Posted by: Jami
I really need help. I have been training for about a month now to become a police officer in Las Vegas. I am a female, 5'9", and 220 lbs. I have been doing great on everything EXCEPT the required 18 military style push ups. I cannot even do ONE. Even when I was thin I couldn't do them. When I'm down on the floor and I push up, I get a cramp on my right side near my stomach. I am really stressing out because I don't want to be disqualified because of this. I only have three weeks left before testing. Can you PLEASE help me?
Posted by: Paul
Here are my suggestions:
1) Get checked out by a doctor, to find any medical reason for these cramps.
2) Reduce calorie intake to drop extra weight.
3) Do crunches to strengthen stomach muscles.
4) Negative push-ups can help you to build up to the strength needed to do real, full push ups. To do a negative push ups get into the starting position and very slowly lower your body until your chest touches the floor, maintaining strict control during the movement. When doing negative pusch ups you do not do the push part of the exercise only the lowering, so once your chest touches the floor just get back to the staring position by going to your knees and resetting.