What are lizard pushups?
So, out in the Western US, all these lizards hang out on rocks and sidewalks, etc. They do pushups.
It’s a competitive move: “look how buff I am.” When they see another lizard, they do pushups. When they see you looking at them, same.
As a human, I have also attempted to do pushups. The limiting factor for me is actually my tendons, not arm muscles. I’m able to do a set of regular pushups, but then my elbows will hurt for four days afterwards. That’s not sustainable exercise.
Then, I found Hampton at Hybrid Calisthenics who shares a free workout routine.
Hampton offers multiple options for pushups, starting with wall pushups (standing facing a wall, gently leaning in and pushing back to standing). Not much weight to push, compared to a full pushup on the ground. But Hampton recommends working up to 3 sets of 50 wall pushups before proceeding to the next kind of pushup. That’s a lot of wall pushups!
What I love about this approach is it’s presented without judgment. Different bodies are going to benefit from different kind of pushups.
For me right now, I find that knee pushups (pushups on the ground, with your knees down for support) are a good workout that my tendons don’t complain bitterly about afterwards.
Knee pushups have a stigma. “Girl pushups,” I remember kids saying mockingly.
