Power to the Push-up

Many women be like:

"but I don't have any upper body strength"

"I can only do a girly push up" ****there is NO SUCH THING as a girly push up!****

"push ups are too hard"

"my arms are really weak"

Ok.

I get it. Yes, push ups (done correctly!) can be challenging and yes, women in general have a more difficult time developing the strength for upper body pulls and pushes compared to men... but we're not here to compare ourselves to men, we're here to get stronger, for ourselves!

The beauty with push ups is that there are several regressions and progressions depending on your strength level.

For starters, a helpful place to begin is with the plank, on your hands with your body forming a straight line with no sagging from the hips or low back. Arms should be in towards your ribcage. Progressing from a plank is figuring out at what elevation is suitable for you to complete the push up with the greatest range of motion i.e being able to bring your chest towards whatever surface you're aiming for, so your chest ends up between your hands.

In the plank, a great drill to do is scapular retraction and protraction. To keep your chest out, your shoulder blades must be down and together: retract (this will be in the bottom portion of the push up) and at the top of the move the shoulder blades will come apart (protract)

**CUE THE SMITH MACHINE** It is my favourite equipment to use for developing push up strength (a squat rack will also do) Because there are several height levels, it is easy to change the elevation and it's wrist friendly -> it will take a few attempts to find the best height. Once you have that figured out follow these steps:

1) grip > a bit closer than shoulder width, stacked shoulders aligned over the wrist to make a solid column

2) feet > firmly plant your toes on ground with heels up towards ceiling- the farther they are apart, the easier. Legs should be straight forming a solid straight line from your head to your feet.

3) core > engaged: glutes slightly squeezing, belly button pulling in

3) begin with inhaling as you lower yourself (chest) towards your hands, keeping the elbows in, hold the bottom position for a second and press yourself back and away as you exhale. Your elbows can be flared out 30-45 degrees, but I prefer closer to the body.

Once you are comfortable with performing 3 sets of at least 6-8 reps, you can change elevations and change around the sets and reps... and then once you've reached floor level, there is no shortage of ways to challenge the push up henceforth.

Doing push ups will not only give you strong and defined shoulders and triceps, but a stronger core as well.