Incline vs. 'modified' pushups?

[wanderluck]

Push-ups are my bane. But, alack, I'll have to get over it. My question is this: to work up to a proper push-up, would you recommend incline push-ups or 'modified' (i.e. from the knee) push-ups as the means to the end?

[MMyers]

Depends. If you have a Cinderblock or a few books you can change the leverage by putting it under your hips, thighs, knees, shin, etc... I personally like this way better, because you can gradually move to full Push-Ups. I'm working on Diamond Push-Ups this way.

Other than that, you can use stairs as a progressive means of moving on to harder stuff.

[ebm1224]

good question, i've been wondering this myself. also, how do you know when it's time to move up to the next level? i can do modified on my knees pretty well (can't get my chest quite all the way to the ground).

[MMyers]

If you're going straight from Knee Push-Ups to Full Push-Ups, I would aim for a higher rep range, maybe 20-25 to milk as much strength out of the Knee Push-Ups as possible. Aiming for higher reps can't hurt, but 20-25 is a good progression number.

Some people suggest Negatives, but you can just easily change the movement with a cinderblock, incline, bands, etc.... That way you can just do the full movement.

[BarefootDawsy]

Try this:

Wall pushups: 1 X 10 (vertical, against a wall, hands shoulder-width apart at chest level)

Wall pushups: 2 X 20

Wall pushups: 3 X 30

Incline Pushups: 1 X 10 (Against a waist-high object (eg: counter-top), hands shoulder-width apart at chest level)

Incline Pushups: 2 X 20

Incline Pushups: 3 X 30

Kneeling Pushups: 1 X 10 (on your knees, hands shoulder-width apart at chest level)

Kneeling Pushups: 2 X 20

Kneeling Pushups: 3 X 30

Half Pushups: 1 X 10 (Proper pushup, go down until arms are nearly at right angles)

Half Pushups: 1 X 20

Half Pushups: 1 X 30

Full Pushups: 1 X 10....etc (Full pushup to chest 1 fist-height from the floor - try doing them over a book or ball and go down until your chest touches the top)

It takes a while, so be patient and make sure you do every single step as they are adding to your strength to allow you to do the later exercises. By the end you'll be doing pushups like a pro!

This is a modified version of the pushups prgression from Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade. I highly recommend picking up a copy as there are progressions for a number of bodyweight exercises.