Trouble with push-ups page

[sunflower]

I am a girl with pretty weak upper body strength (I think). I started doing Mark's LHT workouts a couple weeks ago and for the push-up section I started with level 1 - the standing wall push. I can do two sets of 40 of those without too much problem. I do get fatigued and I do feel it in my muscles, but I can complete the reps. So this week I moved on to level 2 push-ups which are the knee push-ups (girl push ups is what I always heard them called, lol). I am really struggling with these. I can barely do TWO full ones (nose to the ground), I struggle to push back up. If I only go halfway down I can eek out about 16 or so (the goal is 30) but I feel like I am cheating because I am not going all the way down. I'm surprised I was ok with level 1 and am having this much trouble with level 2 push-ups. Is there anything in between that I can do to build my strength? Is it important to do the full range (nose to the ground) to get the benefit? If so should I just continue doing like 2 or 3 till my arms give out or what? I am at a loss here on how to proceed.

[Alex Good]

Are you sure you were angled enough for the wall push? The closer you are to being horizontal the more difficult it becomes.

[Greensprout]

You can always try an inbetween sort of pushup, call it level 1.5. Place your hands on a hip height (ie kitchen counter, table) or knee hieght (coffee table, ottoman) surface and try those. Will be harder than wall pushups but not so hard as the knee pushups.

Good luck You'll keep improving as long as you keep doing them.

[Grok]

Try doing a wall push-up, except do it against a door frame with an open door. Place your hands on each side of the door frame and when you go down extend your head through the door frame beyond the plane of your hands and push back up from there.

Hope that helps.

[sunflower]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried some against my kitchen table tonight and that seemed like a good compromise. I was able to do 20 the first set and 15 the second set before my arms gave out. Yea, level 1.5! lol!

[Coach Palfrey]

You should also bear in mind that you have only been doing this for a couple of weeks - Rome was not built in a day!

[NutMeg]

When you try to go from level 1.5 to 2 if it is still difficult you can then progress to doing them on the stairs, start at about the 4th stair from the floor, then go to the 3rd, etc. What is good about this versus doing them on your knees is it heps develop the muscle used for push-ups, not just the arms. Women often have difficulty with push-ups because of a weak upper body, but also because of under developed core muscles. Knee push-ups do't engage the core as much as various heights of full push-ups, with progression from higher to lower levels.

[Karate Lisa]

When I began karate 7 years ago, I couldn't do one proper push up. I can now rock out 125 in pyramid fashion (5-10-15-20-25-20-15-10-5). Don't worry about quantity of push ups so much as quality/form. You can do 2 proper push ups from the start, that's effin awesome ! The best way to get better at something is to continue to do it in proper form. Today it's 2 proper push ups, next week it may be 4 or 5. Next month 10 or 15, the longer you train it, the easier it becomes and the more you'll be able to do exponentially.

I'm not one to not try to do my best, and to me, short cutting my push ups wasn't an option. Okay, so initially I was doing far less than most of the other people I trained with...with time and consistent training, I was rocking out more proper pushups than a lot of the men in class, so meh ! lol

Good luck with however you choose to train them !

[J. Stanton]

You can always try an inbetween sort of pushup, call it level 1.5. Place your hands on a hip height (ie kitchen counter, table) or knee hieght (coffee table, ottoman) surface and try those. Will be harder than wall pushups but not so hard as the knee pushups.

This.

Don't worry about quantity of push ups so much as quality/form.

This. Go all the way down. I do knuckle pushups because it lets me go deeper (it'll be a while before you get to those!)

[Esperance]

Attention karatelisa!!!!!!!!!!

I was debating whether or not to add knee push-ups to my workout tomorrow. You've made up my mind for me. I was worrying about quantity and not quality. You're right. Form is everything, like in rowing.

Cheers

esperance