Why can I do 6 pull ups but barley can do 20 push ups? Any tips to improve

[dawn16]

@itsjustmerae As someone who has experienced marine bootcamp firsthand, push-ups don’t mean shit. Pull ups are way more important, your PFT will not consist of push-ups, you make up the points in your pull ups and your run time. Nobody cares about push-ups. When you get personal training from your DI chances are you’re not gonna be doing push-ups that’s very Hollywood movie shit, at least I never got push-ups as a disciplinary action, I was always hanging from the pull-up bar ALWAYS. The only real push-up exercise we did regularly were mountain climbers. If you can’t do more than 15 pull ups, I would not go in September. I made my recruiter wait a full year to get me through(plus I wanted a specific job and not to be an open contract). As someone who never really worked out before the Marine Corps, I can tell you, bust your ass for as long as you can before you go to Boot Camp. Being physically fit, makes all the difference in the mental game. Build your endurance, because there are no breaks. Go to a place in your head that you can block everything out and just do the exercise, train yourself to do that, and Boot Camp will be a cakewalk. Some of my drill, instructor’s favorite things to get us to do, hang from the pull up bars with your arms over the bars, grabbing onto your belt loops, and you hang there until your arms go numb(happened to me one time cause I thought I was slick and talked back to my DI) mountain, climbers, high knees, Burpee‘s, yelling until your voice breaks. This is not meant to scare you, just trying to paint an accurate picture of what to expect.

 

[itsjustmerae]

@dawn16 Alright thanks this makes me feel a little better I just don’t wanna be a fuck up

 

[dawn16]

@itsjustmerae Build your foundation strong, bootcamp is just the beginning, the hard part is to maintain throughout your enlistment. You won’t be a “fuck up” if you keep your focus, don’t be afraid to fail, it’s part of the game. The more work you put in before, the easier it will be on you AND your platoon. You don’t have to be the top pt stud but the harder you work now, the more you’ll notice the gap between your peers(and it pays to be a winner). Think of it as a workout that lasts 24hours a day for 13 weeks. Do lots of pull ups and run faster and you’ll be fine. If you feel like being a bit extra, take some time to look up Marine Corps knowledge - important battles and dates, Marines, weapons and equipment etc.

Good luck and have fun, make sure you only do it once, and remember, real Marines come from the island.

 

[oldted]

@itsjustmerae I went thru boot camp August of last year. Trust me, push ups aren't that important in boot camp. You will get slayed enough that they will probably improve, but you don't need to be able to do a ton of them. Also you will lose weight, most likely.

You need to focus on pull ups and running for your PFT. Also get ready for some tough ass hikes, particularly if you're headed to San Diego.

 

[ph3nompx]

@itsjustmerae Do correct form push ups on stairs and do a shit ton of them. So when you get to the floor you have correct form. Then progress from stairs gradually to the floor.

 

[dawn16]

@itsjustmerae Ask Barley what their secret is

 

[tapiwa]

@dawn16 Wait till you see how many squats Wheat can do

 

[jdeegerman]

@itsjustmerae Coming from a former dutch marine; when I enlisted, I was pushing myself in them gym as well. In hindsight, I would have done way more weighted marching since that is what I and most of my buddies experienced as the toughest form of physical and mental exercise.
Some other advice that has already been given in previous comments is: try your best as quiet as you can. The instructors won’t appreciate any loudmouths. They told as to be like a grey mouse.

Remember also that alone, you will never reach that finish line. Always keep in mind what’s best for the team and act adequately.

Some personal advice on cooping in stressful situations or feelings of insecurity and lack of motivation. Don’t take anything personal what the drill instructors say to break you. It’s all part of testing if you can withstand these situations especially when you’re sleep deprived.
Listen carefully to what they instruct you and act accordingly. Remember that it is also always better to ask again than to assume if you are not sure of something. Finally, make sure you want to do this for yourself. It will be a lot easier when you believe a 100% that you’ll get to that finish line.

I hope my dutch way of building sentences doesn’t confuse you too much and god speed my friend, go get em!

 

[bryanll]

@itsjustmerae Eat less, move more, workout more.

That’s literally it.

Stop focusing on pushups since your pullups desperately need more work for the PFT. No real Marine opts to do pushups on the PFT.

Get a pullup bar and grease the groove, with the goal of 100 pullups per day if possible.

 

[thatguymightbezen]

@bryanll Why down vote? This is spot on.

 

[jessica50]

@itsjustmerae Do you properly train push-ups ? Because to get better at push-ups you need to do more of them

 

[roja]

@itsjustmerae I’m a 135lb and can do 3x6 wide pull ups consistently and 3x10 close grip, but push ups is a completely different beast. Can’t really do a single one these days, because a tendon in my left shoulder can’t handle the tension without shooting painful spasms, which doesn’t happen at all when pulling my bodyweight up, just pushing it up.

That’s all to say that, because of injury, the strength and technique I develop in pulling exercises doesn’t translate at all to the pushing ones. I rely on negative push ups mostly because it allows me to control the pushing motion and stop before the pain shoots, but in doing so slowly and carefully, I often reach hypertrophy all the same, because the slow downward motion is extremely demanding for my triceps.

Numbers are not everything - 5 push ups with the right form can leave you feeling spent.

 

[scottles]

@itsjustmerae Do some kind of EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute)
Get yourself a tabata timer, you want 10, 1 minute rounds.
Do 10 pushup per round, rest the remainder of the round (if 10 pushup take 20 seconds you'd rest for 40 seconds).
Do that for a week then increase to 12 the following week, 14 the next... you'll be easily smashing 30+ in no time

 

[despic]

@itsjustmerae https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19517213/chest-workout-from-hell/

This will get you there no question. Thanks for your service

 

[evan33]

@itsjustmerae Your limited push-up ability could be due to your weight, and it's important to note that push-ups can be quite challenging when done correctly. As you shed weight, you can expect your numbers to improve.

 

[blessingposter23]

@itsjustmerae Do sets of 10 perfect form push ups throughout the day.

 

[titillating]

@itsjustmerae There's really not many tips that one could give to you. As long as your form is strict, use a method such as greasing the groove, or just doing a shit load of sets of 10 throughout the day. I used to do the second method, and I'd do like 20-25 sets of these just throughout the day. it is quite excessive though, so I would just settle with grease the groove.

 

[confusedinchrist]

@itsjustmerae I currently do 25 slower controlled push-ups, maybe 30 with a faster pace, but can do 18 controlled pullups. Somehow always been better at pulling.

 

[hosticon]

@itsjustmerae Different muscle groups. You may not like this answer, but do more push ups lol

 

[indermitter]

@itsjustmerae You aren’t judged on your push-ups, you’ll just be doing a lot of them as punishment. Keep up the effort on your pull-ups. Those are counted and they have to be perfect dead-hang form.
Try different variations of push-ups. Diamonds, wide, etc.
Are you ready for all the running? Ready for humps? Study your Knowledge! Have fun!