I cannot do a push up

[ButteryCup]

Seriously. If my life depended on doing a push up… well, it wouldn’t end well.

Has anyone managed to learn how to do them? From not being able to do one at all?

If that comment is aimed at me, I know there are ways to improve, but given my current level of pushup-failure, compared to my general fitness, I don't see there's much point. I have weird elbows, which is perhaps the problem.

push ups take "an amazing amount of strength" : well that makes me feel better. I was never amazing & it won't happen now.

Annoying that DS can easily do push ups though. He's not at all interested in fitness!! Unfair that he gets to be amazing.

Does the word "engage" in that video mean "use" ?

Good idea

There's physics involved in this. The taller and heavier you are, the harder you will find a press up because the force exerted will be greater (I can't remember the name of the physics law but it's something like 'force = mass x distance from the pivot'). It's also true that women typically have less upper body strength than men. So a tall, heavy women would find them much harder than a short, muscular man. All press ups are not created equal! That said, they can be learned and the advice given by a pp about gradually increasing the inclined you push against is good advice. I started a year ago just leaning against some railings (!) and can now almost do full push ups.

Can you hold a plank position but with straight arms instead of arms bent?

Try dipping down form that position rather than pushing up from the floor.

I can now do 4 in a row, after practicing every day 😂

I also struggle with push-ups. I find that instead of focusing on pushing with your arms mentally focus on your core and lowering your chest/ body to the ground - if that makes any sense! Suddenly changing what I was focusing on made a huge difference to me so might be worth a try.

I was never, ever able to do push ups, even at my fittest. But have been doing yoga regularly for a couple of years (started in my forties) and now I can do them. It was a side effect of chatutangas rather than trying to learn push ups but I am rather pleased with myself (very un-yoga).

It amuses me that everyone thinks that everyone else knows what a correct plank is. I mean, I've seen pictures and could see other people doing one. When I was told to do a plank in circuits class, I was told it was completely wrong by an instructor. But I couldn't figure out why & they didn't explain in a way I could understand.

A lot of fitness classes are like that, come to think about it. I get asked to do things I don't know know how to do right. Then everyone is doing something & I'm the only one doing it wrong & I cannot understand how or why mine is wrong and no one knows how to explain it to me. Bit like singing... I'm told I do that wrong but I can't hear what's wrong with that and no one can explain something that seems obvious to them.

. She says "people bend but their elbows go straight back ... you see how the elbows are behind the wrist? Not good!!"

"So what we wanna do to fix that" she continues "look forward, extend..." at which point she's descending & her elbows are bending, behind the wrist. Exactly what she just said you aren't supposed to do. Only now it's ok. For mystery reasons.

See what I mean? I need at least 2 years of close tuition to even begin to understand what these people are talking about.

@lljkk I'm similar. Having an experienced coach makes a difference though. If I'm given a cue I will interrogate that cue until it makes sense, asking lots of questions, showing my understanding and checking it's right, then coming back to it when I've had more time to consider how it fits. In my experience some PTs are better than others at being able to respond to that. They themselves may have just learnt a cue and not given it much thought. A PT that has a similar mind to mine and more experience is more likely to know how it fits together and survive the interrogation.

@lljkk I've just actually watched the video and I can understand what she saying, and see the difference in the elbow/wrist alignment. It's not what she's saying though (which I'd find frustrating) it's because I can link it to my understanding of stacking the joints, engaging lats (her Jackie chan thing) and bracing (when she's talking about the core). Different cues work for different people, hers I'd find annoying as they don't explain the mechanics enough. I need to know exactly what it is my body is doing eg engaging lats rather than imagining jackie chan. Because I've had the use of the lats explained to me, I've seen diagrams, and spent a lot of time understanding it, the cue works for me now. A skilled PT can do that for you if they understand you. And it took time to realise that's what I need, and why I find some cues immensely frustrating.

I admire you. That is my dream. Honestly, training hard four times a week for two years I still haven't got beyond lay down press ups or normal ones with a booty band on. I aspire to explosive ones!

My trainer calls negative push ups 'lay down' pushups. I can do dozens of these but still not a single real push up.

I boxing train 5-6 days a week and am fit as hell and I can still only do 5 push ups before my form falls apart.

I can't even do proper close armed push ups, only wide push ups because of an older shoulder injury.

I have always and will continue to blame the weight of my boobs.

My husband always remarks in admiration 'you couldn't do them at all, and look at you now'.

If I can, anyone can, it really is just hard work and bloody mindedness. The latter I have in spades!

I also think part of it is a mental block. Not that training, good form and improved upper body strength isn't crucial, but I honestly didn't believe I could do them. Once I'd done just one, that blew that out of the water and I was golden from there...

The tweak I've made more recently is to really push out through my heels, strengthening my plank and really maintaining that rigidity in my trunk, glutes and hamstrings. It's noticeable how much this helps, relieves the pressure on my shoulders and enables me to work my chest effectively.

@TotalOverhaul does your PT know it's a goal? They should be able to get you there. Do you do much chest/back like rows, bench press? I've been training less time but do bench lots (which is v similar to push ups but the other way up) so I can do lots of push ups as a result. I couldn't 8 months ago though.

Yes but it took a while. I can now do 8-10 with an added 5kg on my back. I did lots of negatives (lowering down to the floor), planks and just failing at push ups till I finally got one. Watching those back now my form was crap initially but once I sorted that they got a lot easier

Yes I went from none to being able to do 7/8.

Just practiced loads with knees down but super controlled. Then progressed to in plank position and only moving an inch or two but keeping my elbows in like a yoga chaturranga. Eventually I could just do them!

The tweak I've made more recently is to really push out through my heels, strengthening my plank and really maintaining that rigidity in my trunk, glutes and hamstrings. It's noticeable how much this helps, relieves the pressure on my shoulders and enables me to work my chest effectively.

@TriciaMcMillan That's really helpful, thank you.

Another good tip: I found a youtube instructor the other day who said once you are in high plank, draw your shoulder blades down your back to stop the shoulders hunching up. I did that and it made a huge difference. I did feel stronger and way more controlled.

@TotalOverhaul that's you engaging your back muscles.

I was you once. I thought my body physically wasn't capable of it. I've been strength training now for 5 months, twice a week, and in the last week I have been able to manage three very shallow full push ups on my toes. I was astounded.

It takes a lot of time and patience though to build up the strength through your whole body, not just your arms. I have been doing squats, bent over rows, clean and press with a bar bell, bench press, dumb bell work, TRX bands, planks etc etc....slowly slowly getting stronger every week, with the advice of a PT too. As my body fat has come down and I've gotten stronger I'm just about managing to get there. I only started trying full ones once I could do 3 sets of 12 push ups on my knees. My aim is to be able to do a pull up in a year or so!!!

I just saw this @ButteryCup she breaks it down well.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJGHKoef/