Disclaimer- title shamelessly taken from another blog post, dealing with the same subject matter...

It's time to get off your knees. Ladies, I'm mostly speaking to you, but this applies to anyone still doing push ups on your knees. I don't mean this to be insulting; rather, Coach P and I have decided we have allowed this scaling to hold back your athletic progress long enough. From here on out, scaling pushups by doing knee pushups will not be allowed. I'll discuss some other options at the end of this post, and the coaches can always find one for you before the WOD. Please read on.


This will no longer be allowed.

First, let's examine why one would need to scale a push up. A proper push up requires two elements of strength-
1. upper body (chest, tricep, shoulder girdle) strength
2. "Core" (abdominal) strength to stabilize the midline

This is the ROM of a proper push up.

If either of these two elements are lacking, a proper push up is not possible. It should be noted "proper" refers to full lockout at the top, chest (NOT belly/face etc) touches the ground, legs fully extended and the body rising as one unit. The push up is a basic measure of bodyweight strength and EVERYONE'S goal should eventually be to be able to perform multiple full ROM pushups. If you cannot do a full push up in a very real sense you lack basic strength and the ability to manipulate your body in space.

Lack of upper body strength will manifest itself by inability to go all the way down, or inability to push the chest up from the bottom. Most people actually have at least some of the strength needed for this component of the move. More common is a lack of core strength- this can be seen when someone pushes from the bottom, and the chest rises BEFORE the hips. A tight core is unable to be maintained which would hold the body in a rigid plank, so the chest rises first and then the butt "snakes" up off the ground. Anyone who has done enough pushups and is fatigued will naturally break down to something approximating this move.



This is a "broken" push up, with no midline stability.

How do "knee pushups" help? Why are they easier?

Doing push ups off the knees takes much of the load (the entire low body) essentially out of the equation, so there is less work for the upper body to handle. In addition, because the "hinge" of the movement is now the knees (tucked under the body) rather than the feet, core strength is ESSENTIALLY ELIMINATED from the move.

So, why are we eliminating knee pushups as a scale?

Doing knee push ups will help develop upper body strength, to a certain extent. Eventually, one will max out the benefits from this scale and it would be time to move on to full push ups. Unfortunately, YOUR CORE will never get developed by doing knee push ups. So, part of you might be ready for full push ups, but you'll still be stuck on your knees. There are much more useful scales available- specifically, doing pushups off a box or a bench. The higher the box, the easier the movement (ie, the more vertical your body is, the easier). By doing push ups this way, at least you'll get the benefit of working to keep your body in a plank and developing your core strength.


Inclining the push up takes load off the upper body and midline and makes the move easier.

How many of you are still stuck doing knee push ups after months of doing them? We're doing this for your athletic and physical development. So, expect to use a new, more useful scale the next time you come and do push ups, and look forward to eventually achieving the full movement! Until next time, get off your knees...

Coach L