When push-ups are too hard, alternatives?

[MissMormie]

Over the last months I've been trying to get to a push-up. I've made it a challenge goal 2 challenges ago and still not getting there. Partially because I feel defeated for not getting there. Also, lack of strength makes my form terrible, even when trying to do knee push-ups. Lately I've just done the sort of push-ups at my Monday bodypump class and left it at that. But for the next challenge I want to pick this back up. Rather than going back into the incline and knee push-ups which get me depressed I'm looking for some alternatives to train my push-up muscles for the next challenge. What also influences this is that my weight fluctuates quite a lot. So it's hard to see progress when I've just lost 5lbs. Am I really stronger or am I just lighter? Anything with weights should alleviate this. 

Can you recommend me some exercises to train those chest and arm muscles? (And any other that I don't know about that you might use.) 

[Raev]

When I was first getting back into shape, I struggled with pushups myself.  What I did was wall pushups.

 

I'd put my hands on the wall in pushup position, put my legs back so that my body was on an angle similar to /

 

I'd then do pushups like that, as many as I could do in a day - three times a week.

 

I'd couple that up with some core work (mostly crunches) becase the core has a lot to do with good form.

 

In under 2 months, I was busting out regular pushups.  These days, I'm doing 40-45 in a set with three sets, 3x a week.

[JessFit]

I could never do a pushup but once I started bench pressing I was able to do them! Also wall pushups and laying on the floor gripping the underside of a table (the rim around the edge) and pulling yourself up toward the table is a great way to work those muscles from home.

[ConorM93]

Wall Push-up -> Incline (45 degrees with a counter or table or something thats high enough) -> Knee Push-ups -> Full Push-ups. 3x10 on each. Another way of going about it is if you can do maybe 5 inclines, grease the groove by doing sets of 2 or 3 multiple (a whole lot) of times per day, you should see performance improve a lot in the next week or two.

Presses are great also. Start with light dumbbells: my university gym goes in 1kg increments from 1 to 10kg, and I'm sure commercial gyms have something similar, although you may have not access to something like that, in which case I'd recommend the advice above. If you have dumbbells like I described, I find that watching the numbers go up is very satisfying. 

Best of luck

[Huntress]

I could never do a pushup but once I started bench pressing I was able to do them! Also wall pushups and laying on the floor gripping the underside of a table (the rim around the edge) and pulling yourself up toward the table is a great way to work those muscles from home.

 

I second JessFit. At the beginning of this year I couldn't do one traditional pushup and I had to take a break doing 10 knee pushups. Now on a good day I can bust out 15 traditional pushups and I have the bench press to thank. It's a great one because you can control the amount of resistance you are pressing against and find what's right for your body. Don't worry about whether you're using dumbbells, kettlebells or a barbell - it's all great practice for your first pushup. 

 

The second exercise JessFit is talking about is an inverted row - Steve did an article about it with a form video which is worth checking out. Not sure if they will help pushups, but they're a great exercise and will make you stronger and you should do them anyway

Hang in there, you're gonna get there in the end!

[I-Jo]

do wall push ups

do stair push ups

do desk push ups

chair push ups

 

and start working on bench pressing either BB or DB.

 

all are adequate ways to work similar muscles- you''ll get there

[MissMormie]

Thanks all!

I'll get started with the bench presses, hopefully that'll increase my confidence back to a point where I can try push ups again, be they wall chair knee or traditional.

[Vintage]

I agree with bench pressing and wall push ups. You can also do push up negatives (start in the top position and slowly lower with a count of 3 or 4 seconds, then push back up with your knees on the ground, lift your knees back up and repeat). 

[Huntress]

Oooh, and I forgot to suggest planks. You can do 'em with your forearms on the ground (harder) or in the top position of a pushup (easier). They're good for building a strong core which will assist when it's time to do your pushups! They feel awful to do but are very useful. Try seeing if you can make it to 30 seconds to start with.