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Combining pushups and pullups

slimvictor

slimvictor

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I am trying to do both pushups and pullups in my new exercise program (also crunches and squats, in an effort to cover my whole body without being enrolled in a gym).

My question:
The muscles worked by pushups and pullups (or chinups) overlap, but just a bit (right?).
The only real overlap is in the lats and (less so) shoulders.
My lats are already pretty strong. So, can I do pushups when I am recovering from doing pullups the day before, and alternate in this way? Or, is it better to do both on "upper body" day?

A related but more general question, if I don't feel any muscle pain the day after working out a muscle group, can I work that group again the next day?

I am especially hoping for responses based on personal experience or expert knowledge.

Thank you in advance!

Victor
 
Yes the muscles worked by both pushups and pullups overlap just a little bit.

I would say it is better to do pushups and pullups in the same day for maximum muscle strength if you do not experience any problem with it. For some it would be too much but for others it gives them more strength in terms of exercising the muscles in the upper body.

Yes you could but it is better to exercise another part of your body as the muscle you just exercised on the day before were torn down muscle fibers and they need to be repaired by rest for at least 24 to 48 hours. IME, not particularly with the pullups or pushups but with other exercises, not only does my muscles hurt but it makes me feel weaker the next day as my muscles were tired from the previous workout. So I'd say do it every other day so you can get better results.
 
What if you don't feel sore after a workout?
Am I not doing enough?
 
That or you may not be doing it properly or you're body is just good at tolerating pain. These are most of the factors. For me, I would usually be more sore on the second day rather than the first day that's why I always give my body enough time to recover.
 
^Not necessarily.

Worth said:
What if you don't feel sore after a workout?
Am I not doing enough?
Click to expand...

Repeated-bout effect
After performing an unaccustomed eccentric exercise and exhibiting severe soreness, the muscle rapidly adapts to reduce further damage from the same exercise. This is called the "repeated-bout effect"... As a result of this effect, not only is the soreness reduced, but other indicators of muscle damage, such as swelling, reduced strength and reduced range of motion, are also more quickly recovered from... It seems to gradually decrease as time between bouts increases, and is undetectable after about one year.
Click to expand...

Not being sore means that you've adjusted to whatever it was you were doing. As long as you continue to progress you're fine.
 
Maya said:
Yes the muscles worked by both pushups and pullups overlap just a little bit.

I would say it is better to do pushups and pullups in the same day for maximum muscle strength if you do not experience any problem with it. For some it would be too much but for others it gives them more strength in terms of exercising the muscles in the upper body.

Yes you could but it is better to exercise another part of your body as the muscle you just exercised on the day before were torn down muscle fibers and they need to be repaired by rest for at least 24 to 48 hours. IME, not particularly with the pullups or pushups but with other exercises, not only does my muscles hurt but it makes me feel weaker the next day as my muscles were tired from the previous workout. So I'd say do it every other day so you can get better results.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this.

Yesterday I did both pushups (140!) and pull-ups (35). If I hadn't done the pushups, I could have done many more pullups. So, I guess the overlap got me, or maybe overall fatigue. Maybe I should take turns with which I do first? Yesterday, I did all the pushups first. Next time, I could do the pullups first.
 
slimvictor said:
Thank you for this.

Yesterday I did both pushups (140!) and pull-ups (35). If I hadn't done the pushups, I could have done many more pullups. So, I guess the overlap got me, or maybe overall fatigue. Maybe I should take turns with which I do first? Yesterday, I did all the pushups first. Next time, I could do the pullups first.
Click to expand...

Yes this is a better idea, switch the exercises and see how you feel.

Do you do have dumbells at home as well? I am not sure if you are familiar with the Nike training program. You can check this program on Iphone and it will show you 15 min workouts that you might be interested to try. There are exercises on on this program where you can use dumbells etc to work your biceps and arm muscles.
 
To be perfectly honest it really depends on what type of routine ur on. If all your doing is calisthenics then it really doesn't matter that much. But for example if you have chest day, back day, shoulders day, legs day, arms day etc, then you should separate the two.

It's really about what your trying to achieve with ur workouts

Also, if ALL your doing is calisthenics, then doing the same routines two days in a row shouldn't matter, although if ur gonna do pushups two days in a row I'd atleast switch up the order/form in which ur doing them. If your content with just calisthenics, I'd reccomend atleast switching ur hand positions. Pushups u can do shoulder width, wide, and diamonds (put hands together form diamond with hands), u can also put your feet on a chair and u have incline pushups

For pull ups u can keep ur grip over or under. And if u have enough room you can approach the bar sideways, grip with one hand in front of the other, and do neutral pull ups, moving your head from left to right as to avoid the bar during ur rep

When it comes to soreness, it could very well be your routine or form are off. But if you've been doing the same routine for a while, it could be your body has adapted, u plateu'ed and you need to change up ur routine

Just remember form and diet are both pretty important. You could do a bangin workout and if u dnt eat properly you'll literally waste ALL that time u just spent at the gym
 
That would be a good way to balance the push-pull muscle sets.

