Tall People -- Are You Good at Push-Ups?

S

Soosan

Cathlete
When doing GS CT, I can crank out about 16 consecutive push-ups (on a good day) before I drop to my knees, and then those become hard real fast! It took me several years to even reach this point. I'm 5'9" with long limbs and know that my body type is the main culprit.

Just wondering -- are any of you tall people naturally good at push-ups?
 
Well, I'm 5'8" and do have trouble with push-ups. Don't know if it's my height or that I'm just a weakling!

Susan
 
I have to agree with you. I have been trying to build up my push up strength with little luck. I am 6' tall but I do have strength when it comes to free weights..OH WELL
 
I think it's so much more important to focus on form. I'm 5'6, and when I was training to teach (w/ some "Instructors"...who a few of them were several inches shorter, more muscular, too), I was told not to worry about it if I couldn't crank out PUs on my toes. Better to watch form..you know, quality over quantity. Listen to your body, gal!
 
NO!!!! I did do all the ones in ME yesterday, but pushups are really hard for me. However this tall girl is making progress.

Charlotte~~
 
so enlighten me tall people. I have never heard this before. What makes them more difficult? Your limbs being taller? I am fascinated. This shorter girl is not great at them but needs an excuse at my level...;)


"you miss 100% of the shots you never take"


Debbie
 
I'm fairly tall at 5'7", and have really long legs and arms in proportion to the rest of my body. Push ups on my toes are TOUGH for me, and I actually have pretty good upper body strength.

I've always thought it was kind of a leverage thing. It's harder to push your core up and down if it's supported on longer limbs. I have always wondered if it might just be better for me to do them from my knees since my form is so much better that way. Also, I can crank out a ton more, and I feel like I'm getting some benefit instead of just struggling to complete them. Maybe I should re-think trying to do them from my toes all the time!
 
I, too, am tall...5'9" and when I was fit (about 3 months ago--I had to take the last 3 months off) Push-ups were always the killers for me.. I think there was so much length to me to be pushing up it was just tough... However,.... the leg presses and others were my strong point.. maybe BECAUse there was so much leg and therefore more strength... go figure.:p Or maybe it is just the long lanky body type that lacks upper body strength.
 
I am 5'11" and I do have a hard time doing many pushups on my toes. I definelty think height comes into play. I do have good upper body strength - but find it hard to do too many in a row. I am working on it though...
 
I'm 5ft 8" tall and can do all of the gym style push ups with straight legs on a good day. On a bad day, I switch to knees on the 4s. I've got "ape" arms and my legs are as long as my dad's (he's 6 ft tall). I found it just took lots of practice.
When I coached synchronized swimming, I had the kids do push ups to build up their upper body strength which is critical when you're upside down in the water. If they did them on their knees they had to do twice the number of the people doing it with straight legs. Soon all the kids did it with straight legs. One girl was especially proud as they did the fitness testing at school and she did more push ups than anyone in her grade (male or female). She was 15 at the time. She also blew them away in sit ups as corework was an essential part of synchro.
 
10 total on a good day and I am 5"8. That is the only upper body strength move I can't do the same as cathe. Now I know why, because I am tall. Works for me!

Susan
 
i'm 5-91/2 and i have the same problem with push ups. i also have a hard time doing lunges. i just can't seem to get a good range of motion with my legs.
 
This is good to know. I am tallish 5'8", with long arms and legs, but have narrow shoulders, which I always thought was the problem as it limits the "span" of my pecs and shoulder muscles. At 134 pounds, I'm not a stick, but not fat at all either.

I have always been amazed at how hard it is to make progress on pushups. I can do about 25 in a row, so I get through 16, 14 and most of the way through 12 on the GS pushups before I have to go to my knees. I've never made it through BodyMax pushups on my toes. I can do 5 out of the 8 slow and heavy pushups on my toes. I guess after reading all this from the other tall women, I am not feeling so bad.

One thing though, those side to side cardio lunges like in Step Works and Imax3, and the speed skaters in Bootcamp are not very hard for us, are they?? }(
 
>the speed skaters in Bootcamp are
>not very hard for us, are they?? }(


Nope, those are a piece of cake... especially compared to the terminators!
:eek:

Something that I remembered from my son's high school cross country days that supports the long leverage theory. He is 6'2" tall with really long legs and arms. He was the tallest kid on the team, and the slowest. The fastest kids were the shortest, without fail. The top runner on the team was all of 5'6" tall, which is pretty short for a high school boy. My poor DS just looked like a tangle of arms and legs when he ran, bless his heart! :)
 
Yup, these are a killer for me too x( I am six feet tall and I just cannot seem to get these right. My form is just so much better on knees that sometimes I simply whimp out and do it that way. Still trying though...!
 
Thank goodness! I have long wondered why I have such a difficult time doing push-ups on my toes. I'm 5'9" and have very long arms and legs (my inseam is 36" and my arms and legs are taller than my 6' DH). I can match Cathe's weights in her workouts but I still can't do push-ups on my toes. I feel so much better now that I know this!
 
I am 5'8 and have such a difficult time doing push-ups too. At least now I know why - though I am just going to keep trying. Doing all of the GS chest pushups is my ultimate goal, though I may never get there.
 
I'll make a suggestion, and no, I'm not tall, but I do personal training. One thing I see a lot of, is people don't keep their core and lower body ramrod straight, and will let their lower bodies "cave." Their quads actually touch the floor because of this "bowing." So, in essence, they are trying to lift their lower bodies off the ground - like someone trying to pull themselves out of a pool. Think upper body, think "use your arms."

I would offer that you should concentrate on keeping your core and lower body perfect straight and strong and use your arms to execute the pushup. Only go down to parallel, like Cathe cues them. Go straight up and straight down.

It can be done, because tall guys do them all the time - I don't think it's so much an "I'm too tall" thing, as it is not keeping your body straight enough.
Just Do It! :)
 
>
>It can be done, because tall guys do them all the time - I
>don't think it's so much an "I'm too tall" thing, as it is not
>keeping your body straight enough.
>Just Do It! :)

I do keep my core very straight! They are still very difficult. Also, tall guys have different and stronger core & arm muscles than tall women. I still maintain that long legged and long armed women are at a disadvantage for push ups.
 
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