The Art of the Push Up

According to the New York Times, push ups are a great measure of our physical fitness -- they help us to build muscle strength to fight against aging, and those who can do push ups in old age are literally in better shape to withstand a fall.  But, as the article mentions, push ups are seen asa  part of a male athletic culture -- for women, push ups are taught "modified," meaning on the knees.  Hopefully, that's beginning to change, with magazines like Women's Health describing how to do a basic push up.

From Women's Health

 But I know from my own experience, I was always encouraged to do a modified push up, since it was "easier" for a girl.

I'm glad things have changed.

Up until last May, I could not do a push up.  My upper body strength was virtually non-existant, and I loathed the thought of having to propel my body up using my arms.  I'm a very lazy person, and it just seemed too hard!  Would my arms bulk up?  Would I end up looking like a freak of nature?  Couldn't I just lift some five pound weights and look fabulous?

And then a very fabulous trainer named Dan introduced me to the world of the Push Up Negative.  (Check out a youtube video of Mike from San Diego's Premier Training on a push up negative tutorial here.)  Seriously, it changed my life.  Working with Melissa, I've perfected my push up even more -- I no longer buckle in my knees for extra support.  For me, it's such a source of pride to be able to finally do a push up, and I feel so much stronger and happier now that I can whip out 20 push ups.  I think since I was always so weak, it was nice to finally feel strong!

My point -- push ups are a great measure of physical fitness, and vital to our health.  Today, I'm going to head to the gym and see how many push ups I can do in a minute.  Last May, it was zero -- last July, it was 17.  I'll repost my new record, as well as the national averages, and we can dialogue!

How many push ups can you do in a minute?