How To Do 1 Push-Up (and then 10)
Some people go to the gym with a goal: I want to be able to do 1 push-up in 2 months' time. Fair enough, this is a really good goal. But don't expect you to suddenly develop the ability to do push-ups: you have to pass through the process of learning the skill before you do it properly.
I will go through some routines you might want to do to be ready for your first push-up - and I am sure you will do it!
First, what are we actually working on when doing a push-up?
Majorly it is your chest, with help from your shoulder and your triceps. Of course, your core is also stabilizing the movement.
So you need a primarily strong chest, and you can work on it in several ways and my favorite would be using the chest press machine. This way you will be guided through the movement and increase the strength on your chest, helping you to lift your weight back. Don't forget that, if you are obese or extremely obese, you might need to lose some fat before you start with press-ups as it might put your shoulders, elbows, and wrists at risk.
To learn the skill, you will pass through 3 stages before you do the complete push-up.
The first one is the box push-up.
With your hands close to your knees and your knees on the ground, this one will be way easier than the traditional press-up. And it will have 2 benefits: the first one is to, as I said, learn how to perform the skill. The second one will be also increasing your chest, shoulder, and triceps strength to help you through the movement. 3 x 10 on this one every other day at the end of your session.
The next step would be moving to the knee-pushup, where you place your hands further away from your knee and get to a more full press-up position. This one is way harder than the box press-up and, as further away you get from your knees, the harder it will be.
The third and last step before a full push-up would be performing an inclined push-up. You can use a box, a step and even the wall to perform this one. As more inclined you get - the easier it is to perform the exercise. You can change inclination day by day, until you get to a point when it is not needed anymore...
...and then you will be able to....
PERFORM A FULL PRESS-UP
Well done! If you followed these steps you definitely could do a press-up. If you want to have this plan in more detail, guiding you and showing you the proper workouts every day - click here and access now.