Start your full body workout in your living room now. Women's pushups will help you build muscle and get fit. Here's what you need to pay attention to when doing push-ups on your knees and how to do them correctly.
Women's push-ups? Don't let the name mislead you. Women's push-ups weren't invented just for women - any more than classic push-ups were made exclusively for men.
Women's push-ups are a variation of the classic push-ups. You perform the push-ups on your knees, which is especially easier for beginners.
This exercise is also wonderfully suitable for you if you are just learning push-ups and can't yet do conventional push-ups. This is anything but easy and requires a lot of strength in the torso. You can train this missing strength with kneeling push-ups.
That's why fitness instructors recommend women's push-ups as preparation for regular push-ups.
Table of contents
What are women's pushups?
Unlike a classic push-up, you don't have to lift your knees off the mat for this version. This makes it much easier for you to perform the up and down movement of the upper body cleanly.
When you do normal push-ups, you are used to only the tops of your feet and palms touching the training mat. This leads to a sagging back and a lack of strength in the upper arms for pushing away, especially for beginners.
So this variation is perfect for those who do not yet have so much strength in the trunk and arms. Although the variation is easier, women's push-ups are quite a demanding exercise for the whole body.
Let's take a look at that in detail right now.
- Equipment needed: no
- Difficulty: easy to medium
- Suitable for beginners: yes
- Terms: Women push ups, push ups on knees, beginner push ups, lady push ups
- Muscle groups used: Chest and upper arm muscles
By the way, the world record for non-stop push-ups for women is 808. Canadian Mai Hepburn set the record in 2017. Maybe you'll break it soon? 😄
Women's pushups execution for beginners
- Kneel on the floor and support yourself with your hands.
- Position your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
- The fingers point forward.
- Tighten your abdomen, back and buttocks. In this way, you achieve that the hips do not sag and your body forms a line.
- If you want, you can cross your legs and lift them off the mat. Beginners keep the legs on the floor.
- Now slowly push the upper body forward until your thighs, back and head form a line.
- Slowly lower your upper body down by bending your elbows.
- Make sure your elbows stay close to your body.
- Bend down until you can almost touch the floor with the tip of your nose.
- Push yourself back to the starting position.
Tip: Inhale as you lower your torso and exhale as you push up.
How many pushups for beginners?
Beginners should do 3 sets of 8 repetitions. If you can do this with ease, you can move on to another variation. If you can do less, don't worry, it's hard to get started.
If you keep at it and don't give up, you'll soon be able to do more. It doesn't matter how long your breaks are. In the meantime, shake your arms firmly to loosen the muscles.
Learn push-ups in 7 quick steps!
Women's pushups execution for advanced
Conventional push-ups don't work yet, but women's push-ups are too boring for you? Then try this variation. It's called "positive push-ups".
- Start in the kneeling position as in the traditional women's push-up.
- This time, however, place your hands not under your shoulders, but at least 20 cm away.
- Can you feel your muscles struggling? With this variation, you'll target your pecs.
If you like, you can rest your hands on a tabletop or the edge of a bed. If your upper body is elevated, the exercise will be easier.
What you need to pay attention to during execution
There are a few things you need to pay special attention to when doing women's pushups properly.
The arms
Try to keep the elbows close to the body. The palms of your hands are under your shoulders. Never stretch your arms all the way through, even when you stand up. This increases the pressure on the elbows massively.
It is important that the elbows are always slightly bent. This way you always have tension on the upper body muscles, which also helps you build muscle.
The more muscle you build, the faster you can do "real push-ups."
Also, it's important that you do full pushups and not just half pushups. For this you need to go all the way down with your upper body to the mat.
If your wrists hurt, you can use push-up grips to help. The pain is no wonder, during a push-up 70 percent of your body weight rests solely on your wrists.
Our Tip: Push-up grips from Edel-Kraft. Made in Germany of beech or walnut wood, available in two colors. Rubber is attached to the bottom of the handles, so the support is guaranteed not to slip. The feet are extra wide, so you can not tip over.
The handles are handmade and processed very high quality. But you can do much more than just push-ups with it: Also handstands or a whole series of yoga exercises work wonderfully with it.
The butt
Tighten the buttocks. Otherwise, beginners in particular tend to stretch their buttocks upwards. This inevitably leads to the back and abdomen getting into the wrong position. If you do this for a long time in this form, you will get back pain.
The back and abdomen
When the buttocks move up, the back and abdomen are not long in coming.
The abdomen hangs down and the back forms a massive hollow back. Your back should be straight during the entire exercise. For this you need to tense the abdomen and stretch the hips.
So you can train your strength in the living room!
The legs
When performing women's push-ups, your knees are resting on the mat. The feet are in the air. This can lead to sore knees especially if the exercise mat is very thin.
In such a case, you can put a pillow underneath or simply fold the mat 2-3 times and place the knees here. The exercise is much easier.
What muscles train women pushups
Okay, it's clear that the upper body is trained. But if you want to know exactly, then you should read this.
Muscles you work out with women's pushups:
- Large pectoral muscle
- Triceps
- Anterior part of the deltoid muscle
- Cartilage muscle
- Anterior saw muscle
Improve your body tension today!
The most common mistakes with push-ups on knees
One of the biggest mistakes in this fitness exercise is the sagging back and abdomen. This mistake is also called hollow back.
Apart from the fact that you are not training your body effectively, it can lead to bad posture pain. Therefore, it is very important that you do the exercise correctly from the beginning.
Ask a friend to watch your posture. If you don't have anyone to help you, use a mirror or your cell phone.
If you decide to use your smartphone, make a video of yourself doing the exercise. It's best to do at least 5 repetitions and analyze them afterwards. Pay special attention to your back.
Also, forming a hump is a typical women's push-up mistake. This happens whenever you hang your head. The head is always the extension of the spine and the gaze is directed downward.
The speed
Especially sports beginners want to get the workout over with as quickly as possible. For this they do the push-ups quickly. But this is not correct. You should take your time for women's push-ups.
A lady push up takes about two seconds. Not longer and certainly not much shorter.
If you work too fast, you will most likely forget about body tension. You will fall into a hollow back, which is anything but beneficial.
Try these 12 mega effective core exercises!
Irregular training
If you set your mind to finally do real push-ups, then you would certainly like to succeed tomorrow. But good things take time. You absolutely have to train regularly.
You will achieve good results if you do 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions 3 times a week.
Too many repetitions and no breaks between workouts will only lead to you getting mega sore muscles and ultimately motivation will suffer.
Simply save the training as an appointment in your cell phone. That way you won't forget.
Are push-ups harder for women?
Yes, we women find push-ups much harder than men. That's because of the female anatomy. Men have broad shoulders and narrow hips. For women, it's usually the other way around. This inverse relationship between hips and shoulders shifts the body's center of gravity downward. That's why we find it harder to maintain a straight line in the support position.
The result: the pelvis tends to sag. But you can get a good grip on that with training. And that's where women's pushups come in. They help us work on exactly this problem. You can build muscles in the upper body and balance the hip/shoulder ratio a bit.
That is why push-ups for women are usually often anything but enjoyable. For many, the exercise is hated like hardly any other. Where women's pushups got their name, I could not find out. But you will certainly soon create real push ups, if you practice regularly.
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Our conclusion
Women's pushups are a great way to work out at home. They help you build muscles in your upper body and get a lot closer to your desire of real push ups. Practice knee pushups regularly and you'll see how quickly you can build muscle. Don't forget to tighten your stomach! :)
Enjoy the training and good luck!
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