When I do a pushup my face starts to hurt like fish crap and it causes me to automatically get up from the floor. Also I have a very hard time doing pushup, because I have hardly ANY arm strength. What are some other exercises without pushups or equipment are there to workout the arms?
start off just holding a push up position with good form for as long as you can. right before you give out try to do a couple of push ups or half push ups. do this 5-10 times during a workout every day with only 30 seconds of rest between each. once you can start doing push ups i suggest doing a set of pyramids. thats where you do 2 push ups,rest 30 sec., 4 push ups., rest 30 sec., and so on until you get to about 10 and then go backwards. that should help you with your push ups. also a little tip for actually doing push ups, use your fingers to grip the ground hard like your trying to lift your body with the fingers. this incorporates more of the muscles in your forearms and makes the push ups easier
Your "face starts to hurt like fish crap" Interesting... Well... Wanting to increase muscle strength without any equipment or pushups is kind of hard.... You could try pullups (buy a chin bar), or do pressups on your knee's. To be honest if you don't go to a gym and get a proper routine with a good diet then don't expect your arms to get very much bigger anytime soon.
I've got to say Tom - that WAS my first thought. I'm lousy at pressups myself, but doing them in class over the past 4 years it is (gradually) getting better. As well as the half-press-up or knee-press-ups, if you have access to a set of stairs then you can do full action press-ups against a comfortable level step, then gradually work down the steps until you are back on the floor.
Remeber to breath correctly when doing exercise. Many people to hold their breath in while doing pressups. This causes pressure in you're head and may result in your heald exploding......well maybe not that extreme but some people get bleading noses from incorect breathing while benching big weights.
Also whenever I do a pushup, I automatically pick myself up from the floor pending on the surface of the ground. If it's carpet and not a pad under my body it is VERY difficult to do a pushup. Its not that I want to get up, I just get up!
Just wondering, do you have any medical conditions that you know of? Has this just happened recently? Also, does it hurt when you have your face in a floorward direction in general? I'm just thinking that it could be acute sinusitis, which means that it should resolve.
My face used to hurt when I learnt to do clap behind the back pushups, a well placed pillow sorted that out though.
I'll take it. In any case, what has been mentioned is all good. Focus on doing push-ups from knees; that helped me the most when I started out and I was WEAK. Also, remember that it's not your arms, but your pectoral muscles that are doing the bulk of the work. Things like pull-ups won't help you in this case. You might want to try bench pressing some weights until your strength builds up enough that you can do a bodyweight push-up.
I used to get a pain in the eye whenever I had a cup of coffee - then somebody told me to take the teaspoon out of the cup! But seriously, I find push-ups really increase the blood flow to my head. I would surmise that that could be the cause of your problems.