Full Body Push Ups

F

fitem

New Member
Hi Cathe!!!

I know that you are VERY busy. I hope that you (or someone else) can help me.

I am a very fit, very experienced exerciser. I workout 4-5 days a week for an hour. I do cardio and weight training.

I have always wanted to be a police officer and the only thing that is keeping me from pursuing this is my inability to do the required 20-28 pushups. I can, at this time, only do (barely) one push up.

My husband, who was in the Army for 8 years, tells me that the only way to improve your ability to do push ups is TO DO PUSH UPS. I can do about 30 on my knees, but once I try to do full body push ups, I lose ALL my strength. I just can't do them. ARGG! It is so frustrating.x(

I desperately want to be able to do 30 Full Body Push Ups-Is there something that I am not doing that I should be?

I have been doing, on my knees, push ups until muscle failure (well until it is so painful I HAVE to stop) 2 times a day for 5 days a week for 3 weeks. I still cannot do even one real push up though.

Am I expecting too much too soon? Am I not giving my upper body enough rest? Should I do more sets each day? Is there something else that I am not doing that I should be?

Thanks so much for your reply!! you are the BEST!;-)

~Em :7
 
Obviously, I'm not Cathe, but I agree with your DH. It's kinda like running - if you wanna be a better runner, you have to run. You have to develop those muscles necessary for full-body pushups.

I was told to start from the "up" position (like a plank, I guess) go half way down, hold this position as long as you can and then end at the "down" position and repeat.

Good luck!
 
The difference between knee pushups and full pushups is BIG, so you need to find a level that is in between. In the past, I've seen these suggestions.....

1) Do negative pushups, ie start on your toes and go down slowly, then switch to your knees to get up, or just stop and get back to the up position before the next negative rep. (I did yoga for a while that involved doing a negative pushup during sun salutations and I got stronger at pushups from doing this.)

2) Do knee pushups with handle bars (inexpensive to buy) as they are harder this way.

3) Do knee pushups, but raise your knees by putting them on a small step.

4) Do knee pushups but concentrate on the low end which is the hardest part of the rep - similar to Cathe's low-end squats.

Eventually though I guess you just need to DO them, even if you can only do one. Try for 2 the next time, etc.
 
I remember when I was younger and in a TaeKwonDo class, I was made to do full body pushups and really hurt my back. Since my body wasn't strong, my back swayed.

In addition to trying the recommended things here, keep in mind that your abs should be held as tight as possible so that your body is a ridged plank from your head all the way down to your toes. Hold your glutes super tight along with the abs.

For me, this is essential. I cannot do pushups without having my abs, glutes and legs all ridgid-tight.
 
I'm not here to give advice, only to sympathize. I can only do one as well, and even that one took a huge amount of practice effort, and still it's not pretty. I've even been doing p90x, hundreds (or so it seems) of knee push-ups (for me) but still little progress in the way of full-body push-ups. I can't go lower than a couple of inches on the big boys, then it doesn't just get difficult, I simply have to go back up or I collapse. Nor can I do the sun salutations (I think that's what they're called) in yoga (although I keep trying and do my best facsimile). It's very frustrating.

I really can't figure out WHY I can't do them. That's the most frustrating part. It's not triceps, although I can't do triceps push-ups either. My triceps are freakishly strong. It may be my back (lots of hereditary back problems). It may be abs (too much belly). It may be my "lever." I'm nearly six feet tall with long legs and arms. It may be body weight. I have the size of a man, but the upper body strength of a woman. It may be my chest, although I keep up with Cathe's weights on bench press and flies. I don't think its lats, because I'm up to 35 pounds on each side for two sets of 12 reps, which seems pretty high to me, and I easily keep up with Cathe's weights and then some on these as well. When I do lat pulldowns, I use a 50 and a 25 pound band together.

I AM going to take some of the suggestions you've received on here, though, for "intermediate" push-ups. What great ideas!!! I hadn't heard of a lot of these, but they make sense.

Shari
 
You can also try doing push-ups with your legs on a stability ball. Start with it under your thighs, and as you get stronger, walk your hands out further so that the ball is then situated lower under your legs. This will allow you to gradually increase the amount of your body weight that you are lifting, as well as improve your core strength, as you must keep your abs and torso engaged in order to stabilize yourself on the ball.
 
...Abs/core do get worked much more in full pushups (versus knee pushups), so another suggestion would be to do Cathe's core work a couple of times a week, eg, the core work in Bootcamp or the ab work at the end of cardio and weights.
 
Also, try doing straight-leg push-ups with your feet spread apart shoulder width to give you a better base of support while you're building your strength and endurance for this exercise. Also do triceps dips and bench presses to work the tris and the pecs in largely the same manner as they are worked in push-ups.

That said, I also agree with your husband. The only way to get good at straight-leg push-ups is to do them. Do sets every day.

