Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Hey, Sarge, What's That Noise?

Heymatt:

Sponsored
Sponsored

Is there any reason why women were ever told to do pushups from the knees? Is it really just a strength issue? My daughter, who is in JROTC, was told that if she did them from her feet, it would pop her ovaries. That cannot be correct. Any light you can shed on this would be great.

-- Quito, via e-mail

This might be an old wives' tale mutated into an old drill sergeant's tale. Knee pushups are advised for women because most (untrained or young) women can't sustain repeated standard pushups. They don't have the strength or endurance in their triceps and pectoralis major muscles, the principal weight-movers in a standard pushup. Simple as that. If you do a pushup the right way, you need to stabilize your back with your abs and back muscles, but the strength involved is minor compared to what you need in your upper body. Exercises that isolate and build your pecs and triceps will help with pushups; repeated attempts at standard pushups if you're not strong enough will only fatigue the muscles fast and won't have any training value.

Ovaries and all the other female reproductive organs are supported by a whole network of ligaments attached to the pelvic wall. These are weakened by repeated increases in pressure within the abdomen. It's a gradual process, and pushups won't do it, though squats and lunges are more problematical. But most of the weakening comes from menopause (loss of estrogen), childbirth, repeated heavy lifting, even constipation, coughing, laughing, and sneezing. But I'd think you'd have to be a professional sneezer for this to be the only cause.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county

Heymatt:

Sponsored
Sponsored

Is there any reason why women were ever told to do pushups from the knees? Is it really just a strength issue? My daughter, who is in JROTC, was told that if she did them from her feet, it would pop her ovaries. That cannot be correct. Any light you can shed on this would be great.

-- Quito, via e-mail

This might be an old wives' tale mutated into an old drill sergeant's tale. Knee pushups are advised for women because most (untrained or young) women can't sustain repeated standard pushups. They don't have the strength or endurance in their triceps and pectoralis major muscles, the principal weight-movers in a standard pushup. Simple as that. If you do a pushup the right way, you need to stabilize your back with your abs and back muscles, but the strength involved is minor compared to what you need in your upper body. Exercises that isolate and build your pecs and triceps will help with pushups; repeated attempts at standard pushups if you're not strong enough will only fatigue the muscles fast and won't have any training value.

Ovaries and all the other female reproductive organs are supported by a whole network of ligaments attached to the pelvic wall. These are weakened by repeated increases in pressure within the abdomen. It's a gradual process, and pushups won't do it, though squats and lunges are more problematical. But most of the weakening comes from menopause (loss of estrogen), childbirth, repeated heavy lifting, even constipation, coughing, laughing, and sneezing. But I'd think you'd have to be a professional sneezer for this to be the only cause.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.