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[Exerosp]

I have a trouble when it comes to Pushups, I always have to stop since it feels like I can't do more pushing after about five pushups, my wrists tend to ache after switching between bench dips.
But it's just Pushups like... I used to be able to do handstand pushups when I was more fit, and pushups for that matter, but ever since a year or two ago when i've been trying to pick up my pushups again and it feels like it's such a climb to do so. Progression is hecka slower than any leg exercise I do, since I just squat and lounge a few sets and in a week I can do one legged squats again.
But it's just these friggin' pushups that are a pain. And well, chinups. When it comes to contracting my muscles it feels like I run out of gas much faster than I do when doing extending exercises.

Am I just progressing slowly? Is it because I just got used to being able to do longer sets a couple of years ago?

[Retropunch]

Fitness fanatic here!

I used to really, really struggle with pushups, and a lot of it is due to weaker tendons/ligaments/supporting muscles. As you say, you do better with legs and most of that is down to having good tendons/ligaments/supporting stuff around the muscle because you use them all the time. This is especially the case if you used to be doing a lot more and now can't.

The best way to combat it is to work up on really low reps (say half/three quarters of your max) many times a day (every day) and do supportive exercises. I honestly used to do 15 press-ups every time I used the bathroom, and as weird as it sounds, that made sure I was always putting in a good number.

Lastly, I'd really, really recommend getting a chest expander. I'm not sure where you're from but I use Schmidt Sports ones (German made - yellow one is best for moderate beginner) and they're really awesome, non steel (no stabbing your eye out when you hulk out on them!) and just generally well made. I can say without a doubt that it's the thing that transformed me completely and got me ready for army fitness tests, especially the pushup/pull-up requirements. I've been using them for years now, and everyone who I've recommended them too now uses them religiously mainly because they give you actual useful, all-round strength rather than just being able to pick up heavy metal things a lot of times.

PM me if you need more advice, but I'd really try those two things as I'm sure they'll fix it!

[TheMasterTurtle]

I've been using them for years now, and everyone who I've recommended them too now uses them religiously mainly because they give you actual useful, all-round strength rather than just being able to pick up heavy metal things a lot of times.

This kind of comment will always really bother me. What is practical, all round strength? At 168 pounds I can deadlift 495, is that not practical somehow? I can also do a muscle-up, front/back lever, wrestler bridges, bridges with people weighing over 200 pounds standing on my back and a plethora of other impressive bodyweight exercises despite only training for powerlifting. The insinuation that somehow different kinds of strength are 'better' or more practical really makes zero sense. Strength is strength. Lift heavy shit and get good at everything.

[Heron TSG]

Well, your flexor and extensor muscles are separate, so it's definitely possible you've trained your extensors more than your flexors. I don't have a whole lot of lifting advice for you, but the 'plank' exercise is a pretty good way to get better at pushups. If you haven't heard of it, it's basically where you lie face-down with your hands and feet on the floor. If your arms are fully extended, that's a good triceps workout. If you lie closer to the floor, your biceps will be more strained. I usually do high, medium, and low planks for threeish minutes each as part of my post-running routine, and I think they're useful. (Although I haven't confirmed this with someone who actually knows if they are.)

[Retropunch]

This kind of comment will always really bother me. What is practical, all round strength? At 168 pounds I can deadlift 495, is that not practical somehow? I can also do a muscle-up, front/back lever, wrestler bridges, bridges with people weighing over 200 pounds standing on my back and a plethora of other impressive bodyweight exercises despite only training for powerlifting. The insinuation that somehow different kinds of strength are 'better' or more practical really makes zero sense. Strength is strength. Lift heavy shit and get good at everything.

Strength is Strength (especially at such an impressive level) but there are too many people that do one or two exercises (those people that only do curls and bench presses..urgh) which end up only being able to do the exercises they do due to all the aux. muscles being hideously under-worked and having a very limited range of movement.

Basically, my whole point was that if you don't have a good regime (like your obviously good powerlifting one) strand pulling/chest expanders are a pretty good all round upper body workout in my opinion.

I usually do high, medium, and low planks for threeish minutes each as part of my post-running routine, and I think they're useful. (Although I haven't confirmed this with someone who actually knows if they are.)

Planks are all round awesome.

[Sappho]

On this topic... Does anyone have any tips for being able to do pushups despite a prior wrist injury? I had pretty bad tendinitis in both my wrists about ten years ago and the doctor warned me that tendons don't heal properly, the tendon tissue gets replaced with scar tissue which is weaker, and I have to be careful otherwise I can damage them even more. Every time I try to do pushups, my wrists end up being really sore afterwards, and if I keep going anyway, I hurt them again. Does anyone know any way around this?

I've wanted to build up a little upper body strength for a long time now, but I keep hitting obstacles. I don't care about being muscly or in great shape, but I can't even lift my own body weight. If I try to do a pull-up, I can't even get my feet off the ground. It's embarrassing. I know that women tend to have stronger legs than arms and all that, but I just hate being so weak. I have a very frail frame, small bones, weak joints. For reasons I won't get into here, I can't go to a gym or fitness center. And I'm against doing exercises that only use one small group of muscles. I know push-ups are great because they use your whole body, but I can never seem to manage them. (I mean, I can do them, but I always end up getting hurt.) My tai chi teacher is always emphasizing doing exercise that gets the whole body to work together, that you can have really strong muscles and still not be strong in the way that he teaches us to be. (His girlfriend, another teacher, is this tiny woman, way smaller than me. She can't do a single pushup, but she can easily toss anyone to the ground without any real effort, even people much larger and heavier and stronger than her, people who work out all the time and can lift a lot of weight, and no one can knock her over because she's so good at using her whole body for strength.)

