Why do I suck so bad at pushups?

[Charles9t4]

Throughout my prep. for OCS everything has gotten better except my pushups are so inconsistent. Sometimes I blast them out and other times I barely make the minimum? What gives? Anybody use a certian technique or any tips for doing pushups? Thanks in advanced.

 

[dufault.2]

Want..to...flame...must...resist...
I went in to OCS not exactly a push up king myself. Like you (I assume) I was knocking enough out to make the cut, but wasn't by any means maxing it out. My push up score went up every pt test simply because we were doing push ups all f'ing day. Your score will improve, so don't panic if you aren't great at it yet. Getting your numbers up before OCS is a good idea though.
How is your form? Inconsistant form could very well give you inconsistant numbers. When you practice, have someone to watch you to make sure you are doing them correctly. 100 sh!tty push ups (head bobs) take as much effort as 30-40 real, OCS style push ups. Good luck. OCS only sucks for the first 12 weeks.

 

[THRILLER]

Charles,

What I do to keep me in the max range is to do 3 sets of pushups. The first set I put a book or two into a backpack and then go to failure. Second set I remove half of the books that I used in the 1st set and then go to failure. The third and final set I simply remove the backpack and go to failure.

This really helped me to break the plateau...

Hope that helped,

BTW...Do this 3 times per week. Do no backpack push ups 2 times per week.

M 3 sets (back pack)
T 3 sets (no backpack)
W 3 sets (back pack)
H 3 sets (no backpack)
F 3 sets (back pack)

Sat&Sun: Rest

PEACE,

THRILLER

 

[bunk22]

Do you life weights at all? It might help, on top of what the others have mentioned. I don't mean to become a body builder or power lifter but the bench might help in the strengthening the arms and chest. I can still max push-ups (86) in the PRT to this day, most likely from years of benching. I really don't do a whole lot of weights anymore but have maintained my strength throughout the years.

 

[feddoc]

All these guys have given some pretty good gouge to improving your PU score. You might also try varying hand and/or shoulder position.....hands close together/wide; pushups headed down stairs, etc.

 

[Charles9t4]

Do you life weights at all? It might help, on top of what the others have mentioned. I don't mean to become a body builder or power lifter but the bench might help in the strengthening the arms and chest. I can still max push-ups (86) in the PRT to this day, most likely from years of benching. I really don't do a whole lot of weights anymore but have maintained my strength throughout the years.

Yeah that's the wierd thing. I hear that maybe since I have been lifting weights that maybe my muscle memory could be set at low reps. I am use to doing 225 8x's for 3 sets but when I get to about 50 pushups it like hitting a frickin wall. Maybe I am just pushing myself to hard in the gym and I am not 100% when I try and do pushups.

 

[bunk22]

Yeah that's the wierd thing. I hear that maybe since I have been lifting weights that maybe my muscle memory could be set at low reps. I am use to doing 225 8x's for 3 sets but when I get to about 50 pushups it like hitting a frickin wall. Maybe I am just pushing myself to hard in the gym and I am not 100% when I try and do pushups.

Perhaps you already know this but if you lift near the PRT or push-up practice, it tends to wear you out. I used to stop lifting a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the PRT. That way I could practice push-ups and not be worn out. This was during my NROTC years when I attempted to always score a perfect 300 on the PRT, every PRT.

 

[Cyclic]

Don't worry, once you get to OCS you'll get your personal trainer, oh yea...he's a Marine too!!! Chance are you'll be able to max out push ups by the fifth week!

Push boy!!! :shake_125