@alidvx The most amazing part of starting where you are is that every thing you do is going to be a major break through! You dont need to do anything hardcore, just consistently show up 3 days a week and you body will show you so much! The sore weeks are rough, but you will soon be so proud of yourself.
I can’t even do a wall push. Not even one
- Thread starter alidvx
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mikelerten
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itiswellwithmysoul78
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@alidvx Howdy! I'm your same height and similar size and used to be 20 (I'm currently 30) and didn't start working out until I was 25. When I started; I ran here and there, but was 100% weak sauce--like could not do a pushup, or a plank, or even a proper dead-bug/tucked hollow hold.
So 2 things--you will get there! I started similar to you and now I bang out sets of pullups, pushups are easy, and despite gaining about 20lbs in this journey (I started at about 145); I have a 6 pack!
Now the second more important thing--scale to the hardest variant you can do. Meaning; you can't even do wall pushups? Then slow eccentrics/lowering to the wall it is--as slow as you can on the count of 5 or something. Hell, you can even do these as pushups on the floor which will help with planks as well. If you have access to a gym, start pressing--dumbbells, kettlebells, bench press, overhead press, etc. Learning how to tuck your core--lie down on the ground and start curling up from your torso (kind of like a crunch) but focus on pressing your spine in the ground--aim to hold and then lower back to lying to a count of 5. To help in mind muscle connection putting your hand under back will help, or even sometimes throwing a really light weight on your abdomen can help give queue you to brace.
And last; form check! Keep doing things, even if slightly wrong, because eventually you'll get strong enough to do them right. Just keep doing them to the best of your abilities and you'll make progress super fast. If you ever need advice; this sub is great for it so feel free to post form checks to get feedback on any other movements you are working on.
I believe in you OP. If I can do it, so can you.
So 2 things--you will get there! I started similar to you and now I bang out sets of pullups, pushups are easy, and despite gaining about 20lbs in this journey (I started at about 145); I have a 6 pack!
Now the second more important thing--scale to the hardest variant you can do. Meaning; you can't even do wall pushups? Then slow eccentrics/lowering to the wall it is--as slow as you can on the count of 5 or something. Hell, you can even do these as pushups on the floor which will help with planks as well. If you have access to a gym, start pressing--dumbbells, kettlebells, bench press, overhead press, etc. Learning how to tuck your core--lie down on the ground and start curling up from your torso (kind of like a crunch) but focus on pressing your spine in the ground--aim to hold and then lower back to lying to a count of 5. To help in mind muscle connection putting your hand under back will help, or even sometimes throwing a really light weight on your abdomen can help give queue you to brace.
And last; form check! Keep doing things, even if slightly wrong, because eventually you'll get strong enough to do them right. Just keep doing them to the best of your abilities and you'll make progress super fast. If you ever need advice; this sub is great for it so feel free to post form checks to get feedback on any other movements you are working on.
I believe in you OP. If I can do it, so can you.
cybersaint
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@alidvx Push ups are IMO the hardest exercise out there. Even the trainers at my gym agree. One of them said it takes longer to build up to full on pushups than a loaded squat for many of his clients, especially women. I’m horrible at them but what has helped for me are doing barbell chest presses, planks and back exercises. Building up those muscles helps. Don’t be ashamed the push up is dang hard and it is why it used so much from Navy Seal training to other elite forces.
@alidvx If it makes you feel any better, I can’t plank at all without seriously injuring my back and needing about a week’s recovery.
A back injury a while back caused my abs to get very seriously atrophied. Like, I can’t even sit in certain chairs for more than an hour.
I have been (very) slowly strengthening my abs by going on walks and actively engaging my core for a few minutes at a time. It’s the most strenuous core exercise I can do without injury.
A back injury a while back caused my abs to get very seriously atrophied. Like, I can’t even sit in certain chairs for more than an hour.
I have been (very) slowly strengthening my abs by going on walks and actively engaging my core for a few minutes at a time. It’s the most strenuous core exercise I can do without injury.
@alidvx Girl, pushups are HARD and geometry is going to work against you. 
here's an emoji medal for wanting to push through instead of give up. As for abs, I see fitspo women every day on Instagram with terrible terrible awful form. Prioritize form now (do more simple variations) and the strength will slowly come along.
here's an emoji medal for wanting to push through instead of give up. As for abs, I see fitspo women every day on Instagram with terrible terrible awful form. Prioritize form now (do more simple variations) and the strength will slowly come along.scientifix
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beautifultruth
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@alidvx This is literally what every single person trying to get fit goes through. Instead of disparaging yourself, congratulate your self that you are doing something to better you and that it's hard but
Ok so you've identified a weak spot - now keep on keepin' on. Good on you for recognizing it and admitting it - that's a huge step!
Tip for helping to keep your lower back down: put your feets under a bar - giving yourself a bit of leverage and allowing your legs to help.
Ok so you've identified a weak spot - now keep on keepin' on. Good on you for recognizing it and admitting it - that's a huge step!
Tip for helping to keep your lower back down: put your feets under a bar - giving yourself a bit of leverage and allowing your legs to help.
