300 push-ups a day?

[JustinSmith52]

I know that the gains people post on YouTube and stuff are mostly fabricated and I’m not considering doing it. I’m just wondering however in terms of muscle growth wouldn’t doing 300 a day affect it because it isn’t giving your muscles time to rest?

[TolerantLactose]

What do you think there isn't time to rest?

[Ironface]

I guarantee if you did 300 push-ups a day and had a halfway decent diet you’d look better than 90% of the population

[air2fakie]

I guarantee if you did 300 push-ups a day and had a halfway decent diet you’d look better than 90% of the population

Probably applies even without the 300 pushups and only a halfway decent diet, at least in the US.

[Ironface]

Probably applies even without the 300 pushups and only a halfway decent diet, at least in the US.

True dat

Pretty sure the average US male is a sedentary 5’9 200lbs

Not exactly a high standard to beat

[EliKoehn]

True dat

Pretty sure the average US male is a sedentary 5’9 200lbs

Not exactly a high standard to beat

Yeah, but the standards among the population who seriously lift are of course much different. Most are aiming there, of course.

OP, I think you should try it for, say, four weeks. Take a before and after pic and see what differences you notice.

[Heisman2]

About 70% of the US adult population is overweight or obese by BMI. While muscular people may have an elevated BMI without an elevated body fat percentage, there are more "overfat" (skinny fat in fitness terms) people with a normal BMI and an elevated body fat percentage.

So I agree, if you simply eat healthily and get to a reasonable body fat percentage you will likely look better from a stereotypical physique standpoint than half of adults.

That said, to answer OP's question, you'll know if you are having enough time to recover based on how you feel. If you do 300 push-ups today and are very sore tomorrow, you need more time to recover. After your body gets used to it then if you find the 300 push-ups becoming easier to perform each day that means you are recovering adequately. Recovery time is based on the novelty and magnitude of the training stimulus; as you do 300 daily push-ups more often the novelty wears off and as you get stronger the magnitude of the training stimulus decreases. So eventually you will be able to recover enough and it will prove to be a good daily training stimulus. Then when you stop making any sort of progress you will need to increase the training stimulus.

[air2fakie]

IMO a properly balanced lifting or bodyweight calisthenics program would be better for muscle growth than 300 pushups/day, even if your muscles can recover properly.

[EliKoehn]

IMO a properly balanced lifting or bodyweight calisthenics program would be better for muscle growth than 300 pushups/day, even if your muscles can recover properly.

+1

OP, do you have a pullup bar? If you don't have access to decent free-weights or gym equipment, push ups, pull ups, bodyweight squats, and sit ups should cover all your basic bases nicely.

[Garage Rat]

Yes your right.
For muscle growth/hypertrophy you have to find the right stimulus not to much,not to little and correct technique.
It might be a little different for person to person and as you mentioned recovery is a factor along with good nutrition.
You may grow from it if your not use to it at first but you will adapt and growth will slow or stop.
You may have to do different harder versions to keep growing.
What will happen is you will become good at push ups if thats your goal.
If i was to do push up volume i do ladders and not a certain number every set.
Ladder are mini sets starting at 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 and starting over at 1.
So you end up with 55 reps for one ladder like this.
Of course you can go to any number and repeat if volume push ups are a goal.

[sooby]

Imo, if you can do 300 pushups in a day, you probably are in good shape to begin with. That's not easy to do at all for somebody who is relatively untrained or packing a few extra lbs. Even if you could do it, sustaining that everyday would be extremely difficult for most without overuse injuries, soreness, joint stresses, etc.

It's one of those things gets praised for it's simplicity and gets over-glamourized but in reality/practicality probably not the best way to go about it. (i.e: Bruce Lee used to do 1000 pushups a day and look at his physique or just do 100 pushups and 100 situps everyday for 30 days to get this dream physique). Honestly it's everything wrong with the fitness industry.

If you really wanted to do something like that, start off easier. For example do 100 pushups 2-3x a week each day throughout the day, in sets of 20. Maybe do different variations as well. I used to do pushups at home when gyms were closed. I got up to 150 pushups a day 3x a week in sets of 30. I was at the point where my joints and my chest were just perpetually sore and had to back off of it for a little bit. Then again I let myself go diet wise and was upwards to 205 lbs, so they might have been resistance pushups lol.

Also I think it's overrated, if that's all you're doing for muscle growth. But could be great just as a change in pace and build muscle endurance/hypertrophy on top end rep ranges.

[GeneralSerpant]

Rest is most important when you hit muscles particularly hard + long. Training for intensity will put a taxing modification to your lift (hard, long), going to failure will damage muscle more (long, hard), training towards lower rest times or higher frequency will get demanding on the blood system.

It's just not hard to train/progress pushups while avoiding these things. But you can train them in the manner above if you'd like or just don't know.

[lukabosnjak]

That is how i started. Then joined gym.

[GeneralSerpant]

That is how i started. Then joined gym.

Just 'cause it worked for you doesn't mean it'll work for everyone tho.

[weiss1967]

I know that the gains people post on YouTube and stuff are mostly fabricated and I’m not considering doing it. I’m just wondering however in terms of muscle growth wouldn’t doing 300 a day affect it because it isn’t giving your muscles time to rest?

If you were to add everyday pushups to your training routine, then you should do something like Smolov's "greasing the grove". Which will be like 20 sets of 15 reps spread out throughout the day. Like two sets every hour. You have probably heard "gimme 20", well something like that, occasional short and very doable set which won't make you sore. Then you can do them every day, even on your chest days. In terms of muscle growth however, pushups in general are much less controllable than bench press or fly's. You are pushing the same weight every time you do a pushup.

[satinder747]

I know that the gains people post on YouTube and stuff are mostly fabricated and I’m not considering doing it. I’m just wondering however in terms of muscle growth wouldn’t doing 300 a day affect it because it isn’t giving your muscles time to rest?

There's nothing wrong with that. Try out for one or two months. If you're finding difference then you've the answer. And, if you've access to gym or weights then I think you can also try weighted push-ups.

[lukabosnjak]

Just 'cause it worked for you doesn't mean it'll work for everyone tho.

It didn't work for me xD

[GeneralSerpant]

It didn't work for me xD

You have high or low BMI when you did them? Training pushups at 190+ for a lot of people is a lot of work.

[BeginnerGainz]

Pushups
Hip thrust
Good mornings
Angels and devils (back angels)
Inverted rows
Pullups/chin ups
Squats (unilateral and bilateral)
Single leg calf raises
Step ups

Just some of the bodyweight work I regularly program. They are hugely beneficial to any routine, especially if you can’t get to a gym regularly.

[Gaza26]

2pac did 300 push ups every other day. Look at his chest and tell me what you think. Don't do it every day or else it's overtraining. Always give your muscles at 48 hours to repair themselves before hitting them again if you want the best gains.

[GeneralSerpant]

2pac did 300 push ups every other day. Look at his chest and tell me what you think. Don't do it every day or else it's overtraining. Always give your muscles at 48 hours to repair themselves before hitting them again if you want the best gains.

Also change the way you eat, change the way you live, and change the way you treat others.