Push-ups and I have a long and complicated love-hate relationship. On the one hand, as a former personal trainer of his and someone who programmed strength training for hundreds of clients, I am well aware of the benefits of pushups. It builds core strength and stability and also works the pectoral muscles and triceps. Plus, they’re one of the best functional moves, says Lady Velez, M.D., certified personal trainer and owner of the StrengthWorks gym. “I’m a big proponent of functional bodyweight exercise. [such as] Push-ups are for transferring all areas of your strength and building your joints,” she explains. ”
But despite all the proven benefits of pushups, I never liked them.It’s kind of my dirty little secret. I can deadlift and squat hundreds of pounds, but my pushup game has never been stronger (pun intended). Recently, Personal He realized that when his trainer programmed push-ups into his workouts, I didn’t want them.
So I finally decided to take a radical approach to mastering push-ups. Commit to doing 15 push-ups a day for at least 30 days.
Start of my pushup challenge
Before starting the 30-day push-up challenge, I initially set a goal of 10 push-ups a day. After thinking it over (and a few words of encouragement reminding me that I have strength training experience), that number seemed too small. He didn’t envision himself doing 15 push-ups easily, but he didn’t find 15 to be difficult.
However, on the first day of the challenge, I realized that I was a little too enthusiastic about my goal of completing 15 perfect push-ups in one strong, smooth set. About halfway through the rep, I had to kneel — and hurt my ego a bit in the process.
Even though I was a little disappointed, I persevered. And eventually I realized that correcting your movements and maintaining proper form is much better than pushing through with bad form, especially when it comes to hip health. If your hips are sagging during push-ups (as opposed to a flat back where your pelvis is tucked in and your spine is straight), you put yourself at risk for lower back pain. I wanted to focus on targeting the right muscles (think pecs, core, lat) because it was really about getting. Better In push-ups — I don’t just do flimsy reps with potentially dangerous form to complete my challenge. Lesson learned: Quality over quantity, especially when it comes to strength training.
Another problem I had early on was procrastinating on my daily push-ups. I found myself doing push-ups at 10pm. Honestly, most days I thought about skipping them altogether. Who knows? no one. That was my personal challenge.
regain strength in push-ups
But after a rough first week, I was able to get my mindset back on track. I found a new resolution and got up every morning to complete push-ups as part of my routine. If I was serious about wanting to get better at pushups, I had to go all out and do my best.
After successfully knocking out my morning push-ups for a few days, I felt a sense of accomplishment. is gone. His final five push-ups were still so hard that he had to pause at the top of the movement, hold the plank for a few seconds, and breathe, but he got through it.
By day 30 of the challenge, I couldn’t believe how quickly the month went by. But more importantly, I couldn’t believe that completing 15 push-ups every day was so much easier than it was the first day. felt. It was a far cry from what I felt during the first few days of the challenge.
What I learned from the push-up challenge
When I first started this challenge, I imagined myself reaching day 30, celebrating having accomplished it, and giving up my daily push-ups quickly. , I’m actually excited to continue working on functional strength (aka movements and exercises that help make everyday movements easier) as it carries over into everyday life. Whether you’re carrying a box or lifting and moving heavy boxes, functional strength helps prevent injury and build strong bones. This becomes even more important as you get older. And what if doing more push-ups meant you could move pain-free and live independently longer?
I’m a lot better at pushups than I was when I started, but I’m nowhere near one of those people who can beat 50 to 100 pushups in a day. I don’t think I’m keen on it. But I want to build on the progress I’ve made, so I’m continuing to incorporate push-ups 3-4 days a week. You might actually turn a push-up love-hate relationship into a love-only relationship.
