Girl Push-Ups

[Ricochet]

It irks me.

 

I can't do regular push-ups. Never mind that I am female; that, to my mind, has always been a poor excuse. I want to be able to do regular push-ups. My question, then, is how I can build up the strength. Since girl push-ups (is there a better name for these - it's like we're expected to be weak!) don't require as much strength, can I really build up to a level where I could do regular push-ups just by doing these? What would you guys recommend?

[SaiFightsMS]

Don't think of them as girl push ups to start with. Think of them as pushups from your knees.

 

Other things to try are wall pushups. Stand facing a wall and take a step back. Place you hands on the wall in a pushup position and go at it.

 

Work pushups off a counter top.

 

If you have ready access to an stairwell work them off the steps. Stand at the bottom of the stairwell and place your hands on a step. As you practice them more and get stronger go to progerssively lower steps.

[White Warlock]

A pushup is an exercise, but not like any other. Its intent is to strengthen particular muscles, but it is better than most, in that it also encourages muscle balance. In addition to strengthening pectorals (standard pushup), it helps in strengthening the scapular and rotator-cuff muscles. A pushup also needs to be done correctly, in order to obtain maximum advantage. As Sai indicated, different pushups exist, and each one focuses on a different set of muscles (although all of them also strengthen the scapular and rotator-cuff muscles).

 

An important thing to realize, is that if you do not perform a pushup correctly, you will not be getting much benefits, in relation to your efforts. Thus, it is important to ensure you maintain proper posture (back straight, head looking straight ahead, etc) while performing 'any' of the pushups previously indicated.

 

Another important thing to realize, is that your goal is not about doing a standard pushup, as opposed to a knee-pushup, but to condition and strengthen your muscles.

 

Exercising requires a helluva lot of patience. Conditioning and strengthening is not even remotely an overnight success story. It requires months, even years of consistent and gradually increasing effort. If you cannot do a 'standard' pushup yet, do not be discouraged... just stick with it and eventually you'll get there.

[AngelaG]

Surely it's better to do 50 'girl' push-ups than 10 poorly executed full push-ups? Whether you like it or not it is harder for women to do push ups as they *usually* don't have the chest and shoulder strength of a guy... and we have a much larger chest to push up as well. I once turned around to the guys in my dojo and told them to try doing push ups with 2 bags of sugar attached to the front of their chests. Their faces were priceless.

 

I think instructors give females the options of 'girl' push-ups because some women really can't do full push up and have no intention of training to be able to do so. They are there to do karate not to train a whole new fitness level. Also it would really slow the class down waiting for most females to finish their 10. Finally some women would be so tired after doing any large amount of full push-ups that it would affect their training.

 

However, I am training myself to do full press ups, because I would like more upper body strength. Currently I do a few every night at home; at first I couldn't do 1, now I can struggle my way to 10 (and it is a struggle). The other thing you can do is to find a lowish box or foot rest or something and place your feet up and it and try push ups from there.

 

Good luck!

[White Warlock]

Well, my little sister can do full push-ups. Somewhere around 40 or so in two minutes. She's not a martial artist, nor is she a weightlifter. She's an ex-dancer that for awhile wanted to be a cop, so she opted to condition herself. She looks fit and not even remotely malproportioned.

 

Additional note: Women in the armed forces, as well as in law enforcement or similar, are required to be physically fit. The U.S. Army requires that a woman be able to complete a set amount of pushups within two minutes before passing basic training. Very few women who enter basic training, fail. All you need to do is apply yourself... and commit. Our society doesn't encourage women to exercise their upper body, so it is an uphill battle for them, but it is definitely not unachievable.

[SaiFightsMS]

On another note White Warlock until recently the women in basic training did pushups on their knees. I know I was there.

[Radok]

Surely it's better to do 50 'girl' push-ups than 10 poorly executed full push-ups? Whether you like it or not it is harder for women to do push ups as they *usually* don't have the chest and shoulder strength of a guy... and we have a much larger chest to push up as well. I once turned around to the guys in my dojo and told them to try doing push ups with 2 bags of sugar attached to the front of their chests. Their faces were priceless.

