How I achieved my first Pushup at 17
After a Boatload of struggle
Growing up, I always had some sort of flu, probably because I had asthma at an early age, but lucky for me, it didn’t affect me in my teenage years. Since I was always a sick kid, I didn’t do a lot of sports or athletic stuff. The most physically challenging thing I did was probably riding around town with my friends on our bicycles.
Despite having good height and stature, I have always felt a little weak. I rarely won any arm wrestling matches against my friends. I couldn’t do pushups, pullups, or any physically challenging exercises. After seeing that almost all of my friends could do these exercises and were relatively good at them, I started feeling worse.
I wanted to know why I was so weak—why I didn’t have the strength to do simple and minute exercises. I knew something wasn’t wrong with my diet, as I ate whatever my mom made for me. I struggled and struggled, but I couldn't even do a single pushup.
I started searching the internet in need of help, only to find that I was not alone and that a good chunk of people also faced a problem similar to mine. I went on YouTube for an exercise routine that might lead me toward my end goal.
A Youtube Channel named Hybrid Calisthenics posted a video in which he explained a step-by-step method of achieving the pushup. It was quite simple, master an easier variation of an exercise and then move on to the next progression. The Variations of the exercise were as follows:
- Wall pushups( 3 sets of 30 reps )
- Incline pushups at chest level( 3 sets of 25 reps )
- Inline pushups at knee level( 3 sets of 25 reps )
- Knee pushups( 3 sets of 20 reps )
So naturally, I started with wall pushups, which were really easy, so I did a lot of repetitions of this exercise, which was a terrible mistake. The next morning, I woke up feeling extreme soreness in my body and being unable to do a single repetition. I rested for a few days, and then I was back on track.
The main problem I faced during this pushup journey was that I was never consistent enough. I would do these variations for a few days; then I would become lazy again. It took me some time to stick with this routine, but after sticking with it for a few months, I began seeing amazing results. I could crack a few pushups, but not with good form.
During this time, I also joined the gym and started lifting weights. I also started eating a lot of eggs and oats to get more protein into my body. I found out that doing Negative Pushups, made me more comfortable with my movement and drastically improved my form.
I’m currently 18 years old, and I can comfortably do 15–20 pushups in a row, which I know isn’t a lot, but it’s still way better than being able to do zero. If I wasn’t dedicated enough to achieve this, I probably would have never gotten this far. Staying consistent and dedicated will get you far in life. I'll talk to you guys later. Bye for now.
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