Help a weakling achieve her first push-up!

geekgirl397 — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:25:15 -0800

I'm a 35 yr old female, 5'6", 120lbs, in good general shape (walk loads, work out) who has never been able to achieve a single-push up. It's a key move to many of the workouts I want to do, but most strength-building programs assume that even the weakest can do at least one. What should I do? I want to include yoga and pilates in my routine, but the yoga "chaturanga" pose escapes me, making it hard to do "sun salutations" which are the core of many routines. Part of my routine is the interactive game "Yourself Fitness" on the PS/2 - this features fitness tests every 10 workouts, which include pushups as a measure. I just sit them out and enter fake info, which is frustrating.

I am in good general health. I walk between 15 and 20 miles a week and do yoga/pilates/weight routines for 30 mins about 3 times a week (hoping to ramp up to more). In the past, I've devoted a lot of time to staying fit, and for several years worked out six days a week for at least 45 mins, once a week with a trainer for an hour. Even at my fittest, I was unable to do a single push-up. I could/can do chest presses, flys, etc. with lightish weights. I can hold the yoga "plank" position and "side plank" for a decent amount of time.

I am thinking of finding a yoga teacher and getting an individual lesson to see if that helps me finally get chaturanga, but I don't have a lot of time/money and I don't currently know of a teacher I trust. (Also, gym trainers and yoga/pilates class teachers in the past have not been able to teach me to do a push up or achieve chaturanga.)

Has anybody else out here had this problem? I feel like a freak. Has anyone been able to overcome it? How? Are there any "tricks" or tips that might help me to do my very first push up, and work up from there?

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Help a weakling achieve her first push-up!