Push-ups daily...

[Crizus]

I was training for about a year and I still lacked overall chest development and my bench wasnt that strong until my training partner told me to start doing push-ups daily... and then I started growing my overall chest development improved for the better...

Has anyone else ever tried this ???

[Andrew81]

Actually, I include 5 sets of 10 wide spread raised push ups when I work my chest. Going very slow. It works pretty good, atleast I think... Helped me in all my chest lifts.

[Back Yard Dog]

Yeah it works. My Uncle told me to add one press up every day

so on say Monday do 5, Tues 6, Wed 7 and before you know it your up round 30 and 40 and it keeps going.

Best thing u can do without a gym for your chest!

[Crizus]

To do between 100-200 M, T, W, TH, F and rest my chest on the weekends...

[Thalastdon]

Doing all of these push ups everyday? isn't that going to be overtraining your chest and triceps? just wondering?

[DanishMuscle]

It might have worked for you, but you certainly wont become bigger using this technique unless you are very small. It is overtraining the muscles and your gains will siece when u reach a certain point. Only train the chest once ore twice a week (using real barbells and dumbbels).

[Muscles]

Originally posted by Thalastdon
Doing all of these push ups everyday? isn't that going to be overtraining your chest and triceps? just wondering?

Most likely

[Ze_ev]

Wide-arm pushups are often part of my chest routine (in the end, or between heavier sets), but I don't do it everyday for that same reason of overtraining. When my pecs are sore, I give em time to recuperate. But sometimes it's cool to do a set or two of wide-arm pushups before sleep, like 2 days after the chest day, to get the blood flowing in there. I find that sometimes this helps me recover quicker, whatever the reason is (maybe getting a good blood flow gets nutriets to the muscle better or something).

[Andrew81]

I find when I do some wide are push ups at the end of my chest workout my chest stays pumped longer and the next day my chest feels bigger than if I do not do them. I personally only do them one day a week on chest day, I really don't see the point in doing push ups EVERYDAY, now your looking at overtraining.
Well just a thought.

[Muscles]

Its a very good thought. One that I would of said most likely as well

[blind527]

andrew is right, it is definelty over training. If you do them everyday, you will only get weaker and go right back to day 1. Do them once a week when you do chests, train them hard. Do inclince push ups, those have worked the best for me.

[Muscles]

Incline pushups! You must be like advanced or something

[The Natural]

Oh man, let me tell you guys something. In September 1999, I weighed 220 lbs. By December 1999, I got up to 260 lbs. Looking back now, I know that I was totally wrong, but this is what I did:

I took a weight gainer called Muscle Blast 2000. Then I bought some Pinnacle andro poppers and some Cell-Tech. I also used ASTs VP2 protein.

I was training like a maniac! What I would do was go to the gym like MWF and do a full body workout. I would do one set to complete failure for about 12 exercises.

Then after I got home, I would wait for an hour and crank out 20 push ups. Then I would wait 15 minutes and do 20 more and repeat the pattern and so on until one hour was up.

Then I'd eat a meal, wait like another hour and do curls to failure with like 25 lb. dumbells. I also did this with seated presses for the shoulders too... After that, I would get down on the floor and do as many reverse dips as I possibly could.

I would grunt and growl... lol

I just remember like after about the third month or whatever, I started getting stretchmarks everywhere, like on the sides of my waist, especially. I also started breaking out on my back pretty bad. My chest was getting gigantic, yet I was wondering if I was growing "man boobies" or something like that... lol

I hardly gained any fat, but I didn't get much definition either.

Looking back, I was probably doing 100-200 push ups a day, plus curls, plus dips... (obviously, on my training days, I probably didn't do that many push-ups, etc.)

Everybody, including my boss was looking at me and were like, "What are you doing to get so huge?" lol

Finally, I just decided to go off everything (because I just got scared what was happening) and quit working out (for a while anyway). About 2 months later, I was 20 lbs. lighter.
My skin started sagging...

Oh well, if you are looking to get big and quick in a hurry, this is one way to do it, but I don't recommend it... lol

I just want all of you to learn from my blunders and let you know what an idiot I was in 1999 when it came to bodybuilding... lol

What I would really like to do is compete someday, so if you guys have any tips that could help me along, just drop me an e-mail, and I'd be happy to hear from you, as I come on these boards to help and to learn...

