• Tweet

• Tweet

5 Ways To Do A Pushup

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about push ups.

Random… I know.

You see, nearly all of my clients here in San Francisco want to get better at push ups. Especially the women. So that’s why I wanted to share with you my top 5 ways to do a push up so you can ROCK it without dropping to your knees.

Fact of the matter is: Push Ups are bloody HARD!

You need strong wrists, plus upper body and core strength if you want to do full push ups without dropping to your knees.

So how can you get stronger at full push ups?

Practice FULL Push ups.

If you only practice knee push ups… you’ll only get better at doing knee push ups. (Gee, thanks Captain Obvious!)

The push up is essentially a “moving plank”. That means your abs should be fully engaged during the movement… and why it’s crucial to build your core strength if you want to rock more push ups.

Your #1 objective here is to get past your “sticking points”, which is the spot where you can no longer lower yourself down (or push yourself up) with good form.

Here’s how to build your strength so you can do a FULL push up.

#1: Wall Push Ups

This is the simplest variation of the push up – so it’s perfect if you’re a beginner or coming back from a long layoff.

Here’s how to do it:

Extend your arms and place your hands flat on the wall at shoulder height. Brace your abs and glutes as you would in a plank. Inhale and press your body toward the wall like a push-up. Exhale and push back to the original position, keeping your elbows close to your sides.

#2: Incline Push Ups

This is hands down my fave option for building up to a full push up…

Find a bench, step, couch or other sturdy object to place your hands on for the push ups. Choose a height that’s not too easy… You want to push yourself, ok?

So it should be a height that’s challenging, but you can still do a full, chest to bottom push up with excellent form.

As you get stronger, use lower and lower points until you reach the floor. I love this progression more than doing “girly knee push ups”. Why? You’re not losing the full core engagement.

#3: Do Negative Push Ups

Start at the top position of your push up, then lower yourself as slowly as you can all the way to the floor. Make sure you’re using excellent form and bracing your abs and glutes. Rest and repeat. If you can’t do this with full range of motion, try the incline variation. Elevate your hands until you are at an angle that works for you and progress from there.

#4: Do Positive Push Ups

Start on the floor. Now push yourself up with control and perfect form all the way to the top position. Rest and repeat. Can’t get yourself off the floor? Try the incline variation as I mentioned in the previous point.

#5: Do Top/Down or Bottom/Up Drills

The idea of this move is to find your sticking points, and work on getting past it.

Top/Down Drill:

Start in the plank position of your push up. Lower yourself slowly and under control all the way to your sticking point. Now try holding that position with excellent form for 3-5 seconds. Yep, it’s hard. So breathe!

Bottom/Up Drill:

Lie flat on your stomach with your hands and feet in push up position. Now try to push yourself in one straight line up to your sticking point. Hold this position for 3-5 seconds. Can’t push yourself off the floor yet? No dramas. Push into the floor as hard as you can as if you were going to do the push up.

Like I said, if you want to do full push ups, the most important thing you must do is build your core strength, ok.

And here’s exactly how you can strengthen your core in just 10 minutes without crunches or sit ups…

Grab the free video here while you still you still can:

==> Try this FREE Bodyweight Follow Along Workout Video

Once you’ve mastered the full push ups, there are SO many awesome variations you can try! Let me know how it goes, ok.

Have an awesome day!

Your Coach,

 

KV

First Name *

Email *