May 9, 2006
How to perform assisted pushups with an animated image showing the move. Click on the picture to see the full sized animation.
- Lie face down on the floor with your hands (palms down) about shoulder width apart. Your knees should be together with your ankles crossed behind them. Your knees should be the only part of your leg in contact with the floor.
- Look forward, not down. Your body should form a straight line from knees to waist to shoulders. Your back should be in a natural arch.
- Push your body up by straightening your arms.
- Exhale as you lift your body up. Keep your body straight and do not move your hands or legs along the floor. Do not lock your elbows.
- Pause, then slowly lower your body back towards the floor. Inhale as you do so.
- Keep your body straight. The first thing to touch the ground should be your chin.
Pushups are fairly straightforward, but not everybody is strong enough to do them. This modified version of a pushup is much easier and is a great introduction to pushups. Using your knees to do the pushups is called assisted pushups. These types of pushups are also sometimes referred to as bitchups.
And yes, I am aware that in the picture I am not looking forward. Your head should be at the same angle as when you do pushups, looking forward and not down.
- How many pushups can you do?
- New animated pushup demo at Okolo.org
- This Week Last Year: Alligators, Mountains & World Records, Oh My!
- This Week Last Year: Watches and Discontinued Marathons
- The Hundred Pushups Craze
May 9th, 2006 at 9:25 am
Wow, thanks for the personal invite. I appreciate it. Turns out, I was doing them wrong, I wasn’t crossing my feet and keeping my feet off the ground. You can bet I will be correcting this error.
J/K
PS. I love the term “bitchups.” (Although I am officially offended.
May 9th, 2006 at 9:57 am
Well, crossing your feet isn’t the most important thing; it is more important to have them off the ground and crossing them is just more comfortable for me. Just make sure that you stretch out so that you have to work at least a little in order to do the movement and get some benefit from it.
I’m glad you like “bitchups”; I didn’t make it up, but I did find it humorous and it is a lot easier to say than “woosey girl pushups” (that you used in the pushups article)
May 9th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Ha ha I’ve heard them called “girly pushups” by guys, and “power pushups” by women’s magazines, but that’s the first time I’ve ever heard “bitchups”. I will definitely be adopting the term
May 9th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Nice how to on these push ups. They’re effective for those without the upper body strength to do regular push ups. They’re also great for those with shoulder injuries.
May 11th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Great point on shoulder injuries, Nick. Thanks for the kind words.
As for “power pushups”…I fail to see how that even applies? Girly magazines sure are funny sometimes…heheh.
June 16th, 2006 at 6:43 am
[...] If you have never done pushups before, or are not particularly comfortable on technique, I have animated instruction guides about Pushups and Assisted Pushups. [...]
June 30th, 2006 at 7:29 am
[...] Along with my own animated version of how to do pushups, you can also see how to do assisted pushups for those that are not yet comfortable doing regular pushups. [...]
May 12th, 2007 at 2:21 am
[...] The animated series continued with how to do assisted pushups. [...]
May 10th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
[...] week 2 years ago, I continued my animated series with how to do assisted pushups. I also continued sharing my thoughts on the New Rules of Lifting by discussing the eighteenth and [...]