# Push ups on fingers



## ehsen

Usually people perform push ups using their hands. But kung fu people can do the same thing with their fingers. 

I Often saw kung fu practioners do push up on just two fingers.

Would you please tell me how do you train  yourself  i mean what is the drill to make fingers that much strong.

:drinkbeer


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## Blindside

If you want to do pushups on your fingers, do pushups on your fingers.  Then start taking fingers away as that becomes easier.  

As some alterations, try doing the pushups on the tips of the fingers, not the pads, also vary your hand position between a wide spread and a narrow spread.  If you can't do any, try some grip balls or other finger/hand strengthening devices.  

Personally I don't see much value in them besides as a method to force you to do a deeper pushup, but maybe I'm wrong since I'm not a kung fu man.  

Lamont


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## tshadowchaser

> If you want to do pushups on your fingers, do pushups on your fingers. Then start taking fingers away as that becomes easier.


 
thats about it in a nut shell
practice makes you stronger and able to do more


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## Xue Sheng

I imagine if you are doing a system such as Eagle claw or Tiger claw it would be part of the training but I am not sure there. Possibly any of the Iron palm training might get you into that stuff as well. 

I use to do push-ups on my fingers, all of them and the thumb but I never tried to go to the 2-finger push-up. It does strengthen your fingers a lot. But be careful because it can damage them as well.

And the process that Blindside mentioned is pretty much the way to do it.


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## Steel Tiger

Blindside said:


> Personally I don't see much value in them besides as a method to force you to do a deeper pushup, but maybe I'm wrong since I'm not a kung fu man.
> 
> Lamont


 
I'm a gong fu man and I don't really see the value in them either.  you can get the same benefits from grip-ball work and strengthening the forearms.  Remember there are no muscles in your fingers only your thumb.  I think these push-ups are just another wushu performance stunt.


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## kidswarrior

Xue Sheng said:


> It does strengthen your fingers a lot. *But be careful because it can damage them as well.*



Take it from someone with arthritis in his fingers that Xue Sheng is right (not all of my damage is from finger pushups, but plenty of other hard core external training/living).



> And the process that Blindside mentioned is pretty much the way to do it.


If you're going to do it, I agree.


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## michaeledward

Although I haven't asked him for a while, my Father used to do his push ups on his fingers. I would say, the last time I confirmed him doing pushups on his finger tips was when he was probably 67, maybe 68.

My right hand index finger is damaged, and has part of the tip missing (fireworks are bad), so I have never really tried to emulate my dad on that point. 

Every time I do try, my hands are much flatter than what dad did. He would be right up on the tip of his fingers, with the nail almost 90 degrees to the ground. I can only do a partial push up or two on the pad.

For me, I like to do my pushups on my knuckles. It is easier on my wrists.


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## sholo86

We do the finger push-ups (tiger claw) as part of our conditioning exercises. Being able to do three or two finger push-ups is not really a requirement, but we do test each other once in a while to see if we can do it or not. It gives students a sense of improvement if they can and a little something to work for if they can't.


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## Nebuchadnezzar

Steel Tiger said:


> I'm a gong fu man and I don't really see the value in them either. you can get the same benefits from grip-ball work and strengthening the forearms. Remember there are no muscles in your fingers only your thumb. I think these push-ups are just another wushu performance stunt.


 
Actually, there are muscles in the fingers but they don't serve the purpose of contracting and extending the fingers.  Those muscles are in the palm and forearms.  Just my 2 cents.

Regarding push-ups on the fingers though, it isn't a "Kung Fu" thing.  People have been doing them for as long as I can remember.  I used to do them as a kid and sometimes in the Army (oh so many years ago) I did them when I wanted to show off.  Haven't done them in about 15 years though.


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## ehsen

Well I think I shouldn't do it (that's what I can conclude from your posts). Besides I do practice finger Jab which can be used in real combat situation. Moreover when punch is enough to break my opponent's facial bones who cares about two finger push up.

Thanks for your replies....

Aloha


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## dmax999

Eagle Claw Push Ups:

Start standing with hands above head.  Bend down at waist keeping knees straight, knees stay straight through entire exercies.  Touch ground with fingertips only, fingertips are only thing to touch ground other then feet.  "Walk" out on finger tips eight "steps".  You should be in push up position.  Do two fingertip pushups and then "walk" backwards bending at the waist.  Raise up and put hands up above head again.

That is for when fingertip pushups are too easy for you.  They are used to develop grip in Eagle Claw Kung-Fu.


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## jdinca

I hate finger pushups. The only way to be able to do them...is to do them. What you can do to help in the beginning is do them while your body is on an angle. Start with a table and go lower as your finger strength develops.


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## Ninjamom

jdinca said:


> ........What you can do to help in the beginning is do them while your body is on an angle..............


I have a carpeted stairway in my home.  I started doing them with my hands up on the second step, then gradually worked my way down to doing them on a level surface.  

The other thing that helped me a lot was doing lots and lots of low-rep sets.  At first, the most difficult parts of the exercise were balancing, and working through the discomfort (probably my body telling me, "Doing fingertip pushups is a really stupid idea!", but I wasn't listening).  Anyway, I started by just doing 10 to 15 sets of three reps each.  Then I began doing a pyramid to build up the number of reps I could do in a single set.  I also tried a little bit of isometric strengthening for the figners on the way.  I am now up to ten to 12 fingertip pushups in a single set - not terrific, but 10 to 12 more than I could do one month ago.


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## jdinca

Ninjamom said:


> I have a carpeted stairway in my home. I started doing them with my hands up on the second step, then gradually worked my way down to doing them on a level surface.
> 
> The other thing that helped me a lot was doing lots and lots of low-rep sets. At first, the most difficult parts of the exercise were balancing, and working through the discomfort (probably my body telling me, "Doing fingertip pushups is a really stupid idea!", but I wasn't listening). Anyway, I started by just doing 10 to 15 sets of three reps each. Then I began doing a pyramid to build up the number of reps I could do in a single set. I also tried a little bit of isometric strengthening for the figners on the way. I am now up to ten to 12 fingertip pushups in a single set - not terrific, but 10 to 12 more than I could do one month ago.


 
10-12 in a set is still impressive.


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## Ninjamom

jdinca said:


> 10-12 in a set is still impressive.


 
Thanks for the vote of confidence 
(I appreciate it!)


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