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Daily pushup routine

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nowitson

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I've been doing a good amount of research on this issue. The data seems rather conflicting. Some say that daily push ups are great to build strength and endurance. The military incorporates this into their exercises. Other sources say that you're not supposed to work the same muscle group more than twice a week and that you have to give at least 2 days to recover in between. Anyone have expirience with this? My upper body strength sucks period. I would like to be able to at least press my own weight easily before i goto benching excersises without having a spotter.
 
What exactly is the "issue?" Try to clarify in certain terms what you are asking because it helps those who reply, reply in a manner that is relevant and helpful.

Apparently you have a few distinct questions, which need to be untangled in order for someone to make a useful reply.

"Some say that daily push ups are great to build strength and endurance"

That's absolutely true..

Push-ups build your chest, triceps, and back, increase your strength and ability to perform strenuous work, and also undoubtedly help with your endurance.

The great things is that pushups only require a surface. So you can do pushups at home, on the road, or in prison.

The obvious question is, what do you hope to achieve; what do you aim to do?

Are you trying to build endurance? Push-ups build endurance more than they do strength. That's why someone might be able to do, say 100 pushups in one go, but cannot bench press an impressive amount of weight.

Are you trying to build strength? Push-ups also build your upper body, and back strength to a large degree, and make themselves available as an excellent alternative in lieu of any weights, or equipment. At some point though, push-ups become obsolete as an excercise to build strength, when you could just as easily do a compound excercise with free weights, such as a bench press, squat, or deadlift. Furthermore, when you build your strength to a great degree, with weights, your endurance will also increase concomitantly.

I think the military uses push-ups because it's a basic measure of fitness. However, for someone who has specific aims, push-ups are not the best option.

Granted, push-ups can help you achieve a level of fitness that might serve as a foundation to more intensive workouts, but there is no reason why you shouldn't start lifting weights right away.

Only if you are completely out of shape, would I suggest that you forgo lifting weights, and do push-ups to start with.

"Other sources say that you're not supposed to work the same muscle group more than twice a week and that you have to give at least 2 days to recover in between."

That's quite true also. If you are going to focus on only a few bodyparts in a given day, you are putting yourself at a much greater risk of overtraining by working that bodypart more than once a week.

However, for someone who is just doing general excercises such as pushups, chin-ups, or even all body workouts, you shouldn't have to worry about working the same bodyparts generically, more than once a week.

"My upper body strength sucks period."

The absolute best way to increase upper body strength is by bench pressing. No excercise measures up to the bench press for chest strength and size.

"I would like to be able to at least press my own weight easily before i goto benching excersises without having a spotter."

That's complete nonsense. What is special about bench pressing your own weight? Does that all of a sudden put you in a better starting position to become stronger?

It doesn't. When I first started bench-pressing I weighed in at 140 lbs, but I could barely press 100lb once.

You may do better or worse, but you have to understand that there are with few exceptions, no prerequisites that must first be seen to before you can start lifting.

If you can lift only the bar, go for it. Your strength, over time will increase no matter where you start. Good luck.
 
It depends on what level of intensity push-ups are for you. If you max out around 15 reps or less, it's probably a good mass level of resistance for you. You should treat the exercise as if you are lifting weights which means give yourself rest. With that said, push-ups are more of an endurance exercise and you can( and should ) do them everyday.
 
I do my push-ups on my fists. Its supposed to increase striking power. Thats how they do it in Shroin-Ru.
 
I guess the thing ive been most worried about is overwork. Im 180 lbs tall, long skinny arms and relatively lean. Bench max by myself without any help was about 130 lbs. The max pushups i can do however is 3 sets 15 reps. When i bench press my arms shake but i can still do it. Along with endurance, can pushups help refine my form when i bench? Its not so much that i have any real specific question, maybe just a little advice. Afatsum dont be so quick to snap on me over a few general questions. Im quite new to the whole workout thing.
 
Aside from normal pushups, try different hand positions and inclines/declines. Its ok to do pushups everyday, but if it hurts, stop. Never do exercises if they hurt.
 
Yeah that makes sense. Im sore from yesterday so ill wait a day and then try again.:)
 
I have a set of those press up bar things, they work my arms and shoulders alot more and and are way effective in my eyes than regular press ups.

PUB2_400x400sm.jpg


I mix it up with press ups one day then chin ups the otheror both if i'm feeling lively, chin ups will vastly increase your upper body strength.
 
