# proper pushup form- please clarify



## maggiemagooo (25 Jun 2004)

ok... i know that this has been discussed many times but here we go again, sorry. The guys at the recruitment office and others that i have spoken to me , have told me that the pushup that is supposed to be done during the PT is with elbows in...a tricep pushup. But i ran into a woman the other day who was a physical trainer at borden for a few years(civilian), and she says that it is not done that way, in fact they were getting quite frustrated because people were being told that is was a tricep pushup. She told me that it is elbows slightly turned outwards, not tucked in !!! Can anyone clarify this  for me??? I'm going to train to do both to be on the safe side, but it would sure be nice to know the truth of the matter!


----------



## MikeM (25 Jun 2004)

Hands under shoulders, with the hands facing forwards was the way I was instructed to do it. They didn't make me tuck my arms completely against my side. Make sure you keep your back straight and feet together, and when training, don't count any pushups that arent properly done. All the way down, and all the way up.


----------



## Tebo (25 Jun 2004)

From the four CF Fitness tests I have taken on three courses no one ever got in trouble for doing a tricep style push-up.   People did get in trouble for sticking their elbows out too far or placing their hands to wide when the staff was paticularily stingent. 

My suggestion would be to do as many triceps push-ups as you can, rest, do as many mid width push-ups as you can, rest, do as many wide push-ups as you can.   Call it good and repeat every day till it does not matter what they throw at you.   If you're way down at the low end of the spectrum and only geting, say, 3 push-ups by the third group drop to your knees and give'er till you've got no more.

Good luck


----------



## space_sldr (25 Jun 2004)

Your face have to looking forward not downward...remember that.


----------



## Greywolf (25 Jun 2004)

Maggie, I've heard there are somewhat different standards regarding how push ups are to be done at different recruitinig centres.  Here in St. Jean, they want you to have your hands beneath your shoulders and when you go down, your arms have to be parallel to the ground.  If they are not low enough, they won't count it.  

The way they do it is :  they count...1,2,3, lower (if not low enough, and in the meantime you keep doing push ups and if they're talking to you, whatever you're doing doesn't count)...4, lower...5...  For some people, they might have cranked out 10 pushups and only 2 are counted because the others are not low enough.  And of course, make sure you keep your back straight.

You do the PT test in week 2 here at St. Jean, if you fail any part of it, you'll have to redo the whole thing in week 7.  If you fail the 2nd time in anything, you might get recoursed.


----------



## Alex (26 Jun 2004)

space_sldr said:
			
		

> Your face have to looking forward not downward...remember that.



Can anyone confirm this? This might make the pushup a little harder, but aren't they just trying to test your strength? I'm a little ignorant when it comes to the military so correct me if I'm wrong, but is making you face forward necessary?


----------



## casing (26 Jun 2004)

Actually, I find that looking forward makes the pushup easier.   For me at least.   

As to the accuracy of having to face forward on the pushups during the PT, as has been mentioned previously, it will depend on your tester.   My tester didn't care if I faced down, faced forward, squinted, had my feet together or apart.   Just as long as I maintained form, didn't move my hands around, went down far enough, and went up far enough.   She told me at the start that if I messed up one pushup, she would just not count it and would let me continue the test.   If I messed up a second pushup, she would end the test.   Of course, I messed up the very first push up so I had to pay special care on the rest of them.   Went down further than I needed to just to make sure that I actually did it.   Also, she counted them off if they were proper, but *did not* tell me to go lower, higher, whatever, at any point.   If I did it wrong, she just   wouldn't say anything (which is what happened on pushup #1).   So don't count on your tester telling you how to adjust your pushup.

Anyway, I would recommend practicing your pushups with a variety of forms.   Ie: feet together, feet apart, hands directly under shoulders, hands out a little bit, looking forward, looking down, going slow, going fast, holding the pushup at the lower end for a few seconds at a time, etc, etc.   Do that and you'll soon master pushups and the specific rules required by your tester will be a moot point.


----------



## Blindspot (27 Jun 2004)

I recall doing thousands of knuckle push-ups on the back pebble road of Fort York years ago. For those that don't know, clench your hands into fists and press up from the ground using the metacarpals of your index and middle fingers. Another exercise you might want to prepare for is maintaining the push-up position. By experimenting with different arm positions, you might find that sweet spot that makes it easier to keep your body propped up. 

A favourite past-time for our instructors was to keep the platoon in push-up position as they asked questions about the QOR catechism. Each incorrect answer or non-answer garnered a predetermined number of push-ups based on the value of the question. I felt sorry mostly for those 48th Highlanders interspersed in the platoon who were at the mercy of our knowledge (or lack thereof).


----------



## G3RM (28 Jun 2004)

Well here you go... this vedio should help you out alot, cause after all it is training you for your test 

http://www.recruiting.forces.gc.ca/engraph/howtojoin/fitness_eval_e.aspx 

click on push-ups and you're good to go.


----------



## Fogpatrol 1.0 (28 Jun 2004)

I just came from my PT and I did push-ups just like shown in the CF video.  I ended up doing 21 push-ups and she didnt count 1 because I didnt went low enough.  She told me that I need to work on my push-ups because I might have troubles in Basic if I can't do better than what I did.

Anyone can confirm this?


----------



## mclipper (28 Jun 2004)

Well, I'm not sure how old you are, or what MOC you are applying for.....but if you did a shakey 21 (less the one that didn't count) you should probably work on your upper body strength.  That's not very many push-ups at all.  Just keep practicing and you'll build up your strength and you'll be okay.  Does that answer your question?


----------



## Fogpatrol 1.0 (28 Jun 2004)

mclipper said:
			
		

> Well, I'm not sure how old you are, or what MOC you are applying for.....but if you did a shakey 21 (less the one that didn't count) you should probably work on your upper body strength.   That's not very many push-ups at all.   Just keep practicing and you'll build up your strength and you'll be okay.   Does that answer your question?



Pretty much yeah, I figure I still have 2 months + to build myself up before Basic training.   Also, im applying for Infantry.  The rest of the tests were fine though, I did 34 sit-ups in a minute, did 108kg on the grip test and did stage 2 without problem on the step test.  She said that since im very tall and skinny, it can be harder for me to do push-ups than someone smaller.  But yes, she did mention that I need to improve my upper body strengh.

2 mouths ago I could barely do 12 push-ups and was very out of shape, so im still happy with the results.


----------

