I'm female, and can do both regualr push-ups and kneeling push-ups, but I have a tendancy to kneel when I do them these days as I've heard that doing it the normal way is bad for women? I never thought to look this up until now, and can only find opinions, rather than biological facts. Any ideas? Also, what parts of the body do each specifically work on? Regular would be arms, back and shoulders... but what about the kneeling variation?
I'm no expert on pushups by any stretch of the imagination, but for what it's worth here's my thoughts: In general women can train in exactly the same way as men. It's a biological fact that women are on average weaker than men, but that's no reason for a woman to train any differently to a man. A weak man would train in the same way as a strong man, only with less weight, so why should women be any different. In fact, the only difference I can think of off the top of my head is the Q angle, but that won't affect pressups. Also, as far as I know, both kneeling and normal pressups work the same bodyparts, it's just that kneeling ones are easier. If I were you, I'd skip kneeling pressups and stick to doing proper pressups, seeing as you can. They'll do more for you.
there is a wholly obsolete view (apparently, extinct amongst everyone on the planet other than a few martial arts instructors, oddly) that standard pushups will cause a woman's uterus to detach. it's complete and utter hogwash, but one does run into it from time to time. blame the victorians, from what i understand.
Personally (speaking as a weak man) I do full press-ups for as long as I can and then switch to knee press-ups to finish. That way I'm not compromising on form as my muscles get weaker and I can still do a full range of motion to failure. So long as you keep your back straight you'll get the benefit. Also go to most Yoga classes and you'll do some variation of the Sun salutation that will include movements very similar to press-ups. If anything the Sun salutation pushes the body into even more extreme positions than press-ups. And given the amount of women that do Yoga with no problems I'd say press-ups are fine. I think problems arise when fatigue causes the body to sag and form to go amiss.
Push ups bad for women?? Horse crap..that's why you can't find proof. Just opinions. Then, even if you DID find proof...you would have this "expert" over here saying they are bad, and this "expert" over there saying they are good!!! I have found that if you stick with the techniques and exercises that have been around for a LONG time (push ups included) you pretty much can't go wrong. There is the rare exception..but that's rare! It's the same with nutrition. You stick with the basics and ignore the "fads" and all the "experts" that are trying to get their piece of the fitness pie, and you will be fine.
Loads of women do full pushups and have never suffered any problems from doing so. There is a theory out there that due to the difference in anatomy in the chest area between men and women, it is not good for women to do full pushups. I have never seen any scientific proof that this is true. Obviously, there are anatomical and physiological differences between men and women and there are certain things that women should be aware of. E.g, due to hormonal issues, women should be careful about doing heavy squats at certain times of the month (I'll check on the exact timing) as hormonal interactions can weaken ligaments and have been known to lead to knee injuries, following heavy squats. However, if you can do full pushups do them, if not, start with the knee variation and work up to full pushups.
Don't know if larger breasts would put more strain on the lower back, but I imagine that would be negligable with good support.
This was exactly my inderstanding also. Both in terms of the damage to the uteris and that this theory is now obsolete. Push ups on the knees are simply easier. All of my students do them this way until they have the strength and correct technique to do them on their toes.
Don't feel stupid for asking. What if you hadn't asked and there WAS something to what you had heard and you had ended up hurting yourself? Then you wouldn't have been able to do ANY training in ANYTHING until you were better. Better safe then sorry.
That is just <<hokum!>>! A women can do regulary Push-Ups without any problems! When you are doing a regular push-ups you are lifting 60% of your bodyweight, when you are doing the knee variation you are lifting 35% of your bodyweight. They both targets the same muscles but less effort on knee push-ups Some variations: 1. Wide-Gripth Push-Ups (Chest) 2.Triceps Push-Ups (Triceps, inner chest, shoulders) 3.Tiger Push-Ups (Wrist, Elbow, Biceps, Triceps and Shoulders) 4.Scap Push-Ups (Serratus Anterior) 5.Plyometric Push-Up (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders, Abdominals) 6.One-Arm Push-Ups (Works the chest unilaterally)
