“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
– A.A. Milne (via Christopher Robin)

Today we are talking about upper body strength — especially for women.

Many women think they “just can’t do” push-ups, but here’s the truth:
Yes you can, but you haven't been using enough weights or doing the right exercises to get better at them.
It’s about strength. And strength is trainable.

💡 Fun fact: You need to be able to bench press about 30% of your body weight to complete a full, well-aligned push-up.

That means if you weigh 150 lbs, you'd need to bench press 50 lbs— with control.

Most women shy away from using heavy weight but using heavy weights is how we improve bone density AND lean muscle mass.

✅ Here’s what you can work on:

👉 Start with countertop or incline push-ups.
Elevating your hands reduces load while training the exact movement pattern. Try to do 5-10 every day at home. Do countertop push-ups while you're waiting on dinner to cook or coffee to brew.

👉 Add dumbbell chest presses.
Light to moderate bench pressing builds the strength needed to eventually support your body weight. We've been doing these in my Yoga Strong classes this month and I use a bolster and block to create a "yoga bench".

👉 Do it consistently.
2–3x/week for even 5–10 minutes can create major changes over time.

Upper body strength isn’t just about push-ups. It’s about carrying groceries, preventing injury, and feeling strong in your everyday life.

Keep moving,

Samantha