You could also combine them into super-sets (in other words, do a set of pushups, then immediately do a set of pullups, then rest) if you were also interested in improving cardio.



Edit: I wouldn't work the same muscle the next day. Every two days would work. Some people do sometimes work the smaller muscles after just 24 hours of recovery, but it's never worked for me--always led to overtraining.
 
Reason I wasn't sore was I wasn't doing enough. Friday I did 50 pull downs standing, seating, behind my head. 50 Back curls or whatever they are called. 50 Butterflies, 50 backward leg raises, front knee leg raises ..Backward Leg raises were pretty easy on the weight I had it on but I though i'd leave it and build it up as the other exercises were on a higher level weight.

Definitely feeling it today. Not that sore , but I can feel it slightly in my arms
 
slimvictor said:
Thank you for this.

Yesterday I did both pushups (140!) and pull-ups (35). If I hadn't done the pushups, I could have done many more pullups. So, I guess the overlap got me, or maybe overall fatigue. Maybe I should take turns with which I do first? Yesterday, I did all the pushups first. Next time, I could do the pullups first.
Click to expand...

How is your form on the pushups? i.e. back straight, hands about at about shoulder level, elbows in relatively tight. Are you doing a full extension...all the way down to the ground then all the way back up to where your elbows are just about locked out? Did you do 140 pushups in one set or many sets?

IF you're doing everything right AND you're doing 140 then you might want to start doing some of the more difficult pushup variations and progressions.
 
Push ups do not activate the lats. They are a chest/tricep/shoulder exercise.

Pull ups will work your shoulders as well, but they target your posterior deltoids moreso than the anterior delts.

There is very little overlap of muscles being worked between pull ups and push ups.

This web site has a complete directory of what exercises target what muscles. You can see here that pressing exercises (such as push ups) are not on the page of back exercises.
 
Dare21 said:
How is your form on the pushups? i.e. back straight, hands about at about shoulder level, elbows in relatively tight. Are you doing a full extension...all the way down to the ground then all the way back up to where your elbows are just about locked out? Did you do 140 pushups in one set or many sets?

IF you're doing everything right AND you're doing 140 then you might want to start doing some of the more difficult pushup variations and progressions.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am doing everything right, I believe.
It took me 7 sets to get to 140 (sets of 20). I can do more in a set, but I like to mix things up, and go for my max in a day, sometimes, instead of my max in a set.
I would like to build up to 100 in a single set, though I think it might take a looong time...
 
SirTophamHat said:
Push ups do not activate the lats. They are a chest/tricep/shoulder exercise.

Pull ups will work your shoulders as well, but they target your posterior deltoids moreso than the anterior delts.

There is very little overlap of muscles being worked between pull ups and push ups.

This web site has a complete directory of what exercises target what muscles. You can see here that pressing exercises (such as push ups) are not on the page of back exercises.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.
And to the other posters above, I also appreciate your comments.
I am busy tonight, but will look into it more tomorrow.

Victor
 
You're welcome victor, good luck/have fun with your exercises.

Wolfmans_BrothEr, do you have a source for that or are you just repeating what you've heard? By using an isometric contraction you can activate almost any muscle during almost any exercise. It doesn't necessarily follow that you're going to gain any significant hypertrophy or strength by doing so. For someone who is looking to beef up their back, would you tell them to do push ups? No, of course not...
 
amanda_eats_pandas said:
^Not necessarily.





Not being sore means that you've adjusted to whatever it was you were doing. As long as you continue to progress you're fine.
Click to expand...

DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, is common amongst trainees but is not requisite to denote sufficient training stimuli. Even amongst elite athletes, some get DOMS when on a proper plan, some do not. So long as you're getting stronger over time, and not overtraining yourself, the presence/lack of DOMS is irrelevant.

Insofar as training pullups when doing pushups, if it feels fine to you then do it. I do and know many others that do / have. Keep an eye on #/set, and # reps/session, to make sure you're still progressing ;)
 
^ lol, stabilizing what? wouldn't your spinal erectors, rectus abdominis and oblique muscles be the prime stabilizers? sure you can flex any muscle whenever you want, but that fact alone doesn't implicate your lats in pushups. why don't you give us a source?

the point here is that pull ups primarily work the back while pushups primarily work the chest (and biceps, triceps respectively) so the two exercises are quite good in tandem, they do not overlap muscle groups. saying that they do is only going to cause confusion... slimvictor has a good programme going.

ps: nice to see you bmxxx, i thought you had left us.
 
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