Thanks Georgia!

I'll start this afternoon and do pushups after my squats. I say pushups but it may just be one. And it will be on my knees and not my toes. I'll have to work up to toe pushups.

Your progress is inspiring!

How To Do the Basic Pushup

1. Assume the pushup position: elbows locked; hands about shoulder width apart, flat against the ground; toes on the ground; torso and legs straight, core tight; body parallel to the floor.
2. Lower yourself to the ground, touching your chest to it. Make sure you maintain a tight, rigid body. Think of your legs, hips, and torso as if they formed a cohesive plank or a straight line. Maintain that plank throughout the exercise.
3. Push yourself back up, squeezing your pectoral muscles and completing the full range of motion.
4. At the top, continue until your elbows are completely locked and your shoulder blades are fully protracted.

Repeat.

Things to Remember

1. Keep the tight, plank-like torso position at all costs. Never let your hips sag or bend; don’t point your butt in the air to make it easier. Maintain the straight line.
2. Squeeze your glutes and flex your abs. This will keep your torso honest and avoid hyper-extension of the lower back.
3. Head is part of the plank. Keep your head facing the ground; don’t tilt your chin up and strain your neck.
4. Full range of motion! At the top, just as you feel like you’ve gone as far as you can, push a little more.

Thanks for posting that, weightloss1. Form is everything!

StayPuft, I have discussed this with my trainer and she tells me it's better to do the full push-up with good form rather than doing it from your knees. That's why I'm using the risers. I started working on my form by doing push-ups against the wall as well as working on planks on the floor. It took me some time to get my form right and build strength through my shoulder girdle. She kept telling me to drop my shoulders and engage my serratus anterior (armpit muscles), so that my shoulder blades were wide and engaged. I hold planks like that for almost 2 minutes now. Used to only be able to do that for 20 seconds. Got easier as I lost weight too!

So once I got form right, then I moved to doing push-ups at the counter, by sets of 10. When I got to four sets, I started stacking the risers under the step bench, up against the wall. Counter-height was 15 pairs of risers and a step, so I dropped it to 14 pairs of risers a few weeks ago. Oh my pecs hurt with the first set of 10, and the last two I started losing my form. But week by week, I got stronger and slowly added a push-up.

Then I got sick and didn't do anything for a week! I thought I was going to lose a lot of ground, but when I got back to it, because I had lost weight, it wasn't so hard, so I tried doing the push-ups with 13 pairs of risers. And I could do it! But again, very hard to finish the first set of 10 with good form.

I'm now getting a little better doing dips too!

weightloss1, thanks. I'm going to have to work up to the toe part but I'll use the info.

geoblewis, I've read from other people that they had a better experience using steps as risers. Sadly I have neither steps nor risers. So it'll be knees for me for a few weeks then I'll try again for toes. I just have no upper body strength right now.

I did the Week 1 Day 1 from 100 pushup site today. And it confirmed my complete lack of upper body strength. My form was ok but I couldn't go all the way down even on my knees. Maybe after I build up some strength.

Nice to hear you are doing dips too. I know eventually I'll need to do those too, but I'm going to concentrate on squats and pushups for now.

I have a bad feeling about my ability to feed myself or do any other action that requires lifting my arms tomorrow.

Um, yeah! Some days I can't even wash my hair!

So, no joke. Eight or nine times when I've seen this thread title, I've been inspired to drop to the floor and attempt to bust out a push-up. My attempts were tragically never successful. Just now I tried again, and I did it! I don't know if I should count it though. It was quick, sloppy, and painful. Well, so was another first, and I counted that one, so I guess I'll count this one too. I could only manage one and it may never happen again, but I'll always cherish my one push up.

Yeah Crispin! Well done!

Do another one tomorrow!

Dayum, that's awesome!

We had a plank contest at my job when we were on break, and nobody except the super athletic guy lasted that long.

someone told me to keep my back straight??

Crispin, I've been practicing planks for over three years. It is NOT an effortless thing or a pretty site for me to hold one that long. There's lots of funny sounds coming out of me for the last 45 seconds. And then, I'm pretty worthless for the rest of the day. Can't even stir my coffee with a spoon! I don't routinely hold them that long. It hurts my lower back. Most of my weight is around my belly and butt, so it puts a lot of strain on my body. We practice them by moving them around, front, sides, bird-dog, etc. That way our arms don't get tired. And we don't pass out!

Surprisingly no soreness today. A little stiffness, but overall good. Will be moving on to W1D2 tomorrow.

Georgia, that really is an impressive long time time to hold a plank. Amazing. Your core must be really strong!

crispin, congrats on your pushup!!! Very nice. I will get there eventually.

elliemackay07, yes you need to keep your back straight. Here's a video showing the form - YouTube example

I can now do a 3 minute regular plank, but SIDE planks just KILL me! I can barely hold those for 60 seconds!!!

Jen

Progress report!

I'm down to 11 risers and a bench for my push-ups. Definitely getting harder now. I can only do six push-ups with each of my three sets before my form starts to crumble.

I briefly went back to doing counter-height push-ups the other day to show someone how to do them. They were so easy! I struggle with recognizing and appreciating my progress. It was a good reminder that my perseverance is paying off.

CherryPie, I am so impressed with your achievement! That is awesome!!!

Yeah, side planks just kill me. I can't do them for more than 10 seconds.