Push-Ups The Forgotten Exercise

I was thinking about college football this morning (Florida won the championship) which led to thoughts about the rivalry between Florida and Georgia (the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party), which led to remembering Herschel Walker (one of the best college running backs ever), which made me think about pushups.

Herschel Walker

Apparently, Herschel Walker never lifted weights — he only ate right, did cardio, did sit ups, and did push ups. Push ups are one of the best exercises you can do, and not just because Herschel does them.

Here are some highlights from a New York Times article:

• The push-up is a good barometer of overall fitness engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs.
   
• The obesity epidemic has made push-ups more difficult to perform for the average American—pushing up all that extra weight is not easy.
   
• The aerobics revolution has shifted emphasis away from maintaining upper body strength, which is not a good thing.
   
• Lots of people can’t do push-ups, including for the reasons listed above. Kids are failing push-up tests at an alarming frequency rate.
   
• Being able to do push-ups is particularly important as we age as push-ups can provide the strength and muscle memory to reach out and break a fall, and it’s well known that falls can be debilitating for seniors.
   
• People lose strength as they age but regular exercise enlarges muscle fibers and can mitigate the decline.
   
• A 40 year old man should be able to do 27 push-ups. At age 60, the number is 17.
   

5 comments


Push Ups
How many should a woman do? What do they look like (bent knees or not)?


Push Ups Comment
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PUSH UPS
If you are unable to do push ups because of medical issues, what else would be a good exercise to replace the push ups that you cannot do???


Pushups
It's hard for me to suggest another exercise without knowing what those medical issues are, and one's medical history is not something which should be discussed in this forum. My advice would be to see your doctor and decide whether physical therapy may be an appropriate intervention - once under a professional's care, your exercise options can be addressed. Mark


Women and pushups
If you can do pushups with your knees off the floor, great. For those who can't (women or men), go ahead and put the knees down. As far as reps - try 2 to 6 sets of 10. If this seems easy, increase your sets. If it continues to be easy, try it with your knees off the floor. Mark