A-Jock
 
I agree that the only way to reach your goal is to just do the push ups. However, there may be some things that will help you build up your chest strength as you work on those push ups. If you have access to the equipment, bench presses are a great way to strengthen chest muscles. I'd recommend 3-4 sets of 8 as heavy as you can (ONLY if someone else is around--there is just too much potential for injury w/bench presses to do them alone). Superset them w/your pushups--even if you're just starting w/one--to build strength and adjust your range of motion.
 
WOW!!! Thank YOU!! You all are amazing!!!:7

I will definitly be trying all of your suggestions! I like the idea of utilizing the ball. The negative push up, I think, will be quite helpful too, because I can get down to the floor, just not back up.;(

Shari-I can totally sympathize-I am quite strong too, I am not as tall as you, but I do have a lot of mass in that I am very muscular and pretty solid. I wonder if that is because the way I train? -for strength and not for endurance? I build muscle so easily.

I have changed my routine for that past two weeks, doing more endurance focused workouts-BootCamp(I can finish it but I feel like I am gonna die by the end, and I can't go nearly as heavy with the weight work as I am accustomed), muscle endurance, running, and of course, push ups. I have never worked so hard before. Hopefully this works, although I am sure it will take some time.

I always wondered why our city's police force has such smaller women-5 foot 4, 110 pounds-but it is probably because they have an easier time with pushing up their body weight than a woman my size. I know that there is no way for me to get that small, my body structure is just too large, but hopefully I can at least get myself to a fitness level where I am at least physically competitive.

I cannot thank you all enough, I was so delighted when I got up this morning and saw all the responses! This forum has such a wonderful community! :7

~Em :+
 
I could not do full body pushups until I read a recommendation to keep my legs farther apart, as someone else here mentioned. Like magic, I was then able to do them. (Not lots of them, but at least some!) Good luck!
 
***QUOTE***I have changed my routine for that past two weeks, doing more endurance focused workouts-BootCamp(I can finish it but I feel like I am gonna die by the end, and I can't go nearly as heavy with the weight work as I am accustomed), muscle endurance, running, and of course, push ups. I have never worked so hard before. Hopefully this works, although I am sure it will take some time.

It's odd that you mention how difficult you find endurance-focused workouts. Me too! And I, too, build muscle relatively easily. Seems we have a lot in common. Wish we could figure out which is the comman factor that makes push-ups so difficult.

Shari
 
I am a man and not sure if this advice will be helpful for you but here is my 2 cents on push-ups. For me hand placement is very important in doing pushups. If I keep my hands close to wider than my shoulders I can't do as many as if I keep my hands lower than my armpits and closer to my ribs. I think it has to do with your muscle and bone structure but anyways, try to vary your hand placement to see if you can do improve.
 
I also agree with your husband. You have to do it to get better at it. I'd be shocked if any minor adjustments in feet/leg positions will get you from one rep. to 30 reps. Unless your form is really messed up, this sounds like a pure strength issue.
Having said that I equate your inability to do these pushups with how it is when you plateau in weightlifting. Negatives are done to get past a strength plateau.
You could combine your pushups with negatives on the flat bench using a barbell. Get your husband to spot you and pick a weight that would normally be a little beyond what you can lift for one rep. Do negatives SLOWLY. I think that would give you added pure strength in a short amount of time.
Good Luck!!
T. :)
 
Fitguy brings up a good point: hand placement variation also varies the relative recruitment of the working muscles in the push-up motion: pecs, triceps and anterior deltoids.

When your hand placement is wider and more in line with the shoulder joint, the pecs are recruited more. When your hand placement is closer together and below the shoulder joint, the triceps are recruited more.

And, when the elevation of your feet is varied that affects the recruitment of the anterior delts - the lower your foot elevation the less the anterior delt recruitment, and the higher the foot elevation, the greater the anterior delt recruitment. Foot elevation also affects which area of the pecs are being recruited; again, lower elevation lower portion of pecs; higher elevation higher portion of pecs.

I normally don't like to place my hands closer than shoulder width together because my tris get plenty of strength training with the other stuff I do, and I really feel a difference when I widen my hand placement. And, I like to do push-ups with my feet elevated at least 6 inches (just do them off a simple step bench) and then at 12-14 inches to bang the anterior delts even more.

A really fiendish variation to traditional foot placement (i.e. feet together and both sets of toes on the floor) is to place one foot on top of the other so that only one leg is supporting your body weight and balancing.

A-Jock
 
I just remembered another "intermediate" pushup - I think I've seen it in a beachbody (Tony Horton) video. Do pushups on your knees but with one leg lifted up, either bent or straight out.
 
I realize you have already received a lot of suggestions, but I wanted to share what worked for me. More than anything else, really concentrating on holding in my abs worked wonders. I went from being able to do only knee pushups to now being able to do about 20 full body ones. I now find that the plank work has also strengthed my core for pushups as well. Also you might want to try the pushups every-other-day; it just might help to give your muscles a rest as with other weight work. Hope this helps!

Bette
 
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