No, pushups will not help you refine your bench press form. There is no upper back arch, leg drive or scapular retraction in the push up. While they work most of the same muscles, they are very different exercises.

While you're beginning, you can do push ups every other day. This is because most of your progression is due to enhanced neuromuscular connection rather than an actual increase in muscular strength. Be careful about what you're actually considering a split though. For example, both chin ups and push ups work your shoulders, so they're not actually getting a rest.

While you're beginning, try splitting up upper body, lower body and core.
 
When you start benching, start with just the bar, and add 2.5kg each workout.
 
a moderately active person can do pushups and pullups every single day of their life. No problem.
 
many thanks for the feedback ppls. I will take these things into consideration.
 
If you're training for strength/size, the old golden rule applies: Go all out, but infrequently, and never if sore.

If you're training for endurance, a different golden rule applies: Go mostly out, frequently, and go ahead and push through the soreness.
 
I do my push-ups on my fists. Its supposed to increase striking power. Thats how they do it in Shroin-Ru.

thats the way we did it in martial arts, master would come around and put weights on our back too. its supposed to toughen up your knuckles so you can hit someone as hard as you can repeatedly before your hands swell up. personally i like to use my elbows.

you can also put on a backpack with some weights or books if youre looking to get more out of doing regular pushups. also do your reps at an slow pace dont just pump up and down to get thru the set
 
I have been doing different kind of push-ups on the Bosu ball, which adds the element of balance into your workout. I love this thing, there's a million different exercises you can do with it.

Bosu%2B3%5B1%5D.jpg
 
Roughly every other day, I do 3 sets of ~40 push-ups, usually at night. I don't do them the day following a chest workout, or if my chest is still store....
 
I love 'em.

I've never heard of anybody overtraining using body resistance exercises. Ever wonder why a lot of marines have huge lats compared to other muscles? Damn pull-up bar.

Get to where you can do 100 pushups straight, and I guarantee almost all of your upper body, weight resistance exercises will go up in poundage.
 
I have a set of those press up bar things, they work my arms and shoulders alot more and and are way effective in my eyes than regular press ups.

PUB2_400x400sm.jpg


I mix it up with press ups one day then chin ups the otheror both if i'm feeling lively, chin ups will vastly increase your upper body strength.



haha i take these on vacation with me

Pushups are great for:

1) getting your body used to exercise, load bearing, and muscle strain
2) toning
3) supplementing an upper body workout
4) maintaining upper body on long stretches (like, a week?) where a gym is unavailable

Pushups are not great for
1) your wrists (see above image!)
2) mass gaining
3) strength and power training


you have a good idea starting with some pushups before hitting the olympic bar for your chest. once you can handle 3 sets of 35 pushups, without being very fatigued, im sure you could start benching with 1 plate (135lbs).

fuck the bar tho dude, use freeweights. dont need a spotter, and will get better results faster (although have to focus very hard on controlling the motion. easy to do with light weight!).

you can do a lot more than chest with pushups tho. close your grip more to work shoulders and triceps harder. widen the grip to focus on chest back and biceps. perform the negative motion extremely slow to focus on the back of your body. perform the positive (pushing off the floor) motion slowly to focus on the front of the body. do your pushups as slow as possible to focus everything. breathe in extremely deep on the negative, and blast your breath out on the positive. SQUEEZE your muscles really hard when you hit the peak of the motion (when youre closest to the floor). Dont ever rest, until youve finished a set.

for me, pushups just supplement a tricep workout (close grip). otherwise they dont really do a whole lot.
 
I would imagine that if you are able to do 35 pushups without fatigue you could probably bench much more than 135lbs. I can only do 40-something (maybe 46) push-ups in a row, but I can bench two plates (225lbs) for 6-7 reps. I only weigh 151lbs, and when I started 1.5 years ago, I could barely do 10 push-ups....
 
bench and overall upper body strength/endurance has always been a hard one for me. I always assumed it was because of my long thin arms. But ive been going at the pushup thing now for bout 5 days and am already starting to see improvement (in form and less fatigue), which is good. Thanks for the advice RM-RF. I do have some 25 and 30 lb freeweights lying around here somewhere. Can free weight curls be used to train the bicep in a similar fashion. Can i work biceps say 3 times a week using a moderate weight? I find that im never sore after dumbell curls, not unless i add additional curling exercises.
 
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