Gym rats... I can't do pushups?

[Anonymous]

i've been working out for a month now (at home) and i still can't do even one real pushup. should i stick to doing pushups on my knees? is it what girls do?

[rollsroyce12345]

4 Exercises to Increase Your Push-Up Ability.
1. The plank begins in the highest reach of a push-up. While it is a static muscle builder, it is a start. After holding this position for 10 or 15 seconds slowly lower your chest tot he floor while keeping your back straight. After a few days of this try to push yourself back up to the plank position. Increase repetitions.

2. Try standing in front of a wall or counter & practice push-ups with a smaller angle. Work up to 10 push-ups at that angle & then do a push-up on a lower surface.

3. Bench press or supine press. Lie on your back, preferably on a bench, but it could be the floor. Place a weight in each arm & raise the arms up above the shoulders. Raise & lower several times. Begin with a weight that will allow you to do about 8 repetitions & increase the weight when you can do 12 repartitions.

4. Standing or sitting overhead press or sometimes called the military press. Use a Dumb bells or barbells. Keep your arms close to your body, elbows as straight ahead as possible & raise your arms so that they are straight overhead. Again start with a weight that will allow for 8 reps & increase to 12 reps before increasing the weight.
The standing press is more difficult, but it has the most benefits. The standing press requires you to balance yourself as you press the weight overhead and also engages the core muscles if proper posture is maintained.

You should also perform curls because you should never work just the muscles on one side of a joint.

Good Luck.

[PhiOmega]

This is a good plan for u to follow asker

[BelleGirl21]

This^

[WeaponZero]

Can you tell which muscles are limiting you? Is it the triceps, chest, core, or shoulders? And are you keeping your core tight and glutes tightened?

[Asker]

i'm not sure... probably triceps. i wouldn't say chest or core because i'm usually good at those.
and yes.

[WeaponZero]

Place your hands wider apart and try it that way. It makes it so the triceps have to do less of the work so you can tell if you can do them that way that its your tricep strength thats holding you back. Basically pushups are a compound exercise that has the core, chest, shoulders, and triceps working to do the lift. The chest is the largest and strongest muscle involved in the movement. The wider apart your hands are the more it can "work" to make up for the other muscles being weaker. The closer together your hands are the more the smaller muscles (triceps and shoulders) have to work. Knowing this you can experiment with different hand placements to try to isolate the weak link.

[WeaponZero]

Another thing to bear in mind is that when you do a regular pushup you're basically doing a bench press of approximately 65-70% of your bodyweight. If you try to do a bench press (dumbbells or barbell, no machines) and you can't do 65% of your bodyweight for even one rep you're not gonna be able to do a regular pushup either, because the movement is the same. To improve this you should work on doing bench presses with dumbbells and you will need access to a large selection of weights because improving strength means pushing yourself to work out with a higher amount of weight every other workout or so.

[Asker]

thank you so much... a girl had already suggested to place my hands wider apart and it worked (i did 3 rep) but your explaination is very interesting and it made me really understand how pushups work. and i'll work on bench press as well. very useful, thanks again.

[WeaponZero]

Thanks for MHO. And yeah just remember the hand placement. The wider apart your hands are the more the chest is doing all the work. The closer together the more the shoulders and triceps (which are much smaller and weaker muscles) try to take some of the load off the chest. Your best bet is this if you want to avoid the gym and weights for now: Figure out the exact hand placement you need to be at to be able to manage 3-5 pushups with good form. Do 3-5 sets of this every other day. Every OTHER pushup workout (meaning every 4 days basically) move your hands just a tad closer together. Could be as little as an inch. By doing this you are employing "progressive loading" which is the key to strength building.

[Asker]

can i also do some pushups everyday? i workout everyday for one hour. it's usually a cardio workout and sometimes weights.

[WeaponZero]

When they're so difficult that you can only manage a few at a time it's best to let the muscles rest a day or so in between or else you won't see the progress you're looking for. Gains happen while resting, not while exercising. The only time you should start doing them daily is when you get to the point where you can bang out like 20 at a time with perfect form.

