But KEEP at it. Not 2-3 times a week. 5-7.
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
    keep practicing with the ones on your knees. you'll get there.
    I lift heavy and it really has improved my pushups.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    I stick with the girly ones. I can do a lot more of them then I used to. So be it. Better than none at all.
  • RachelsReboot
    RachelsReboot Posts: 569 Member
    what you are doing now is how i worked up to pushups. Do as much of a regualr one as you can and then drop to your knees to finish them. Pretty soon you'll do one regular one, then 2, then 3....etc.

    This is what I did, now I can do about 6-7 real ones then have to drop to my knees to do the rest. I am just gonna keep on going until I can do all "real" ones.
  • good2bthaking
    good2bthaking Posts: 325 Member
    try doing a reverse push up. You lay under a bench press bar and pull yourself up to the bar. It sounds strange and I am not describing it well, but if you can go to a gym and get on what's called a smith( not sure of spelling) machine and tell a knowledgable person what you are trying to accomplish, I am sure they will demonstrate. Good luck!!
  • 987Runner
    987Runner Posts: 209
    I couldn't either for the longest time. I could do "girl" push ups well, but barely one regular push up. I started doing barbell weights for my arms and I can now do 12 true-to-form push ups before going to my knees. Still working on doing more but I had no clue that barbell weights would help...but they do!
  • lstnlondry
    lstnlondry Posts: 1,794 Member
    How about some planks? I can't/have never been able to do a pull up!
  • KeyMasterOfGozer
    KeyMasterOfGozer Posts: 229 Member
    Countinue doing assited pushups visit this hundredpushups.com its a week by week program aimed at helping pushup progress
    This.

    http://hundredpushups.com/

    That site will help you get started. It tells you how to make your push-ups easier and work up to getting the real thing done. For instance, you can do push-ups against a wall. The farther you move your feet away from the wall, the harder the push ups become until you are eventually flat on the ground and can do real push-ups.

    Hang in there, you can do it.
  • silkandsugar
    silkandsugar Posts: 125
    I used to not be able to do any but I just kept trying and now I can do like 20 real ones on a good day. It just takes a while. It took me a few months since I was SO weak before lol. Give it time
  • Keneli
    Keneli Posts: 3
    I used to only be able to do push-ups on my knees. They are not "girly" push-ups but "modified" push-ups. Calling them "girly" push-ups is like saying that walking is "girly" running. Every exercise takes time to build up to, and just because you are in shape in some ways doesn't mean that you can do every excercise with no trouble! Every exercise uses different muscles. I am in great shape for my age and previous sloth nature, but it took me a year to get there with lots of hard work and dedication. I do running two times a week with a group, did bootcamp yoga once a week, and tried to fit in some stuff on my own here and there. As I got stronger cardio from running I didn't necessarily get stronger arms they are still quite weak as I don't do a lot of exercises that specifically target them. But - I got a LOT better at push-ups from yoga - doing planks. Sometimes I still have to go to my knees - it can depend on my arm strength (if I am trying to do a bunch in a row - I started interval training, and the longer I do one set of exercises for the more I have to modify by the end. I like to push myself, but there is no sense injuring myself either. When I get tired or my arms are no longer able to hold me or my back is sore, I modify to knees. With no shame either - is still a hell of a lot more exercise than the people still sleeping are getting! Plus Rome wasn't built in a day. But anyway - point is - just keep working at it, try doing planks to strengthen your arms and get used to the position used for push-ups and remember - no exercise is "girly" or "not girly". Just modified or stepping stones.
  • Rosa1213
    Rosa1213 Posts: 456 Member
    ^^ I agree about the "girl" exercise thing being pretty silly, but that's the most common way I'd ever heard them referred to as.

