Push ups.

[Diblet]

Hi I had AVR 2017 since then been exercising like spinning, running, circuit training but recently injured foot so trying resistance training. I have absolutely no strength to do push ups, does anyone else struggle and if so how can you strengthen your chest??

[Chappychap]

We normally associate cardio-vascular fitness with heart health, rather than strength. But there is some compelling evidence that strength is actually the better indicator.

American fire-fighters have to complete an annual fitness assessment, and their health is also documented. This has produced a massive quantity of data over many years. The single best indicator of resistance to heart attacks was actually that group that managed 80 push-ups.

And in another study of firefighters it was shown that the group that achieved 40 or more push ups in 30 seconds had significantly lower risk of heart attacks or strokes in the following ten years compared to the group that achieved 10 push ups or less.

You can read that study here,

jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...

[Diblet in reply to Chappychap]

Thank you i will have a read of that!! 💪

[Hidden]

Start with very light dumbbells and do flat bench presses, aim to do 3 sets of 10, when you can do 3 sets increase weight slightly, again aim for 3 sets of 10 keep repeating till strength has improved to allow to do push ups.

You can also try leaning on wall to start doing push ups, then the stairs, then the floor, building up reps slowly.

[Diblet in reply to Hidden]

Thank you thats great, I will try that !

[peterjones105 in reply to Diblet]

Another thing you can try re press ups is kneel on the floor and then go into a press up position so that your fulcrum becomes your knees rather than your toes and gradually increase the reps as you get fitter from whatever you can manage initially, good luck, they are a fantastic exercise.

[Diblet in reply to peterjones105]

Thanks, i am already doing them on my knees, I will keep trying!!!!

[JennyRx]

Women usually start with kneeling press ups as they don’t have the same upper body strength as men. You can also try doing the plank as a build up. I’ve never been able to do press ups properly but do kneeling ones. Women’s musculature lends itself better to endurance because of our hormonal makeup The problem with so much of the research is its done on men which also includes research done on heart conditions. It’s becoming increasingly known that women manifest angina and heart attacks often very differently to men. And also tend to do better with different types of exercise than men - childbirth comes to mind! The recommendations are to do 150 minutes per week cardio type work - jogging, cycling, brisk walking plus at least two sessions of strength work. So weights, kettle bells etc can build upper body strength too plus in alignment with government guidelines. It’s particularly important for women to do impact work to build bone density but obviously be careful if you have foot damage.

[Diblet in reply to JennyRx]

Thank you, I've always done a lot of cardio and its fun trying resistance training. I have been doing push ups on my knees for years but so frustrating not being able to a full one 😫

[Mikedabike]

I have to stress I am not medically trained, and I am certainly not trained in areas of fitness. However I have tried to keep myself fit for many years. Quite often if you focus more on building up general body strength, your ability to do push ups can improve over time. As you have a foot injury, two types of exercise spring to mind immediately. The use of a kettlebell (make sure it is very light to start). Make sure you adopt the correct techniques (some truly excellent Youtube instructional videos out there now). Exercises such as a kettlebell swing, presses, sumo or goblet squats and halos provide a very good general body strength and cardio vascular workout. Depending on the type of foot injury you can regress or adapt the kettlebell exercises to seating, kneeling or half-kneeling if needed. The other type of exercises that spring to mind are those loosely categorised as ‘Convict Conditioning’ types of exercises. These can be done in confined spaces with little or no equipment. Start of very simply and increase the level of difficulty over time. The advantage of the two above types of exercise is that you will increase your overall body strength and stamina. Good luck with your endeavours.

[Diblet in reply to Mikedabike]

Thank you. I'm currently using a kettlebell and dumbells following a programme, so I shall persevere and maybe one day I will manage to do press ups!!

[Hidden]

Well I'm the same I'm afraid I had AVR in 2016, I'm 72 yrs old now but I struggle with pushups, I can't do any serious e running and have half the strength in my left arm than in my right. I go for a 20 to 30 min walk twice a day but still get out of breath. My cardiologist just keeps saying you need to build up your strength and stamina ??? I used to be a martial arts instructor but I can't work out how to improve. So I feel for you but all I can say is if your ECG and Echo show your ok you need to persevere brisk walking doing more say each week, try doing press ups on your knees or against a wall (at about 30°angle) but don't overdo the chest work good luck 👍

[Hidden]

Silly me I've just noticed all my suggestions have already been said 😂

[Diblet in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for replying anyway 😀.