[justbanANNAz]

gosh r people here really that unhelpful and uptight? -.-

ok it's ok that u can't do them at this stage. u can build ur strength to do them.

pushups for beginners:
www.sayacantik.com/.../push_ups_knees_2.jpg

do some of these everyday and continue to do ur regular ab, arm and leg exercises. try do more reps of these beginner pushups for about a week.

then try do 5 of the more advanced ones:
i.kinja-img.com/.../695820185559150371.jpg

do them slowly and concentrate on ur form. ur strength doesn't just build in a few days, u need to give ur body more time. you'll b able to do them before u know it.

good luck! :)

[Asker]

thanks, it was very helpful... and yeah some people here are so uptight

[Dontjudgejustlove123]

I do normal pushups but they are just easy for me. I do about 10 to 30 a day depending on how much I feel like doing. Keep trying you will get there mmm just try to go on your knees for now but if you do want to go without your knees you can just go slowly, Im not really sure. Try planking or lunges something like that!

[Marstalk]

It depends on how you do them. They are good to help build up to actual push ups when done properly. I would recommend doing a push up starting from the ground.

Lay down in push up position. Then push up. Go as far as you can and hold for 2 seconds then come back down.

[BelleGirl21]

No. Don't ever do push ups from your knees, they are worthless basically. Just keep trying. It will come in time. And always push yourself to go farther than you think you can.

[Asker]

thanks for the advice... i feel like falling on the floor whenever i try. i'll try pushing more and more

[BelleGirl21]

Start with planking. Good luck.

[aamy811]

Push-ups on knees are for anyone not just girls. Just keep doing it on your knees until you can do a bunch then start on your regular push-ups. It took me a while to do regular pushups

[Suefit1]

You can use a raised platform or start with just standing and pushing off the wall and build from there. Push ups from the knees is fine as a intermediate step up to full length push ups

[Phoenix98]

Do them at angle like if you spot a preacher bench go and get into a push up position and do them at an angle.

If you still can't do them then I suggest you see a doctor to make sure nothing is torn or broken.

[Tokana]

1. I need to know your training routine to see if its effective.
2, Nutrition? Have you been taking in more calories? more protein to help build muscle?

[Redstang88]

You should really work on doing real pushups. It takes very little upper body strength to do it, it would be good for you if you could get up to at least doing a few.

[BarbaraP]

You can't do it? Not even one?

[Asker]

no :( it's too hard

[BarbaraP]

Height and weight?

[justbanANNAz]

y does it matter? ^

[Asker]

5'3'', 120 lbs

[PhiOmega]

I was little surprised too, she's a feather tho...

[BarbaraP]

@justbanANNAz Well, if she was overweight, it would be obviously too hard for a beginner...

My first guess is that you're not placing your hands and arms correctly but too close between each other. You should check some pictures on the internet. The closer your arms are the harder it is.
assets5.tribesports.com/.../...ush-up-position.jpg

[BarbaraP]

Yep... you're really a feather

[justbanANNAz]

pretty sure i know how to do pushups lol.

my point was that she doesn't need to disclose that information to u. all she wanted to know was how to do it or at least set herself on the path to doing it right -.-

[BarbaraP]

@justbanANNAz Girl, I was talking to the asker obviously and giving her a suggestion. However, it's not a crime to ask, she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to.

[justbanANNAz]

never said it was, chill =]

[Asker]

i'm not bothered that she asked it's okay... thanks for the advice i think it's true

[Asker]

i just tried placing my arms the way you said... i did 2 pushups. thanks a lot, i'm so happy

[BarbaraP]

I'm glad I helped :) Keep practicing!

[Vander]

Maybe try planking at first to build up core strength

[Asker]

thanks

[kartoos]

Maybe eat a couple of bananas before doing a push up for instant energy.

[Asker]

i'll try

[Asker]

thanks

[kittyd7015]

r u sure ur doin it properly? Im a personal trainor an all of my girls can do at least lik one or two lol xxx

[Asker]

probably not... thanks

[kittyd7015]

message me if u want tips lol

[Consultant]

Pushups hot your chest muscles. Do dumbell bench prrsses laying down at the gym to develop this.

[AlwaysBelieving]

Do you find that it hurts your abs more or in your shoulders?

[Asker]

abs are fine... it's the shoulders/arms

[AlwaysBelieving]

Did you do any sports before that might have torn your rotator cuff?

Are you doing any exercises before trying to do a "real" pushup?

[PhiOmega]

please tell me what you've been doing for a month, i want to understand because it sounds like it yielded no results

[Jamestheking]

girls are weak as fuck haha, i can easily do 100 cold no pump

[Klaatu51]

better try doing exercises 2 keepi yer balance?

[Toadette]

Pushups on knees are NOT REAL pushups

[Cowboy6666]

Pushups on knees? Are you kidding.

[Asker]

nope. girls do that all the time.