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(Push ups don’t have to be done on the floor, if you aren’t ready yet).
Hello real [FIT] life’rs! Do you perform push ups?
I hope you do since they are an excellent exercise for total body strength.
Sometimes when I am training at a gym, I see women or men doing push ups (awesome!) but at a level where they aren’t quite capable of performing them safely or effectively.
This makes me want to help but never knowing if someone is open to constructive feedback from a complete stranger, I reserve my comments.
Push ups don’t HAVE to be done on the floor in order for them to be effective. In FACT, you will get better results if you select a level at which you are able to perform your push ups with full range of motion for all reps, and maintain solid core control.
(Start your push ups elevated at as high a level as necessary. Bars in racks are a perfect place to do this. As you get stronger, the bar goes lower.)
As your push ups do progress closer to the floor, make sure you are keeping your whole body tight, from head to toe. Your back should stay in alignment and your torso fully stabilized throughout the entire range of movement.
If you cannot get your chest all the way to the bar, and then push all the way back up, you probably need to stay higher for a bit longer. If your back is collapsing and you can’t keep your core/back tight throughout, that is also a sign you need to stay higher until you get stronger.
(As you get stronger, you can gradually lower the level of your push ups over time)
Using a smart, patient approach for exercises that are challenging requires a tad bit of ego swallowing. However, the end results always make it worthwhile. Short cuts never get us to our end result. Usually we give up out of frustration or end up getting injured.
With this gradual approach you’ll be busting out push ups on the floor with full range of motion, like the badass that you are.
Sometimes LESS can eventually get you MORE.
Now get out there!