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help with press ups

General discussions on joining & training in the Royal Air Force.
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sterion66
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help with press ups

Post by sterion66 »

My girlfriend is struggling with pressups. She can only do 1 at the minute and she is finding it a struggle. Obviously with the low number of reps what can she do to improve the muscles to do this. Is it advisable to lift low weights with high reps or to do womens press ups? Any advice is welcome.

Thanks,
Mike
jstagg
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Post by jstagg »

''Women press up's'' I'm not 100% sure whether women press up from the knees as opposed to the regular from the toes, small weights would help but she should lay down some where safe and do them on her back so she works the correct muscles.. carrying a heavy bag for a week can improve strength.
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anna1
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Post by anna1 »

Hey I had the same problem, it's taken me since October with press ups but I couldn't do one and now I can (finally) do the 21 :D

I found by starting off doing as many as I could in reps (of real press ups) which only began at one! I combined this with press ups on my knees and also from an exercise ball-I preferred that to from my knees! I personally do five sets of press ups each time I do them, I can't manage five sets of 21, but probably about two full sets of that and I just built that up depending on how much I could manage each time... ..it's taken me four months and it's slow progress but she will get there, I can't believe I have!!

I also used some of the weight machines at the gym to help me develop my strength, but the best way by far is just reps of press ups and just a few weights to supplement them. Also by doing dips (not sure what the actual name is for them, but if you sit with your back to the sofa - or a step and then lower and lift your weight back up-if that makes sense).

I have actually developed some proper arm muscle, which I found a bit weird at first...the other thing is only to do press ups and/or weights every other day to give them chance to rest and not to strain anything. Hope that helps :)
mr_man_2168
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Post by mr_man_2168 »

If your lady doesn't have access to a gym or weights, etc, she could try doing press ups against and elevated surface (windowsill, small tables, etc) as it places less weight on the arms and keeps more over the feet. As soon as she can do a good number of reps like this, she can try normal ones again or do it with a lower object. Exactly the opposite of elevating your feet to make the workout more intense. Obviously her feet need to be far enough away from the object that she's leaning over her arms, not just rocking backwards and forwards :lol:

A general body workout will be good, but it's not necessarily developing the correct muscles as used in press ups.

Also remember corse strength is important to keep proper form and technique so she should do core training as well which will help.

Hope that's some use!
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sterion66
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Post by sterion66 »

Thanks guys it's been a great help , shes feeling more confident she can make improvements now.

Mike
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