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 In fact, that is sexist, out of date advice.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.