OK! OK! I'm Getting Off My Knees!!!

Back in the day I could pump out REAL toe push-ups with no problem.  As a yogi, I do tons of Chatarunga Dandasanas everyday so I assumed that  my hiatus from full-on push-ups would not affect my ability to hit the deck and give 'em 20.  But alas, I was WRONG! WRONG! SO VERY, VERY WRONG!  Sadly, I'm now one of those females who pitifully drops her knees to the ground and shamefully does SISSY push-ups.

Keeping in mind that Crossfit is scalable to any fitness level, knee push-ups are acceptable as a starting point or for those with limitations that do not allow the straight-legged version. My coach has never berated me to get on my toes but does encourage doing as many toe push-ups as possible before resorting to the knees.  I am pretty strong at knee push-ups now and had been playing around with getting up on my toes but not seriously until I read this post:

Get Off Your Knees

Wed, Apr 7, 2010
Articles, CFW Daily

Nobody is going to like what I have to say today.

Women, get off your knees.

Seriously. I was in class the other night and I watched lots of strong women in a metcon on their knees.

WTFO?

Stick with knee push-ups and you know what you’re going to get really good at? Knee push-ups. That’s it. Not real push-ups. Not ring push-ups. Not even holding plank position.

See, in a knee push-up you just shortened your body length. You gave yourself a big advantage. Stop babying yourself. You’re stronger than that and you’re going to get even stronger.

Do tire push-ups, bench push-ups, ring push-ups, wall push-ups. If you don’t have real honest-to-God, chest-to-deck push-ups, then do whatever you have to do in order to get the push-ups done. Tire, rings, wall. But NEVER knee push-ups.

Seriously. Simply decide that you would rather eat glass than ever go to your knees again.

If you have real push-ups and you start to fail in a metcon, you know what to do? Shake out your arms, change your hand position, rest a second, etc. But for the love of She-Ra, don’t go to your knees! Get those push-ups one by one if you have to, go to the tire if you have to, go to the bench. But stay off your knees!

And if you don’t have real push-ups? Then work those wall push-ups, those tire/bench push-ups, those ring push-ups again and again and again. Then try working your real push-ups. Start wherever you have to. Then increase your range of motion until it’s perfect.

And I don’t just mean at CrossFit. Do them now, in your office, at home, in your classroom — wherever you happen to be right now, kicking butt and taking names. Drop.

Push-ups can be done anywhere and, if you want to get better at them, you simply have to do more of them — and you have to STOP doing them on your knees. So, pick a number: 30 push-ups a day, 50 push-ups a day, whatever. Sprinkle them throughout your day — 5 here, 10 there. Grease the groove. Get stronger bit by bit.

If you want to own your world — seriously wake up every flippin’ day of your life and feel like you can do anything, be anything, conquer anything — then you need to work on conquering two things in the gym: Your push-ups and your pull-ups.

Because once you own those b******, you will see, feel, and think about yourself and this world differently. Nothing will stand in your way.

Honest to God, you will park your car at work and kick the door open, even if you’re wearing heels. (Now, that’s an image!) You will be so ready to do, to achieve, to really be something in this life. The world will be yours. Make it so.

Get off your knees.

I really don't like the taste and texture of glass, so I've made a commitment to get off my knees and do at least 20 push-ups a day.  As the post suggests, I sprinkle them throughout the day and do as many as I can during my CF warm-ups and WOD's.  My goal is to be able to do all 50 push-ups on my toes in the Spartan 300 Challenge on June 26th and then kick my office door open wearing heels and shout out in my best She-Ra voice "I own those bitches!".


Fuel Log 4/22/2010

Breakfast 7:45 a.m.:
Paleo Pancakes - 1 banana, 1 egg, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp coconut oil

Snack 10:00 a.m.
1/2 Key Lime Pie Larabar

Lunch 12:00 p.m.:
2 c spaghetti squash
1 c homemade spaghetti sauce with ground beef
1 small mandarin orange

Snack 3:00 p.m.
1/2 Key Lime Pie Larabar

Dinner 8:30 p.m.
1/2 lb baby back ribs
2 c kale cooked in vegetable broth, garlic and red pepper
1/2 c mashed baked sweet potato sprinkled with cinnamon
1/4 c Coconut Bliss Dark Chocolate

Today was my rest day so no workout to report.