Are pushups everyday really a waste of time?

[1Paul]

Hello everyone! Okay so I will admit I’ve done a few searches already on this topic and the consensus seems to be that doing pushups everyday is, in the long term, of no benefit.

At the moment I do 70 pushups every morning and I’ve been doing this for 18 months. My chest is slowly getting bigger my shoulders are more defined than they used to be.

I’m also going to the gym at least four days a week so I really have no idea if the gains I’ve made have been helped by the pushups or not. I might post about my workout routine another time as I'd like to improve that as well. Hope that's okay.

I know the advice is not to do them everyday but it seems to me that stopping these morning pushups completely is not going to have a positive effect. Anyone else do something in the morning?

If anyone has a suggestion for a simple body weight exercises that’s good to do first thing in the morning I’d really appreciate it! Maybe I could do rotate between them on alternating days to avoid overtraining?

[conoutlook]

Just curl in squat rack daily

[OmegaWolf]

Most certainly not. It's not the most efficient way of achieving certain goals - such as muscular hypertrophy or maximal strength - but doing pushups everyday is only a waste of time if you don't want to improve muscular endurance in the pectorals, delts and shoulders, and if you don't want to burn calories, improve flexibility, and functional fitness. And you can be assured to derive a hypertrophy effect from it, atleast in the beginning. However if your main goal is hypertrophy, rest days should be taken in between training days, and just like with strength training, you need progressive overload to avoid an imminent plateau.

I am currently doing hundreds of pushups and pullups everyday and I plan on eventually pushing those numbers into the thousands.

[hanger1989]

I personally wouldn't do them the day after you've done a chest or a shoulder workout, I also probably wouldn't do them the morning of those workouts, as your only gonna weaken yourself. Doing them on other days though is fine, I even do them when I train abs at home, as push ups train abs to.

Up to you though when you do them I just wouldn't be doing them around your chest and shoulders workouts.

[mtownballer20]

Save the energy used during those push ups for the gym. Will be better suited.

[AdrianPerry]

I've incoperated a warmup routine before each gym session of step ups and push ups.

- 30 seconds step ups, 30 seconds pushups, 30 seconds step ups, 30 seconds push ups

- 2min rest

- Repeat

Serves as a nice warmup for anything I'm training that day and I have noticed improvements in my chest too.

[SkinnyCyclist]

I do a push-up/pull-up routine once a week at home, I fit it around my gym schedule, which is currently Mon/Thurs/Sat. Train in the gym Monday morning and Thursday night, so Wednesday night or morning is a good time for me for hit the pushes and pulls. I certainly wouldn't have the strength to do it on training days though.

[TJP33]

In addition to the gym- I would only use as a warm up (regardless of what your training) - I do 50 push ups and 20 pull ups.
following a chest or back day, listen to body- I may reduce number or if still really tight just opt to stretch the muscle instead.

[ecl1980]

Unless your goal is to increase your pushup count, then you would actually benefit from not doing as many each morning and focusing more on putting your energy towards lifting heavier weights at the gym. This will immediately result in strength and size increases. In terms of other bodyweight exercises to do each morning I just have a pullup bar on my bathroom door and challenge myself to pump out 15 every time i go to the bathroom (which happens every morning). Wakes me up and feels great.

[DontFearTheRepr]

I am currently doing hundreds of pushups and pullups everyday and I plan on eventually pushing those numbers into the thousands.

1000s of pull-ups? Is that your all day back day?

[OmegaWolf]

1000s of pull-ups? Is that your all day back day?

Oh no, I'm not a bodybuilder, therefore I don't have a back day.

Like I said, I'm working up to them.

[Liftcorp]

Just curl in squat rack daily

lmao

[JontheAtheist]

Make sure to eat your oats after those push ups.

[JamesHenson]

You can do push ups everyday, but it is not usually necessary and is completely a waste of time if you are looking for maximum muscle growth. It is always best to give your muscles that time they need to rest. Additionally, they only benefit you in the long run. Hence, concentrate on the real exercises and spend more time on lifting heavier weights for to get much better results.

[YolkedPinoy]

I did tons of pushups for my PT test, i did the most in basic training 102 in 2 minutes, all the way up and down too.

I figured it was only good for the PT test, i benefited way more from weight lifting though.

If you're only doing pushups to build chest muscle, good luck because you can only get so far with bodyweight. Adding weight progressively means getting stronger and stronger

[tastan]

in my opinion, yes it's a waste of time. The only time I do push ups is sometimes at the end of workout as part of the superset. Otherwise I don't bother with them

[MWheatley]

Save the energy used during those push ups for the gym. Will be better suited.

I agree.

Its not going to be a waste, but it certainly isnt optimal.

[mnovotny85]

Hello everyone! Okay so I will admit I’ve done a few searches already on this topic and the consensus seems to be that doing pushups everyday is, in the long term, of no benefit.

At the moment I do 70 pushups every morning and I’ve been doing this for 18 months. My chest is slowly getting bigger my shoulders are more defined than they used to be.

I’m also going to the gym at least four days a week so I really have no idea if the gains I’ve made have been helped by the pushups or not. I might post about my workout routine another time as I'd like to improve that as well. Hope that's okay.

I know the advice is not to do them everyday but it seems to me that stopping these morning pushups completely is not going to have a positive effect. Anyone else do something in the morning?

If anyone has a suggestion for a simple body weight exercises that’s good to do first thing in the morning I’d really appreciate it! Maybe I could do rotate between them on alternating days to avoid overtraining?

OP, i used to do pushups ever morning and night and eventually worked up to ~600 a day. If your goal is building muscle, then your time will be better spent in the gym on a routine that emphasizes 'progressive overload'.

If you still want to do push ups and other bodyweight exercises in the morning you could do: planks, pull ups (if you get a bar), dips, go for a run, etc.