tips for mastering push-ups?

[Kay]

I have set a goal to conquer the basic push up. I can do maybe 3-5 with good form (depending on what else I have done) and then it all falls apart. I do them on my knees with my hands under my shoulders. My goal is to be able to do at least the 2 sets of 12 that Kathy does in the Secrets of a Great Upper Body tape. How do I work up to this? Is it better to do more sets of fewer push ups and keep good form or should I push to increase the number per set and maybe compromise form and not have the chest touch the floor each time. I tried wall push ups, but they don't provide enough of a challenge to make me feel like I am advancing. I tried doing pushup off the coffee table, but can't find my form and the angle puts a lot of strain on my wrist.
I am frustrated that I can't do this b/c I can do everything else in the tape with weights on the heavy end of what she recommends, but struggle so much with the push ups!

[SuzanneM]

I probably will never be able to do more than a couple pushups on my toes...it just isn't going to happen in this lifetime. My shoulders are VERY narrow, and after having surgery for a herniated disk in my neck, well, I am going to settle for pushups on my knees. Wait a minute...they are still TOUGH, whether you are on your knees or toes.

First of all, don't ever compromise form. If you are doing 3-4 pushups with good form, that is GREAT. Eventually you will be able to add a 5th, then a 6th...it takes time.

Secondly, when doing a pushup, your chest doesn't need to touch the floor. Well, mine does...but that isn't because of my range of motion.

[ScooterChick]

I've seen my pushup capacity improve dramatically over the past year. I've gone from being able to do barely 8 boy pushups, to being able to do two sets of twelve boy pushups. But I still can't do every pushup perfectly, that is, down to the floor. Sometimes if I try to do that, it'll hurt my back, which is not a good thing.

But, I feel like "boy" (no knees on floor) pushups done as far as I can go are more challenging than "girl" pushups (knees on floor) done to the floor. So I usually try to do as many as I possibly can the boy style before moving to the girl style. Sometimes, though, I'll do a second half of a set of pushps that are full, complete, and girl style. So sometimes I'm pushing myself to increase capacity, sometimes I'm making sure I get the full arm workout that comes with going all the way to the ground.

I think maybe we should clarify "compromising form." I think not going so deep (close to the ground) is not necessarily compromising form. That is, you're not getting as much out of that pushup, but you're still doing it correctly. "Bad" compromises would be not keeping your body in a straight line, by lifting or dropping your head, or lifting/dropping your butt. Anything that hurts your lower back is not good either.

My suggestion would be you do one pushup without your knees on the floor (as far as you can go), then your 3-5 deep pushups with your knees on the floor, then your however many shallow, but safe, pushups with your knees on the floor. After that, take a break, and start again. Maybe you'll do three sets of this (perhaps 6-8 pushups?!) while Kathy does her two sets of twelve.

Another suggestions is varying the placement of your hands. If you do pushups with your hands right to your shoulders, and your arms bend completely vertically, you'll work your triceps more. Wider arms will work your chest a little more. Maybe this will allow you to do a few more.

Pushups take a long time to build. They're tough! But it's really one of the more perfect exercises you can do without weights, IMO.

[Paula N]

How close to the floor are you supposed to be when doing pushups from your toes? Should your nose touch the floor, or is that too low? I can do them as low as bringing my elbows to a 90-degree angle, but I can't go only lower than that.

[Barbara F]

Kay,
A long time ago when I hurt my back, a personal trainer had me do pushups with my hands on a step. I don't think that KS tape uses a step, but maybe you could have it off to the side and go over to it for the pushups? Or maybe just the platform. But the higher the step, the easier the pushup. So I went from 8" to 6" to just the platform to the floor. Also, the closer your knees are to your arms (i.e., your knees are straight down from your hips, your back is flat, and your arms are straight down from your shoulder), the easier. So she had me start with my hands on the platform and my knees close it, and then I progressively moved my knees back farther away from the step, and less perpendicular (so eventually your legs are straight when on your toes). Does this make any sense? This enabled me, anyway, to work up from not being able to do the pushups. But I COULD do all of the pushups in a video using the step, and eventually I could do them all on the floor.

I would never have attempted a boy pushup back then (honestly, I have trouble doing one now. . . I think I cheated with the step platform far too long )

[Kay]

I will have to play around with some of the variations you all mention and see how they feel. I like the idea of mixing it up and doing deep push up for strength and shallow for endurance. I will have to try to bring my knees in a bit closer too. Are there other variations that help isolate the triceps vs. chest or shoulders? Does anyone else have problems with wrist strain during push ups? I try to stretch the wrists out good before and after, but still feel a lot of strain, does that just improve as you increase strength?

[Colleen]

In her Pure Strength series, Cathe says not to go down further than a 90 degree angle at the elbow when doing pushups. I think this is done to keep the work in the chest/triceps. This is how I always do pushups. I've felt shoulder strain in the past when I've tried to go lower, so perhaps this suggestion is also for safety reasons?

Another tip - make sure you are tightening your abs, pulling the navel to the spine. This really helps me. If I let my abs go, I feel like putting my knees down immediately! If I haven't been working my abs regularly, I have more trouble with toe pushups. Tighten your abs even when you are doing knee pushups - it will help you keep your body in a straight line.

I can now do most of the pushups in PS and my Firm videos on my toes, but I had to work up to it. I concentrated on knee pushups with perfect form first, then I'd gradually add reps done on my toes. Never sacrifice form! Just do fewer reps, or take a longer break between sets. Not going down as far will also help when you are trying to make the transition to toe pushups.

Starting in downward-facing plank position (yoga) and lowering your body slowly while keeping your elbows pinned to your sides will really work those triceps!

Kay - have you tried using hex dumbells as pushup bars? This might help your wrists, but make sure the dumbells won't slide around on your floor! Otherwise, you could try real pushup bars - I think you can get them at Wal-Mart for less than $10 a pair.

[yafael]

I'm not really one to talk as I am in pretty much the same position as you, but I am feeling that the stronger my abs and back are, the better my pushups are. I was better at pushups in the past, and that was when I was doing a lot of yoga, which is great for the back.

[WendyB]

Hi Kay,

I can't recall where I saw this (one of the forums I visit, maybe Cathe's?), but what the one poster suggested about using the step really does work. Do knee pushups on an 8" step at first, then drop to 6", then 4", then drop to the floor as you improve. After you can do floor pushups on your knees easily, go back to an 8" step and try doing them on your toes this time. Progress down to 6" and then just the platform, and then finally the floor. I'm at the knee pushup on the floor stage, but can almost do a good toe pushup on the 8" step. It does work.

Wendy

[KristyW]

I thought I'd resurrect this old thread as I learned a way to increase the possibility of doing toe pushups. I attend a fitness class and the instructor had all of us doing pushups. Now most of us aren't very good (I could only do them on my knees.), but this is how she got me to do 5 toe pushups on Monday.

First is you get into plank position...arms wide for shoulders, narrow for triceps. Then lower yourself only an inch...come back up, next lower 2 inches - back up, 3 inches - back up, then a full pushup with the upper arm parallel to the floor (elbow at 90º). Rest 30 seconds or so, then repeat the entire sequence 4 times.

It was really amazing how doing the partial rep pushups first seemed to tell my muscles what was coming and I was, for the first time, able to do 5 full toe pushups!!!

Hope this helps others too!