: Difficulty breathing in push-up position I've been out of shape for several years, but finally starting to get back into exercising. I've been doing pretty heavy aerobic exercises for the past two months. For the most part,

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It might be that you're getting your lower body in shape, with the focus on aerobic, but not your upper body - the difference between doing jumps/running and pushups is that you're using your upper body chest, arms, back. Sounds like you need a full body workout plan and one that includes more weight training to increase strength as well as your endurance levels. Include all the basics: squats, deadlifts, bench and overhead presses. Start light and work your way up. Make a goal of doing x pushups by a given date. Don't give up and good luck.

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I know this is a very late answer, and to a question that already has an accepted answer, but two things come to mind. First, you may want to look to your core. Human beings are built rather oddly due to our evolution from quadrupedal to bipedal movement. In some ways, we're still adjusted to be horizontal (hernias are in part due the bracing not being entirely in places for vertical stacking) and in some ways, we've adjusted entirely to being standing (our spines do better at stacking in place than being stretched out horizontally. A push-up position, or as you say, things face down, forces you to work more muscles just to keep straight. Planks can be useful for this, although going past 30-60 seconds is seldom much use. If you hit that point, experiment with maintaining more muscular tension so that you're getting more workout for the same amount of time.

Second thing to consider is how you breathe. I'm sure you've heard all of the talk of "belly breathing" and how beneficial it is. Consider that, in push-ups, your chest is already having to do a lot of work to do the pushing up and slowly letting down. Because of that, it's going to be harder to draw breath if you're used to breathing higher in your chest. As a caveat, letting your stomach expand is going to put more stress on your core, since you're having to juggle the muscles there. Try experimenting with shifting where you breathe and see what works for you. Personally, I try to use both, much the same as how I generally inhale and exhale with both nose and mouth during heavy exercise.