Women: How to Do a Pushup
A lot of women who come to see us complain that they lack upper body strength. “Why do you think that?”, I ask. Most of the time, the answer is “I can’t do a pushup” (or some variation of that… if she’s a yoga practitioner, she’ll say “I can’t do a chaturanga”, or “I can’t do the crow/frog stand”).
And I would agree with that — a pushup is a great marker of upper body strength for women (less so for men. For men, pushups are more a test of endurance than strength). It involves the primary pushing muscles — the chest (pecs), shoulders (deltoids), and triceps. Want nice, toned arms? Do some pushups. Want to make your housework easier? Do some pushups. Want to maintain function in older age? Do some pushups.
The problem is if you can’t do a single pushup, how do you work up to it? That’s what we’ll cover in this article. So that you can be superwoman!
If you’d like a program designed specifically for you, to be able to do a pushup, whether in person, or virtually, just email me with the subject line “Perfect Pushup.”
But first…
WHY ARE PUSHUPS SO DIFFICULT FOR WOMEN?
Why is it that an untrained, out of shape man in his 50s or 60s might be able to crank out 5–10 pushups without training for it, but an in-shape woman in her 20s and 30s has a hard time…