    Thanks for the advice guys.. I suppose I'll keep doing my "girl" push ups every night until I get to doing a real one..
    It makes me feel better that other people are/were in the same situation as I'm in right now. Hopefully, a few months form now, I'll be able to get one done.
  • Keneli
    Keneli Posts: 3
    lol, I know that is what they are called in general, I am usually not so "politically correct" lol, but I can do regular push-ups and I do push-ups on my knees ... and I know a lot of guys - who especially after intervals of 30 seconds as many push-ups as you can do, 10 second break and etc. for 8 sets - that are by the end doing a LOT on their knees!! :) I just find lots of exercises are called "modified" except for pushups ... and really? When my back was bad there is no way I could have done regular pushups (and my back was sore for reasons guys can't relate to!!). Honestly - I would try doing the planks that are done in yoga. It was slow progress, but I was amazed at how far I was able to come. Started by just doing high plank to low plank - then to holding low plank - then to pushing back up to high plank and lowering again. Worked wonders. I am 38 - and was 37 before I started to do anything remotely healthy (other than swimming in high school, but really? Who didn't do that). If I can do it, I know you can too!!!
  • jamiesadler
    jamiesadler Posts: 634 Member
    Start doing them against a wall or using a bench so you are a ta slight incline, these are easier and build up to regular push up.
  • Savyna
    Savyna Posts: 789 Member
    I don't like the idea of calling them girl push ups as if to imply women are incapable of doing a full body push up. But the ones on your knees are the modified version of a full body push up that's how i would cal it. For now just work on increasing your strength doing them on your knees. maybe perhaps doing the 100 push up challenge with the knees and then work on the challenge whole body. Ive been able to increase my push ups from 20 in a row to 45 through the challenge.
  • hedgiie
    hedgiie Posts: 1,226 Member
    you might be surprised that those guys in the gym can't do much push ups, yes they can but they can't do as much reps as you might expect. the reason is that our body are consist of muscles and ligaments and since you don't practice those muscles they are under developed so you can't do certain function that well.
    good example are the astronauts, when they gone back to earth they actually lose muscle mass and some weakness in their legs that's because those muscle where not activated and used from some time as they are in zero gravity. so they have fix this problem by supplementing workout in space so to avoid this problems.
  • 2April
    2April Posts: 285 Member
    Do 3 sets of ten or eight on the stairs every second day. Start with your hands on the fourth stair and move down a stair each week until you are on the floor. My mom did this and it worked for her.
  • dorothytd
    dorothytd Posts: 1,138 Member
    Planks are an excellent idea too! Gets your body used to that position and strengthens the core.
  • Keneli
    Keneli Posts: 3
    Also, if it makes you feel better - I can run at a decent pace (started from couch potato to running about 5.45 pace within a year), have strong abs, strong legs, can do lots of push-ups in a row now ... yet when I tried pull ups for the first time today, I totally sucked the suck-suck. As was requiring lots of forearm muscles that I just hadn't ever worked out before. Ya see? Just keep doing repetitive attempts and exercises targeting the same muscles and I am sure you will be able to do push-ups before you know it!! Good luck.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    doing modified pushups for me did absolutely nothing to help me do regular ones because what was holding me back (core strength) isnt really challenged in the modified version.

    what did help was working on gradually lowering my push ups. i started against a wall with straight legs, then against the dining room table, then against the coffee table, then on step risers. i gradually decreased the number of risers until I was doing big girl pushups on the floor. Now I'm doing stuff like diamond push ups, staggered hand push ups, T-ups, and working on plyometric pushups!

    all in all it took about 2-3 months of consistent effort to go from wall to floor.
  • icemaiden17_uk
    icemaiden17_uk Posts: 463 Member
    I started doing girl push ups and then kept going and developing! I can now do 10 3/4 push ups really easily and will be looking at doing a full one unassited tomorrow!! (by unassited I mean not on a platform or anything!)

    My aim is to do at least 1 handstand press up by this time next year! That is going to take some real upper body and core work!! Lol!

    I also started doing lots of full and half planks to help my core strength and also my shoulders and upper body!!
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