 

You guys have more to push? Yeah, right.

 

http://www.bodybuilders.com/melvin11.jpg

I think instructors give females the options of 'girl' push-ups because some women really can't do full push up and have no intention of training to be able to do so. They are there to do karate not to train a whole new fitness level. Also it would really slow the class down waiting for most females to finish their 10. Finally some women would be so tired after doing any large amount of full push-ups that it would affect their training.

 

A pushup requires only very basic strength. If you not even strong enough to do pushups, you can forget about using Karate effectively on the street unless you have decades of practice, and even then you would have trouble.[/img]

[Ricochet]

That's why I don't do karate - I do kung fu!

 

Seriously, though, there are ways around the strength thing in martial arts - that's the whole idea. Anyone can use them! The push-up thing is more for me.

 

Thanks for the advice, guys!

[DokterVet]

In order to gain strength, you are going to need to use progressive resistance. The best way to do this is with weights.

 

So gain access to some weights. Buy some freeweights, a bench and a squat rack, or join a gym (Machines = no good, use freeweights). Work within the 6-8 rep range with at least two working sets for strength. You can work other rep ranges for endourance, but to get stronger, make sure you do your major lifts in this rep range. This is the range that will most effectively build strength. Don't worry, lifting weights won't make you look like a man. It's not going to happen.

 

Other girls will tell you to do highreps or use machines. Don't listen to them. If you want strength, this is your rep range. You can do high reps AFTER you've done your big lifts with low reps.

 

Start with a warmup for each exercise, then find a weight you can just barely move for 2 sets of 6 reps. Use that weight every workout until you can get 2 sets of 8 reps. Then increase the weight. Keep doing that weight until you can do two sets of 8. Continue.

 

HOWEVER: Make sure to work your whole body. To do this you need a routine that includes compound lifts (the "big 3" being bench press, squat and deadlift). This will give you real practical strength, and avoid muscle imballances. Here's a sample routine: http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=25&pageid=3

 

But any good full body routine will do.

 

And remember, you will not get huge or overmuscled. It takes an extremely high ammount of dedication to become big and muscular, including changing your diet to a "bulking cycle", and having enough testosterone in your bloodstream (so you won't look like a man if you are a women and are not on drugs). If you are not on the juice, and you aren't eating well over maintenance callories, you will not get overmuscled.

 

Building up your strength by using weights will let you reach your goal of being able to do pushups, and will also let you progress much further than you ever could by just doing pushups.

[AngelaG]

Surely it's better to do 50 'girl' push-ups than 10 poorly executed full push-ups? Whether you like it or not it is harder for women to do push ups as they *usually* don't have the chest and shoulder strength of a guy... and we have a much larger chest to push up as well. I once turned around to the guys in my dojo and told them to try doing push ups with 2 bags of sugar attached to the front of their chests. Their faces were priceless.

 

You guys have more to push? Yeah, right.

 

I don't know if you've noticed but that's a ) someone who has trained to the very peak of physical fitness. There's a surprising dearth of normal men walking around looking like that! Whereas most women wander around with breasts.

 

And the fact that he has trained that much will help him do the push ups. that guy could probably easily bench press two of me!

 

 

A pushup requires only very basic strength. If you not even strong enough to do pushups, you can forget about using Karate effectively on the street unless you have decades of practice, and even then you would have trouble.

 

That is the biggest pile of male cow dung I have ever heard. I can punch almost as hard as most of the guys in my dojo (my instructor has a pad that measures hits). That's all down to body mechanics and making sure you do it correctly, whereas a push up is merely a physical exercise. FWIW I can pretty much beat all the men in my dojo on sit-ups and barely break a sweat, but struggle on full push ups (although can do over 100 'girl' press ups). What does that say? I have the physical strength to sit-up until the cows come home!

 

NEVER underestimate your opponent on what simple PT type skills they can do!