I can’t do push-ups

[fatherhood]

@ilovejesuschristourlord I really recommend Antranik's video on push-ups (and progression to push ups - he advises against doing them on your knees as that doesn't activate the core as much).

Push ups are hard. They look easy once you master them, but push ups are not really a beginner move, especially for women.

 

[proudmason]

@fatherhood It's really frustrating because I have good strength in my legs but my upper arms are just weak and I have old shoulder injuries I have to work around as well, but so many programs and videos use push ups on different varieties and low impact cardio (because knee injury and now apartment living) really likes using push ups, too! It seems like you should just be able to do pushups for 30-40 seconds 3 times in a row with a break, and I just can't do that. It's demotivating, and seeing it in easier, beginners videos just makes it worse.

 

[fatherhood]

@proudmason No, if you're a woman and haven't trained for push ups, that is absolutely not doable with proper form. Maybe if you're a guy, maybe if your form is shit. My reps went WAY down once I fixed my form.

It's easier once you master them but it takes time, will and consistent work to get there. Be aware of that and don't get discouraged. A lot of fitness vids are made for men, or by women who've been exercising that way for a long time. I personally wouldn't sacrifice form and would do a modification (doing them with hands on a higher surface - or doing another move, tbh).

 

[carla25]

@ilovejesuschristourlord Okay, first of all let's stop calling them 'girl push ups' - so many women can do a full push up from their toes despite it being anatomically more difficult for women to build arm strength than men. They're modified or assisted push ups.

Now that I've got that out of the way, as I mentioned, it is more difficult to do a push up if you're a woman so don't feel bad for not being able to do them yet! It's also a full body move - it involves your shoulders, arms, core, legs, everything so it's not a beginner move by any means. Also lots of men do push ups, but their form is all over the place so that doesn't really count IMO.

I'm building up to push ups too and a huge revelation for me was that knee push ups don't work all of the same muscles as a full push up. So while a modified push up is fine, to really build up you have to do push ups at an incline. Start from pushing up from the wall, keep doing this until it's easy to do for 10 reps. Then stand on your toes and do a wall push up. If that becomes doable for 10 reps, try the kitchen counter, a desk. Then repeat for different angles until you think you can do them from the floor.

As others have mentioned, planks will help you build your strength (a push up is a moving plank after all). Negatives should help too. Also, I'd recommend doing wrist strengthening exercises and warm up the wrists if your wrists give out before other parts of the body.

Finally, I couldn't even do modified push ups for ages and that was linked to generally having skinny arms and not being able to build any muscle. Something that didn't click for me until last summer was nutrition. I didn't get enough protein so I wasn't building any muscle. I finally have a little bit of strength after changing my diet to incorporate more protein on a regular basis and it has changed the game.

Good luck!

 

[ilovejesuschristourlord]

@carla25 I appreciate that and my apologies for the term “girl push-ups” that’s how I always heard it but I will start calling them modified from now on

 

[carla25]

@ilovejesuschristourlord My frustration is not with you in particular it's more with the general use of the term because any individual might need to start on their knees and it's degrading to call them girl push ups!

 

[loveforanimals]

@carla25 And the idea that referring to someone as a girl is degrading!

 

[imrankhan2142]

@ilovejesuschristourlord If wall push ups are comfortable, then, if you’re at home, move to the kitchen and do push “offs” the kitchen counter. If those get easier, then move to the living room and use the sofa arm. Stick with it, your body will grow stronger.

 

[ilovejesuschristourlord]

@imrankhan2142 That’s brilliant!!! How come I never thought of this. Thank you!

 

[imrankhan2142]

@ilovejesuschristourlord Because I’m a coach, and it’s my job to help my clients reach their goals in an attainable and safe way

 

[ilovejesuschristourlord]

@imrankhan2142 I appreciate you!

 

[jabdallah]

@ilovejesuschristourlord i guess working on upper body strength is key here and don't compare yourself to others. for me push up progress was a bit slow and i had to accept that. when everyone was going 20+ push ups, i was celebrating every 5th or 10th consecutive push up i did. slow progress is still progress.

 

[ilovejesuschristourlord]

@jabdallah Thank you I never thought of it that way

 

[crosswalk1991]

@ilovejesuschristourlord Double emphasis on the bench press.

Benching helped my push-ups SO MUCH. I used to do push-ups wrong (arms flaring out at 90 degrees from the sides is wrong. Supposed to be at a 45 degree angle from the sides and a 90 degree at the elbow). Make sure you’re working your triceps and chest. Hands should be directly below your shoulders.

Good form HELPS your push-ups.

 

[ilovejesuschristourlord]

@crosswalk1991 Good form. Ok I am going to keep that in mind

 

[d_ruiz27]

@ilovejesuschristourlord There's already some great advice here! As others have mentioned, bench pressing helps a lot with this, I cannot stress that enough. If you can regularly bench press, do it! I promise it'll make push-ups so much easier!

Also, just to add my personal experience: I started doing the "girl push-ups" with your knees on the ground. Once I was able to do several, but still no regular push-up, I actually wore a backpack with some books to add weight. Slowly, but surely I built strength and managed to do my first push-up (trust me, the hardest one is the first one!), after that I continued building strength with the backpack, and was able to do several push-ups in a row. I later continued bench pressing regularly to build strength. You'll get there!

 

[ilovejesuschristourlord]

@d_ruiz27 My gym is closed but is their a way to do an at home bench press?

 

[loveforanimals]

@ilovejesuschristourlord If you don’t have a barbell, you can use dumbbells— or two of the same object (water jugs filled with water or pennies or something)

 

[lawforchrist]

@ilovejesuschristourlord If you don't have any dumbbells at home you could improvise with a pet or a toddler, or a pair of gallons of milk. An empty barbell weighs 45 lbs, so since you're a beginner, don't use anything heavier than that at first.

 

[ilovejesuschristourlord]

@lawforchrist I have dumbbells