Girl Push-Ups

[martialbrown]

Much like many of the women in my school, I have found that I hate pushups, they are a requirement for advancement and part of our physical test, (we have to do 25 turning a tap light on and off to pass), I hate them, but I do them. They are hard for me to do, and they are very annoying, but I do them anyway. Yes, it is easier for most men to do pushups, however, I can do more than many male students in my class.

 

A full pushup will work your whole body. You are using your abs, back, arms, legs, shoulders, and chest. All at once. It helps with balance and complete strength. If you can do 100 knee pushups, and 100 situps, and 100 squats, why can you not push yourself to do full pushups? If you can do ten, why not push yourself to do 11, then 12, and so on. Anyway, that is just my 2 cents.

 

As to Ricochet’s original question, what I have made myself do, it much like the others have suggested. Do as many good ones as you can, even if that is only one or two. Then go back and do it again and again. Right now, I work in set numbers, I do 25, then 20, then 15, then 10, then 5, (or at least that is what I try to do ), with maybe a minute or two between sets. Work your levels also, meaning, use stairs, chairs, walls, countertops to build up your strength. Lifting weights helps too, as do situps or the plank move that is a common yoga posture. More than anything, just working them makes them easier.

Edited October 15, 2004 by martialbrown

[Bleeding Lion]

i didnt really read what others said but heres my take:

 

when i started pushups, i could barely do 10. so thats what i did everyday: my maximum. then i went up to 12, then 15, 30, 40 50 .... on my way to 110. it took a whole summer but i did it.

 

my point is, whatever your maximum is, do it. do it properly, and do it as much as you can. one trick is to think about something else: a good method is to count in another language if you know any. sometimes i mix english and french or japanese. not more than 3 to avoid mistakes.

 

Its been a long time since i could do 100 or so, so i had to practice again. started from 20 up to 60. now im not really interested in going up to 100 straight cause i dont need it.

 

I hope you got the idea.

[Ricochet]

Wow, this thread's really taken off! And here I've hardly been around.

 

So, okay, I'm working on the regular push-up thing right now. I now have some Questions of Curiosity (!) for you guys:

 

Why do push-ups on your knuckles? Is it to strengthen the wrists? Why do push-ups on your fingertips? Someone mentioned something about grip - is this right? It improves grip? Well, not that I'm going to be trying these just yet. I'll stick to the basic one, for now. As I said, it was just a matter of curiosity.

 

Thanks, again, for all your help, everyone!

[47MartialMan]

Knuckles-to strengthen wrist and condition the knuckles

 

Finger tips-to strengthen the hand and condition the fingers

 

Because flat palm way, is not hard enough

 

Is it all in masculinity?

[AngelaG]

 

Actually I did not take it personally, I did not go off on one blah blah blah. Please go back and read my first post and tell me where I took the original post in a personal manner and offered anything other than friendly and helpful advice. (Helpful hint, it's the 3rd one in) I just merely stated at first that push ups are harder for most women (not impossible... harder). Then I later pointed out that push-ups have nothing to do with being good at Martial Arts... hey it's your right to disagree with that statement but it's my right to think you are totally and utterly wrong!

 

Oh and for a statement that had NOTHING to do with me let me point out I posted first and YOU quoted ME. At which point did the bit where you referred to what I said and asked me a direct question did it have nothing to do with me? My first post did not quote anyone... it was my view (Tut! Freedom, of speech whatever next?) and some advice to the original poster!

 

As I SAID IN MY FIRST POST I am working on improving my pushups for my own reasons not one of which is to make me a better martial artist )... at no point did I want a girl/boy debate about this that or the other. All I said that it is harder for most girls to do them, not that we should not bother! But actually now you come to mention it I can think of much better ways to improve my upper body strength and I can think of much better ways to improve my martial art's ability...

 

So next time before you wade in and get your posterier into your hands get your facts straight.

 

Now quite frankly you're boring me and I've already wasted enough of my time banging my head against the brick wall, so I am moving on. So many push-ups to do... so little time!

 

[tommarker]

But actually now you come to mention it I can think of much better ways to improve my upper body strength

 

At the risk of making your contributions to this thread positive, would you mind sharing some of those?

[AngelaG]

But actually now you come to mention it I can think of much better ways to improve my upper body strength

 

At the risk of making your contributions to this thread positive, would you mind sharing some of those?

 

I did make several positive contributions in this thread, only my last one was off topic because I was upset by someone deliberately misinterpreting my threads to provoke an argument..

 

If you seriously want me to share some of my training tips then I will start a thread on it when I have a bit more time.

[TheDevilAside]

Why won't you answer my questions? When you said the guys at your dojo can lift heavy weights, what kind of lift is it? And how much is 'heavy weights'?

Please go back and read my first post and tell me where I took the original post in a personal manner and offered anything other than friendly and helpful advice.

It wasn't your first post that bothered me, the second one bothered me.

Oh and for a statement that had NOTHING to do with me let me point out I posted first and YOU quoted ME.

I did quote you, and if you'll go back and look, it was in response to a whip coming from the hips. Then, what I said after that had nothing to do with you, I even paragraphed it to make that clear. And, I said "IF" you can only do 1 push up, then you are weak, big emphasis on if. If you can do more than 1 push up, why did you respond to me directly with, "Say what you want but I know I am not unfit". I never said you were unfit, I simply made an if/then statement.

hey it's your right to disagree with that statement but it's my right to think you are totally and utterly wrong!

Then explain to me how I am utterly wrong. I'm explaining to you how you are utterly wrong and you haven't refuted. What's your case? Why do you think 100 knee push-ups are better than 25 regular push ups?

At no point did I want a girl/boy debate about this that or the other. All I said that it is harder for most girls to do them, not that we should not bother!

Not really. It depends on the body type, whether she's ectomorphic, endomorphic or mesomorphic, or a hybrid in between. Then, like you said before, it's going to depend on how large her breasts really are. After that, even if she does have large breasts, she's not going to weigh upwards of 200lbs, unlike the average male.

Now quite frankly you're boring me and I've already wasted enough of my time banging my head against the brick wall, so I am moving on.

You know, if you really want to wound my ego, keep working on those push ups and PM me once you can do more than me

 

Anyone want to jump in?

[Radok]

My record is 130. What do you got?

[foreveryoung001]

Anyone want to jump in?

 

I'll jump in.

 

One........Two..........................Three.........................................................fo...................fo...................FOUR!.........

 

I need a break.

 

I've never been a huge fan of push-ups, but I do know that if you expect to get any benefit, you must do them correctly. I would rather do 30 with good form and a few reps, than to do 150 with poor posture and form.