One hundred push ups

[OakLeaf]

Any good resources on technique?? I tried what I thought was correct, and didn't really feel any resistance. I'm also doing light arm weights - but I don't think that will be enough to seriously help the lack of push up ability.

As Snap said, try standing farther away from the wall. Because your body will actually be moving in an arc, be sure you place your hands where they will be under your shoulders when you're closest to the wall, not when you're standing up to begin the movement. Don't bring your shoulders closer to the wall than your elbows.

Most of the form tips for wall push-ups are the same as for doing them horizontally. Practice plank position - with a mirror or an observer - to strengthen your core and get the idea of how your body should feel while doing push-ups.

You can also do push-ups with your legs on a stability ball. This gives you the ability to micro-adjust your fulcrum and gradually roll out to a longer lever as you get stronger. Again, as with any type of decline push-up, don't bring your shoulders below your elbow level (unless you've been cleared to do that by a PT or a qualified trainer, and you can do it without pain or instability in your shoulders).

Of course the weight work will help, as long as you keep increasing the weights. The main difference between bench presses and push-ups is the secondary muscles that get used (more central core in push-ups, more shoulder stabilizers and obliques in bench presses, particularly dumbbell presses) - the load on the triceps and pecs is very similar. There's a slight difference because of the way your body becomes the radius of an arc during a push-up, so a mix of regular and decline bench presses would be the best simulation.

I use small dumbbells so I can keep my wrists fairly straight during push ups. I figure that riding plus computers has given me a fairly significant case of carpal tunnel. Bending the wrist back (as in normal push ups) is tough on the nerves.

That works, or with a lesser case of weak wrists, try splaying your fingers out and using your whole hands to distribute the weight, rather than putting it all in the heel of your hand.


Geez, I'm hanging around this thread so much I apparently have a secret desire to do the program Okay, okay, provided I don't go through with the surgery (which I'm making a final decision later this week after talking to a couple more people), I'm in. Start tomorrow