Take care, guys. And don't do any boneheaded blunders like I did...

[Andrew81]

Natural- Its a good thing you learned from your mistakes, glad your on the right track now!

Muscles-Incline push ups? I've heard of INVERTED push ups, that is when you put your feet up on a bench or chair and do a push up off of that, those are the kind I do. I swear I've never heard of incline push ups...
Hope I helped!

[Muscles]

Don't worry I very rarely ever heard of incline pushups myself but still that must be hard to do it if possible

[Pumpv]

Yeah, push ups are great.

[EctoElite]

While I was in training for selection I did this Program. Great results, put an extra 13 onto my Max and was really good fun.

Here it is, quoted from another forum:


"
Posted 13 May 2006 09:19 AM
So, without access to a gym for a few weeks, I've been doing this push-up routine, called "The Evil Russian’s 'hit the deck' Program." The author promises some big results in just 14 days. Who knows. I will keep you posted.

Here's what the workout looks like. I'll post it - it's a bit long so be prepared. Interesting reading though. I've got a few questions so scroll down to the bottom, after reading it, and respond to them, if you get a moment.

Here we go:



Before the bench press was a twinkle in some early powerlifter's eye, the push up was the true measure of a person. A hundred separated the men from the boys; the women from the girls. Still does. How will you rate?

Pretty good if you follow my program.

All right, so you're not planning to join the marines- your loss, their gain- so why should you bother giving me a hundred? Because, if you train the right way, this push-up drill will fill out your pecs, delts & tri's faster than a jarhead recruit can clean a latrine with his toothbrush.

Where heavy resistance training builds the contractile proteins, high-volume, low intensity loading, such as push-ups, kick other wheels of the muscles machinery into growth. The volume of sacroplasm goes up. Mitochondria, the muscle cells' energy plants, get buff. Capillaries spread their tentacles throughout the muscle.

Even though capillaries make up but a fraction of a muscle's girth they serve a VIP function in bulking your myofibrils, or "real muscle", when you get back to heavy training. Here's how it works:

A 1995 British study by Schott et al., concluded that greater exposure of muscle cells to various metabolites, or "muscle engine exhaust fumes", leads to greater gains in strength & mass. It has been suggested by some experts that the more extensive a muscle's vascularity, the more the muscle will be soaked in intra-muscular metabolites & growth factors, & the more it will grow.

At least up to a point. According to Soviet research (Zalesskiy & Burkhanov, 1981), vascular network development generally can not keep up with muscle growth. So if you want to keep on growing beyond the easy first gains, you must find a way of developing your vascular network.

This is where super high reps come in. In 1986, Luthi et al., discovered that heavy training has no effect on capillarization. In 1984, Tesch et al., added that Olympic weightlifters & other athletes who favour low-rep training with long rest periods display capillary density that is even lower than that of untrained subjects! The same year, Sjoogard stated that enhanced capillarization is the result of endurance training. (Could explain why your legs gain mass so much easier than your arms?)



The evil Russian’s “hit the deck” program


WEEK 1

Mon: 100% test, relative intensity (RI) 30% Set frequency (SF) 60 min
Tues: RI 50% SF 60 min
Wed: RI 60% SF 45 min
Thurs: RI 25% SF 60 min
Fri: RI 45% SF 30 min
Sat: RI 40% SF 60 min
Sun: RI 20% SF 90 min

WEEK 2

Mon: 100% test RI 35% SF 45min
Tues: RI 55% SF 20 min
Wed: RI 30% SF 15 min
Thurs: RI 65% SF 60min
Fri: RI 35% SF 45 min
Sat: RI 45% SF 60 min
Sun: RI 25% SF120 min

WEEK 3

Mon: 100% test


The program outlined in the chart above is self-explanatory. Just drop & give me a specified percentage of your last personal best at given time intervals throughout the day. For instance, if you managed 50 push-ups on your test, do 25 on the day that calls for 50% relative intensity. On Mondays, test yourself for one set & do east sets for the rest of the day. You are going to love the constant pump!