My teacher gives a weekly course on strength training and conditioning, but when I try to go, I find that I can't do most of the exercises. Aside from my wrists, I also have old knee and ankle injuries that bother me all the time.

Sorry for the meandering nature of this post. I should have sorted my thoughts out in advance. I guess my question is, does anyone know any way for a 55-kilo (about 120 lbs), 170 cm (5'7") girl with extremely weak joints and connective tissues to build up any real amount of strength? Or have genetics doomed me to be weak forever?

[Il Palazzo]

@Sappho:
If pushups are too taxing on your wrists, try exercises targeted specifically at strengthening your wrists/forearms(same thing really).

Whole-body strengthening exercises are great, but you have to recognise the usefulness of targetted ones as well, especially if you're handicapped by past injuries.

Try something like this guy's doing:

Also do the same thing with the palm rotated to face downward.
If you've got no dumbells, hold a small plastic bag filled with whatever.

Once your wrists are strong enough, start on your pushups.

Also, you might want to try doing pushups on your fists, rather than with palms flat on the floor. With fists, the wrist joints are mostly locked in a neutral position, so it might be less taxing.

As a way to adjust the weight against which you have to work when doing pushups, rather than starting flat on the floor, lean against your bed so that you push your weight at an angle.

[Sappho]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried wrist exercises before but they tend to irritate the tendons. I guess that's the issue: how to make the muscles stronger without using the tendons too much. I've heard that if I can get the muscles stronger, it will take some of the stress off the tendons, but I haven't found any way to use one without the other... : /

I'm not strong enough to do pushups on my fists, but maybe I could do them on my knees instead of my toes... Stupid body.

[DeKaFu]

I don't care about being muscly or in great shape, but I can't even lift my own body weight. If I try to do a pull-up, I can't even get my feet off the ground. It's embarrassing.

I don't have much in the way of advice, but I just wanted to chime in here, I am/was in exactly the same boat as you. I decided to start an exercise routine at the local gym back in February and one of my end goals was being able to do pull-ups. I've been working on it twice a week nonstop since then, and I've made a lot of progress, but I'm still not doing full pull-ups. For people with low upper body strength, women especially, they really are the hardest thing.

They're a great long-term goal to have, but definitely not something to be embarassed about not being able to pull off out of nowhere.

[Arx]

I guess that's the issue: how to make the muscles stronger without using the tendons too much.

I used to hurt my left wrist in a tendonitis-y way a lot, and then I started dabbling in guitar and bass guitar. It's never recurred; take my anecdote as you will.


As regards the original topic, plus one for planks. Or plus two.

[Retropunch]

Wrists are hard things to build up. You can get those wrist ball things that you spin around in your hand or do the exercise shown above, but mainly you just have to work it up gently. I'd second doing it on fists, even if you can't do many. Remember you can always do knee or wall pushups if you can't do full ones!

[gimlet]

You could get strap-on weights, and attach them below the wrist so your wrist wouldn't be involved in the lifting.   I don't think you can get 100s of pounds of weights this way, but you could sure get enough for a good start. 

Also you could consider the elastic bands/resistance bands - there's a lot of exercises you can do with those without involving the wrists...

[Exerosp]

No worries for invading my thread as long as it's OT, I can relate and it helps me brainstorm and the likes. Had a few talks with my oldest brother since he's a retired gym-freak, and he just told me I wasn't stubborn enough. Which is kind of true, as I give up as it gets too heavy for my arms both during pull-ups or push-ups.

But another brother of mine has me curious. He says he suffers from something of the likes of rheumatism, yet only in symptoms. He has apparently only been having 'attacks' of it during the times he still had school, but it feels more like hypochondria at muscle soreness. Could I be right about that? Since I related that soreness to even bone brittleness when I started 8th grade.

[Retropunch]

But another brother of mine has me curious. He says he suffers from something of the likes of rheumatism, yet only in symptoms. He has apparently only been having 'attacks' of it during the times he still had school, but it feels more like hypochondria at muscle soreness. Could I be right about that? Since I related that soreness to even bone brittleness when I started 8th grade.

It's an impossible thing to diagnose, but rheumatism is just a general term for all sorts of things to do with joints pain/discomfort/problems. Muscle Soreness can be bigger problems, but is usually just that the body sometimes takes longer to recover than others - it's not a perfect machine by any stretch of the imagination, so sometimes things are just randomly worse than other times.

Obligatory 'when anyone asks medical advice on the internet': GO TO A DOCTOR IF YOU ARE EVEN THE LEAST BIT WORRIED ABOUT ANYTHING MEDICAL. 

[Exerosp]

He did go to a doctor, they couldn't prove anything except something that he should eat more iron.
And he doesn't exactly exercise it's just... It's a thing he brags about.
But is there anyone here that does boxing or did it atleast somewhat passionately at a young age/before they developed muscles?
I am wondering since I have been doing boxing on and off since, yes, 8th grade. Basically just throwing punches in the air following the guidelines I got by the trainer that's now moved to another gym. When I started learning how to throw hooks and when I got the proper speed and flow to it, it felt like my lungs were squeezing air out by themselves? (I was not putting any force into the punches and twisting.) Because the feeling felt right, but the raspy/rispy sound didn't. Just something that has been on my mind for five years if that's how it should feel to 'Move Correctly'.

Edit: Unrelated to my own topic but, if my gum has gotten irritated a bit because I tried scratching out food hours ago, is there any way to remedy it?