Pushups

M

meg512

Cathlete
Hi Cathe, hope you're feeling well. I have a question for you or anyone else out there that might know this answer. I have been weight training for at least a year now. I can bench press 50 pounds, but I still cannot do even one pushup on my toes!! I have even tried to do them on to my step, but can't even do it that way. What is wrong with me? Does anyone else have this problem Thanks so much. Mary
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Mary, the only way you're going to learn how to do pushups is by doing pushups -- bench press or any other exercise isn't going to help! Can you do pushups on your knees? If so, here are a few things you can try to build your strength:

1. Do really slow pushups on your knees (4 counts down, 4 counts up). Do as many as you can. Make sure your seat is tucked in, your abs are tight and your head is aligned with your spine, so you form a straight line from your knees to the top of your head.

2. Start on your toes and hands (full pushup position). Lower yourself all the way to the floor. Switch to knees and hands pushup position to push yourself up. Switch back to toes and hands, and start from the top.

3. Do planks. (They help! It's because they build core strength, which is important for good form in pushups.)

4. Do pushups against the wall. Stand a couple of feet from the wall, with your hands on the wall at shoulder level. Do "full pushups" in that position, keeping your abs tight.

Pushups are TOUGH!! There is nothing wrong with you; it's just something that you may need to work at to master.

Good luck!
 
Pushups on my toes are tough for me, too. And sometimes it's really embarassing as the instructor when the class participants can all do them on their toes. If I'm the least bit fatigued from anything else I've done that day, I have to do them on my knees.

I worked my way there with a flex ball. You can start hard and adjust many different times and keep going, like a drop set with weights, just by walking your hands back in a little as you get tired.

I've never found anything that truly gets you ready for pushups except pushups.
 
RE: I have this same problem

Good morning everyone and thank you so much for your replies. I guess in my mind that if I had strong chest muscles, that I should have no trouble with real pushups, but your replies make me realize that it is a lot more. Stebby, I can do knee pushups so I can incorporate those ideas and hopefully get stronger. As far as going down while on my toes, I can probably get half way and then shake so bad that I have to stop. Haslina, thanks for the link to that other thread. I don't feel so alone and gained a lot of knowledge. It is so great to have a place like this to come to with our questions, etc. Have a wonderful day everyone and thanks for all the replies. I have today off, which I am looking forward to. Just me and my cats. Take care. Mary
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RE: I have this same problem

I can do big girl pushups. 50 of them! I'm bragging because it was HARD work getting there. Here's how I did it.

1) set it as a goal to do 3 sets of 12 pushups
2) did them Monday, Wed, Friday outside of my regular workout. And did them first while I was still fresh
3) no longer did knee pushups at all-only big girl pushups
4) if I could only do 4 that day on the first set I quit and rested for a minute and then did the next set. Same thing for the third set.
5) Every time I did them I was able to do more each set.
6) Did plank work every time I did my abdominal training
(you will find that your core muscles really are necessary when doing big girl pushups)
7) Didn't vary them at all, just straight up and down pushups at a nice steady pace-no 3 up and 1 down etc.

It took me about 6 weeks to get from doing about 4 or 5 each set to where I could do all 3 sets of 12 and then I just keep adding more. I think I'm happy with being able to do 50! It is such a great feeling that day when you meet your goal.
 
RE: I have this same problem

First of all, Ellen, wow!! 50 push-ups! I salute you!!! You obviously worked very hard for it, so good for you!! Secondly, Meg, I hear ya! I think I wrote the very same question not too long ago, but for the life of me, I cant find it in the archives. But I got some great advice. If I recall correctly, this is what somebody told me to do: Just do the pushups from the toes, even if you can only do 1 or 2 and go down just a little bit. Also, I have found planks/core work to be invaluable! I just recently started doing them, its REALLY hard at the beggining but slowly and gradually I am getting better. It can be very discouraging, especially when some of my friends dont even work out and can pump out pushups with no problem. Chalk that up to genetics, some of us have to work very hard, yeah, its not fair, but believe me, you will feel fantastic when you are FINALLY able to do them. Its still hard for me, I can only do MAYBE a set to 12, and thats not even going down the whole way, but its progress! Keep at it!!! Judy,
 
RE: I have this same problem

You guys amaze me, thanks for all the advice. 50 pushups - I am very envious. I'm just going to keep plugging along. I have to remember that when I first started Cathe, approx a year ago, I couldn't even do modified pushups without falling on my face. LOL Take care. Mary

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RE: I have this same problem

Hi Mary,

You're certainly not alone in your struggle with toe pushups. The only bit of advice I didn't see, was to do your pushups before any other upperbody work. Ditto w/ planks.

Debra
 
I am glad that you posted this b/c I have a hell of a time with these too! I could not do push ups period before starting with Cathe and the Firm, but I still cannot make the break to "big girl" push ups.
 
Here's what I remember from that previous thread. One suggestion was to make sure you visualize your body weight being spread out throughout your entire body. Otherwise there's a tendency to put all your weight in your shoulders, which makes them very tough to do. This seemed to help me.
Another suggestion was to start doing them with your hands up on your step and slowly work your way down to the floor. There was a suggested time line for progressing down to the floor, but I'm afraid I don't remember it.
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-24-02 AT 09:46PM (Est)[/font][p]I have a pushup success story, here's how I did it: I signed up for a martial arts class without realizing there would be pushups involved - I was very weak then AND I have tendonitis in both wrists - and suddenly found myself faced with non-optional pushups! I started out using my knees and BARELY able to do one good pushup. We started off with small sets of pushups and worked towards longer sets as we progressed. Eventually after about 8 months I was able to do 50 on my knees. Then I found out that once you reached the advanced belts, you were no longer allowed to use you knees. To prepare myself I started out on my toes until I couldn't do any more (usually after about 5) and then finished up on my knees. I immediately noticed that good pushups had less to do with arm and chest strength than with core strength. So I learned to BREATHE while doing them (crucial), and to tighten up my abs and legs for support. Now I've reached the advanced belts and am proud to say I can do 50 pushups on my toes (ok I do have to rest for a few seconds between sets, but 50 is 50). This took me 18 months of perseverance. You can do it, you just have to be patient and disciplined. Having a black belt instructor standing over you making you do it helps a lot too! ;o) Good luck! (also my wrist pain has gone away!)
 
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