Time the breaks between your sets, but you do not have a fit if you missed your date with the concrete here & there. Make it up if you can; do not sweat it if you cannot. Do your sets from the time you get up until an hour before you go to bed. Naturally, most comrades with a real job will have a couple of gaps in their day when they cannot drop & pump out push-ups. Do not worry about it; just gets back on schedule when the boss looks the other way.

Note that you are only supposed to go to the limit once a week. High rep sets to exhaustion are a lot more dangerous than they look. Tension in the stabilising muscles is inadequate to protect the joints & the connective tissues; the latter really get it in the shorts. So do not mess with the outline; stay well within your ability except on test days! Do not worry, you’ll make great gains without collapsing on the last rep, dripping in sweat & making macho faces.

The prescribes regimen requires that you say no to any other upper-body work with the exception of pull-ups or chin-ups. Either of these military favourites will hit the muscles missed by the push-ups & balance out your deltoids.

A word on push-ups for reasons other than getting buff or becoming one of the few good men. Push-ups are no good for strength unless you can merely manage a couple. The time-honoured push-up, however, is useful for developing shoulder endurance for sports such as boxing.

Proper push-up technique

Whether you’re training for the boxing ring or the bodybuilding stage, proper push-up technique will amplify your gains.

Place the weight near the base of your palms rather than closer to your fingers. If the traditional technique hurts your wrists, you have a couple of options. The yuppie choice is a set of push-up handles. The heroic alternative is to do your push-ups the karate way, on your knuckles. The proper martial arts knuckle push-up calls for resting your weight only on two knuckles of each fist. You will find this technique will strengthen your wrists in a hurry. No your forearms won’t look any better, but your bench will go up because your noodle-thin wrists will stop screaming for mercy & wraps.

Keep you butt tucked under; this will make your push-ups look crisp & protect your back from sagging & hurting.

Do not constrict your chest, keep it wide open. The range of motion will be slightly reduced, the pecs will be pre-stretched for more power, & you are less likely to hurt your shoulders that way.

Also, look straight ahead rather than down. Tension in the neck extensor muscles facilitates a stronger contraction of the elbow extensors.

High-Tension Push-Up Techniques

First, grip the ground with your fingertips. Do not attempt fingertip push-ups; just imagine you are trying to leave claw marks on the ground

Second, clench your glutes hard & flex your abs.

Third, squeeze your thighs tight together.

Fourth, “screw your hands into the floor”.

Fifth, hold your breath on exertion.

Do all of the above during the actual rep, at lockout relax as mush as possible. Take a few breaths before the next rep. The above techniques are only to be applied during your test sets! Or for very difficult low-rep exercises.

The Push-Up Rules of Engagement

 never come to close to failure, except when testing your max
 vary the reps and the rest periods between the sets daily
 adjust the load to your recovery ability
 build up cumulative fatigue
 taper down before a peak

Keep you push-up cycles short & sweet. According to a 1990 study by Russian scientists Nikityuk & Samoylo, repetition lifting of a submaximal weight promotes sarcoplasmic hypertrophy while breaking don the contractile proteins, the “real muscle”. So, in other words, that’s not good. Which is why you are going to alternate two-week periods of push-ups with two weeks of your regular upper-body weight training routine. This rotation schedule, made popular in Russia, is superior to doing everything at once, e.g., doing your push-ups, followed by your benching, followed by your triceps push-downs.

There you have it, Comrade, your complete guide to push-up excellence. Put it to work & fill out your shirt before the month is up! "

[DeadGeneration]

I am training by using heavy weights and only working out 3 times a week. Doing major lifts, resting for a long time between sets, and only spending an hour in the gym. Eating EVERYTHING. All of this is intended to prevent overtraining and get the maximum results for my body type. It's been working.

I have read an article in MF that involves doing pushups every day to get to 100 consecutive pushups. I don't doubt that it works, but I am worried that it would completely stop all of my growth.

Would this be good to wait until it's time to start cutting?

[Thor23x]

I am training by using heavy weights and only working out 3 times a week. Doing major lifts, resting for a long time between sets, and only spending an hour in the gym. Eating EVERYTHING. All of this is intended to prevent overtraining and get the maximum results for my body type. It's been working.

