There’s no such thing as throwing like a girl or girl push-ups

As a father of two girls and a trainer to many more, I’ve never liked the term “girl push-ups”.  When people say this they are referring to push-ups performed from the knees.  I have an equally yucky taste in my mouth when someone says “you throw like a girl.”  It’s not considered a compliment.  Throwing like a girl is really just an immature and/or unpracticed throwing pattern.  The most notable feature is that the right foot is in front when throwing with the right hand. 

We handicap our girls by using terms like this.  I’ve been a trainer for over 15 years now and I have never used the term “girl push-up”.  One of the biggest reasons is, that its not just girls that should do these.  I have trained many guys who need to start with push-ups from the knees before progressing to push-ups from toes.  If you get too greedy or feel shame in doing push-ups from knees and you have bad posture you risk injury. 

“Throwing like a girl” is fixed with instruction and practice.  Girl push-ups are a great beginning variation for us all.  I call them modified push-ups most often.  I can’t call them girl push-ups as it just doesn’t make sense to me.  My mom did a workout where she did 100 full push-ups at 60+ years old and my wife and I are pretty even on how many push-ups we can do.  This does not weaken me because they can do this.  In fact it encourages me to be my best as well. 

Let’s agree to stop using these terms for my daughters sake.  Immature throwing pattern and modified push-up works just as well and describes what is happening even better. 

Jeremy “trainer to amazing women and a few cool dudes” Biernat

About the Author:

Jeremy “the tall trainer” Biernat is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Strength Coach, has his Bachelors in Exercise Science, and enjoys writing, speaking, and inspiring people online and in person. See his new book!  More importantly he is a husband, father, and follower of God. His practice is in upstate NY (Canandaigua) where he works with people in one on one and group sessions to make awesome changes in their lives. He doesn’t do everything perfect, cries in movies, and would love to hear from you. You can contact Jeremy by commenting to this post, emailing [email protected], or calling 1(800)380-7047. 

Please share this with friends!