@alidvx I had similar weak core issues where my body always wanted to compensate with my low back. I saw a lot of recommendations on here for dead bugs and started doing those. It was an exercise I could focus on keeping my back totally flat and little by little my core got better and I could do more reps with more range of motion. Try these!
consumedwthocd
New member
@alidvx This line from AdventureTime has really helped me: “Sucking is the first step to being kind of good at something”
Everyone has already given great advice. Keep going. Try to scale back your goals into smaller, more attainable ones. You want to do 5 pushups? Great, see if you can do 2 solid pushups first. The most important thing is to be consistent and keep pushing. You got this
Everyone has already given great advice. Keep going. Try to scale back your goals into smaller, more attainable ones. You want to do 5 pushups? Great, see if you can do 2 solid pushups first. The most important thing is to be consistent and keep pushing. You got this
@alidvx So you really gotta try as hard as you can to take the shame out of struggling, because there should be no shame at all in struggling to do modified pushups. Even super duper modified ones! Your body is built in such a way that it makes it harder for you than it does for others. I've been powerlifting for 10 years and I can't do a bodyweight squat without special shoes. Bodies are weird, and you can't get down on yourself because your body is built in such a way to make it harder for you. That's not you failing or being bad at stuff, that's stuff coming harder for you.
So that said, practical techniques, I think my FAVORITE tip for getting better at pushups and other bodyweight activities is the controlled negative or the "seal up". You found that you can't do a wall push up in the position you tried it. But, for example, I bet if you put your feet like 6 inches away from the wall so you're standing straight up, you could do it then right? There's some position you can put yourself in where you can push with your arms and feel some resistance but you don't fall down. The struggle is, you gotta find a position in between "I feel like I could just push my hands at the air forever" and "I can not even do one push up like this". So one thing that I think helps a lot to change it up and transition from "just push on the wall a bit" to genuine wall push-ups, is to start the pushup in the harder wall-push-up form that you can't do, and lower your body to the wall. Then when you're at the bottom, step your feet in, and push up the easier way. Lower the hard way, push up the easy way.
It works for any go between of push-up skills. If you can almost do pushups on the counter, lower yourself slowly to the counter, bring your feet in, push up, repeat. If you almost have knee push-ups, get in knee-push-up form, slowly lower yourself to the ground, use child pose to get back up, repeat. If you have knee push ups but not full push ups, lower yourself in a full pushup, leave your knees on the ground, do a knee push up, pick up your butt. It helps because you're using all the muscle groups of the harder pushups, but it's easier, so you can crank out more of them.
So that said, practical techniques, I think my FAVORITE tip for getting better at pushups and other bodyweight activities is the controlled negative or the "seal up". You found that you can't do a wall push up in the position you tried it. But, for example, I bet if you put your feet like 6 inches away from the wall so you're standing straight up, you could do it then right? There's some position you can put yourself in where you can push with your arms and feel some resistance but you don't fall down. The struggle is, you gotta find a position in between "I feel like I could just push my hands at the air forever" and "I can not even do one push up like this". So one thing that I think helps a lot to change it up and transition from "just push on the wall a bit" to genuine wall push-ups, is to start the pushup in the harder wall-push-up form that you can't do, and lower your body to the wall. Then when you're at the bottom, step your feet in, and push up the easier way. Lower the hard way, push up the easy way.
It works for any go between of push-up skills. If you can almost do pushups on the counter, lower yourself slowly to the counter, bring your feet in, push up, repeat. If you almost have knee push-ups, get in knee-push-up form, slowly lower yourself to the ground, use child pose to get back up, repeat. If you have knee push ups but not full push ups, lower yourself in a full pushup, leave your knees on the ground, do a knee push up, pick up your butt. It helps because you're using all the muscle groups of the harder pushups, but it's easier, so you can crank out more of them.
@alidvx You know what, this isn't actually a disadvantage at all. You'll start gaining strength right away and having so much room for growth, you can push it as far as you want. I definitely recommend any strength training you find easiest to commit to, to get things going and after a while, definitely a gym for barbell and cable machine access to make progress better. You can even start with simple and short strength-focused programs. I started with Jillian Michaels' app, which I really benefited from for about 5-6 months. Then wrote my own DB program and did that for another 3-4 months. For now, just focus on making this a lifestyle/habit.
When I started weightlifting I couldn't do a push-up, despite having finished a demanding program like p90x3 (pull-ups and push-ups moderated ofc). My upper body was very weak and push-ups just felt so hard and weird, I could barely decent but couldn't push myself back up. Honestly, I haven't even properly tried to do one since starting, let me go try, hold on... Yup, it seems I can do them just fine now. My point is, it won't even matter what you couldn't do once you start getting strong, you'll find beautiful goals and push towards them and you'll just feel stronger and better day by day. So don't let being unfit or weak or whatever deter you, that just means you have more room to grow and more to look forward to.
PS. You'll be able to open all of the jars.
When I started weightlifting I couldn't do a push-up, despite having finished a demanding program like p90x3 (pull-ups and push-ups moderated ofc). My upper body was very weak and push-ups just felt so hard and weird, I could barely decent but couldn't push myself back up. Honestly, I haven't even properly tried to do one since starting, let me go try, hold on... Yup, it seems I can do them just fine now. My point is, it won't even matter what you couldn't do once you start getting strong, you'll find beautiful goals and push towards them and you'll just feel stronger and better day by day. So don't let being unfit or weak or whatever deter you, that just means you have more room to grow and more to look forward to.
PS. You'll be able to open all of the jars.