I have read an article in MF that involves doing pushups every day to get to 100 consecutive pushups. I don't doubt that it works, but I am worried that it would completely stop all of my growth.

Would this be good to wait until it's time to start cutting?

Adding push ups into your routine will not stop growth, a rediculous amount everyday will b.c. your muscles wont have time to recuperate but otherwise no.

[psirolli]

I'm always pumping out push-ups. While i cook dinner, i knock out a few sets. If i know i'm going out for drinks, i blast out 50. if i know i'm gonna cheat and have sweets, i do push-ups.

the key is to change them up. you can do ones that focus on tri's, bi's, back, etc. it's all about hand placement as well as elevating your feet/legs to different levels. I also make sure i focus on keeping my abs tight so i work them as well.

[chadjoe01]

pushups are awesome. i do 60 in the morning and 60 at night before bed. pullups are great as well.

[joe8512]

I stopped benching as much, and started doing alot of pushups and it was best thing i could have done. I do 4 sets of 50 monday through friday. I never felt overtrained.
Within the first month I saw alot leaner muslce all over my chest, my shoulders were more defined. More immportantly my bench went up, not drastic weight but endurance wise quite a bit. Bodies may be shaped different so If you feel over-trained on your chest or triceps give it a rest. But I reccommend you give it a try, Im glad I did.

[quikieemart]

I was training for about a year and I still lacked overall chest development and my bench wasnt that strong until my training partner told me to start doing push-ups daily... and then I started growing my overall chest development improved for the better...

Has anyone else ever tried this ???

yup yup. 400 everyday.

[quikieemart]

It might have worked for you, but you certainly wont become bigger using this technique unless you are very small. It is overtraining the muscles and your gains will siece when u reach a certain point. Only train the chest once ore twice a week (using real barbells and dumbbels).

just working out with barbells and dumbbells may get you bigger and stronger, but it won't necessarily make you faster or more agile. calisthenics help make up for those things that regular gym routines cannot provide. agility, speed, balance, flexibility, coordination. i mean, if you're going for strength to bodyweight ratio, go for a gymnast's calisthenics routine. but, if you just wanna look and feel big, stay in the gym. i have a balance for both so thats why i personally include pushups and pullups 4-5 times a week

[krc1990]

I stopped benching as much, and started doing alot of pushups and it was best thing i could have done. I do 4 sets of 50 monday through friday. I never felt overtrained.
Within the first month I saw alot leaner muslce all over my chest, my shoulders were more defined. More immportantly my bench went up, not drastic weight but endurance wise quite a bit. Bodies may be shaped different so If you feel over-trained on your chest or triceps give it a rest. But I reccommend you give it a try, Im glad I did.

Very doubtful! pushups are good for adding definition and fuller looking chest, but its ridiculous to say that they should be done as a substitute for benching, if you want maximum muscle gains anyway.

However i agree that they do help with endurance while benching. I have been seeing results in number of reps and number of sets i can perform. Although i havnt stopped benching since i started so for all iknow it may be from benching in the first place. Can anyone clarify this?


EDIT: sorry for replying to old threads. didnt realise lol

[midonightmare]

chest = push ups ....if you want the adequate look for your chest then push ups is the workout for you and now with push up handles it even got easier here is a site for you pushuphandles.blogspot.com it has every thing about push ups and push up handles

[Marcusgs]

Way to jesus the thread out of 2001.

[Rottie39]

Don't worry I very rarely ever heard of incline pushups myself but still that must be hard to do it if possible

Inclines are my kind of push ups normal grip wide and close grip inclines but I prefer declines myself

[Adroy]

I have a question about push ups and this post/site looked like a good place to ask.

Wanting to get back into shape and looking/feeling better then ever as a start I am currently following this program to get to 100 push ups "7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups" by
Steve Speirs.

I just finished the last set for the week and have been finding it hard do the last of the reps. These are the reps for the week Mon: 14,14,24,24 rest 42+ Wed 16, 16, 20, 20 rest 16, 16, 46+ Fri: 18, 18, 24, 24 rest 18, 18, 50+. How can I get these last reps done?

Next week I have to pump 50+ on Mon,Wed and Fri

I am new to body building and this site so any help would be great.

[Adroy]

anyone"?