Girl Push-ups? Who needs them!

Crazy week at the gym where I got to flip some huge tires and push myself in a two hour workout. I learned two things. First, wear long sleeves to flip tires otherwise it will bruise your arms up. Second, at my age a two hour workout will knock you out for the rest of the day. Now on to the topic of the week......Push-ups.

Often, women are told it is Okay to do “Girl push-ups” instead of standard ones. In fact, that is sexist, out of date advice. There is more point to doing a push-up than just to increase your chest strength.

Holding the correct position and using good arm placement improves core strength and tricep strength. Push-ups are often an accessory exercise for the bench press. Not because it makes your chest strong but because it does multiple things at once. To do a good bench press you need core strength, back strength, tricep strength, and chest strength. A proper push-up will hit all these areas. It will also help build the stabilizer muscles in your shoulder, which you are going to need to avoid injury.

If you lower to the knees and do a “girl push-up” then you lose the core stress and, by changing the axis, put more stress on the chest. It is almost impossible to move from a “girl push-up” to a standard one.

A better way to progress if you can’t do a standard push-up, is to increase the angle you are doing it at. For example, start by doing a push-up against the wall as shown below. This will allow you to keep good form while building up the strength needed to progress.



After you can do a number at this angle then lower the angle again to make it harder. So move to doing it on an exercise bench.




Your next progression could be to a couple of steps. So that you are slowly lowering the angle as your strength increases.


Before you know it you will be able to do a standard push up! It is very empowering to drop and knock out a few push-ups. Most people will be understandable impressed and you will help your bench press as well. 

Try not to have your arms too wide so you can work your triceps as well as your chest. Don’t have your butt in the air. Keep a straight line.
What other things do you need for a quality push-up? It is all about form:

• Keep your shoulders over your hands
• Tighten the core
• Get a nice straight line from head to foot
• Lower to the ground under control
• Press off the ground forcefully

There are many variations you can use as well once you can do a standard one. Just a few examples are:
Diamond or Heart- These increase the use of the tricep. Your hands should be touching to make a diamond or heart under your chest. These are very advanced and honestly most men can’t even do one.

Feet Elevated- Slightly harder than standard push-ups. The feet can be elevated anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet. The higher they are the more the difficulty increases.

Clap - These introduce a plyometric element. You must explosively push up from the ground high enough to clap your hands together. Again this is very advanced and takes a lot of strength.


I hope I have convinced you to work on push-ups and that they will benefit you on many levels. It’s an exercise that is worth it’s weight in gold. It’s also one that can be done anywhere with minimal equipment.

What is that thing?

OK, I've convinced you to go to the gym and give the weight room a try. But what in the world are all those strange pieces of equipment and how do I use them. Do I even need them? Never fear, I’m not going to leave you hanging. Here are some of the common things you will see and what they are used for.

The Power Rack.- The most useful thing in the gym:

Below are pictures are two different types. These can be used for Squats of any type, overhead presses, rack pulls, good-mornings, and even bench presses, if you pull in a bench. The adjustable safety bars can be good if you don’t have anyone to spot you. Just please, don’t curl in the Power Rack.

This one is very basic one.

This one is much more advanced and you could do Pull-ups, as well as several other exercises with this type.

The type you see will depends on the gym and there are some other variations.

Pre-loaded Barbells:

These are great for starting out with barbell work at low weights. For the first few months I used these for almost everything. The standard Olympic barbell alone weighs 45 pounds and is quite long. The pre-loaded ones are great while working up to using the Olympic bar.

They usually start at 20 pounds and go up to around 110 pounds in 10 pound increments.

Trap or Hex Bar:

These can be used for Trap Bar deadlifts, shrugs, or farmers walks.

Leg Press:

Used for Single or Double leg presses in different positions.

Just don't leave the plates on when you are done as someone has done here.



Bench Press :

These come in several variations as well. Pictured is a basic one.

Incline Bench Press:

Not much explanation needed. But I also use the platform on back for step ups when needed.

Deadlift Platform with loader:

This is for doing deadlifts and the red bar helps you load the plates on. It makes life much easier and is a must have when doing this. I didn't know how great it was until I used one.

The Smith Machine.- the dumbest thing in the gym

There have been a million blog posts and articles written on why not to use the machine, so I won't go into detail. Run away from anyone that wants you to lift weight on it. I do use it for reverse body weight rows, because you can adjust the bar height to make it more or less easy. But, it is horrible for squats. Just say NO.

That covers most of the things relating to free weights you will see in a commercial gym that does not specialize. I couldn't get a picture of the cable machine because someone was always on it. I want to thank Atoka Fitness and NBS Fitness for letting me take some pictures.


There are lots of other machines I could have covered but I had to stop somewhere. My favorite is the prowler but most gyms won't have one. There is also the Glute-Ham Raise and the T-Bar Row. If you see an unfamiliar piece of equipment just ask someone how to use them before you play around. It is easy to put on too much weight and pull something.

Hope to see you all next week!