This summer I've been doing a lot of pushups just around my house. I really think its one of the best upper body workouts that can be done. What do you guys have for input, as far as how many, how often etc.?

 

i try to do them whenever i can. i lost more upper body strength that i thought i would when i stopped surfing a ton so i'm trying to get it back. ill normally do between 4 and 5 sets of 20 throughout the day.

 

Last week I did 200 pushups 4 x 50 a day for 10 days and then take a break...they are getting easier and easier everytime I do them

 

Pushups are great when one does not have access to free weights and other weight lifting equipment. Finally, I do not believe they are a complete upper body exercise as they are not involving many upper body muscles, especially back muscles.

 

I think pushups are so hard to do. I have to do them in sets of 20.

 

if body resistance exercises are all that are available to you; get some pullups in there too

 

i hit the gym regularly, but whenever i can i try to get 1 or 2 sets in of 50 pushups a day....

ill do pullups whenever i get something to hang from

 

Another great thing you can do if you can't hit the gym is use your muscles against eachother. For example, grap your hands and then pull out to the sides for your back, or press your palms together and push them together forcefully for chest, or palms together with one going up and the other going down for a bicep/tricep combo.

The muscles working against eachother put a lot of resistance, and it's a great workout you can do sitting at your desk.

 

There are many ways to do pushups. Personally I only do pushups and situps, even in the gym, I don't like using or lift weights.

Anyway, you can do what I call diamond and palm pushups. As you find regular pushups getting easier, you can bring your hands closer, form a diamond shape. If you find that easy, then take it to next level, bring your palms completely close next to each other.

Both diamond and palm pushups work out a lot on your tri-cep, abs and back (because it is harder to keep the back straight, you gotta use a lot of abs).

Just be careful, don't injure yourself when doing the palm one.

 

Push-ups are great because you can shift your weight or hand positioning to hit different parts of the body.

For example, "diamond" push-ups put more emphasis on the triceps and traps (another method to hit the tri's is to turn your hand so the fingers point to the feet); "wide-hand" push-ups hit the upper back and rear delts; and "one-handed" push-ups make you feel like Rocky with Mick screaming in your ears. I like to prop my feet on my bed for a little more strain.

 

Nice ... apparently great minds think alike.

 

Thats my approach to it.

 

True

Another way of how I do pushups is to use two dumbells. The bells gotta be pentagon shaped, rather than round, so that they can stay in place. Basically instead of use your palm, just hold on to the dumbells and do regular pushups. Again, if it gets eaiser, you can bring the dumbell closer. Yeah, it gets really hard. Again, this works out your wrist a lot, just be careful and don't over-exert your wrists.

 

I do a 100 every morning first thing

 

a great addition to a balanced workout routine

 

do you listen to the rocky music though? i know its on my ipod mix

 

I end my chest workout with a nice 3x30 slowwwww pushups.

 

i love pushups...i do maybe 3-4 sets of 30-35 reps when i can...although not as much as i should

 

Only a hundred these days? Slacker! Anyway, they're part of a balanced breakfast

 

just like frosted flakes.....they're grrrrrrreat!!!

 

umm... is there soemthing wrong with me if i can only do 5-10?
lol

 

the first time you do them its 10 is alright...but you get used to the motions and they get easier as you start doing more and more.

 

I went as high as 30 once, but my arms felt like they were going to buckle under pressure. They say no pain no gain, but I took it down a notch and do sets of 20.

 

I do 50 pushups a day, nonstop.

 

Man I thoughtme doing 15 in a row was good. I can't believe you guys can do 50.

 

I started doing pushups recently... Im upto 150 daily with 5 sets of 30...


I'll be upping that number... my goal is eventually 200 daily.. im not that far off

 

yeah i usually try and do 50 at a time....maybe 2 - 3 times a day

 

lol word man...
well i been in pretty bad shape the past year, i gained over 40 pounds... started hitting the gym a month ago or so and hopefully ill be up there with you guys in a couple of months

 

pushups are a great way to build upper body strength , and tone as well. On top of that, very easy to monitor progress.

 

I like them for the variety. There are times when I just don't feel like lifting weights so I'll do pushups instead. Do them at a wide angle and you can work the lats. Do them with your feet inclined and work the upper chest. Push up off the ground and clapping while in the air will give you a tremendous chest workout and help build explosive power. There are so many ways to do them.

 

I usually do 50 my first set, 45 second, 40 third until I hit 200 total. I do variety of width too with my leg raised about a foot. Sometimes I will use push up bars just to make it a little different.

 

there are many varieties... usually i'll do about 100/day (2x50) if i'm working out in the gym that day, or 200 if i'm not lifting that day or just doing cardio...

i used to be able to go 65-70 without stopping once up on a time... now 50 is a challenge...

 

You can also do them on your fingertips to strengthen the grip.

 

I do 3 sets of maximum effort push-ups and sit-ups every morning. Once right after waking up, then after my morning shit, then after checking emails.

 

I'm doing about 200 each morning, 50 at lunch and 200 or 300 during a game or the news in the evenings.

Multi-tasking > *

 

my school had sometype of minor contest for who could do the most pushups without stopping. Some guys were around 150...which i find insane....

 

Another good one is to do one pushup then immediately one military/shoulder press (either with or without a weight). Then two and two, three and three, etc. until you can't go any higher. It's easy at first, but you'd be amazed at how fast you burn out and how hard those shoulder presses get even if you aren't using a weight.

 

for those of you that do push ups... and want to change it up a little, try this...

...start off with 30,
rest 10 seconds (strictly 10 seconds ONLY)
then do 25 more, 10 seconds rest,
then 20, 10 seconds rest and so on and so one... by the time you get down to 5 your chest should be feeling REALL pumped! If starting at 30 is too easy, then start at 35... (or even more!)

it's also great to do at the end of you chest workout!

(make sure that you remain strict with the 10 seconds rests)

 

Maybe I just do everything else wrong, but I get the best chest pump from pushups out of all the other chest workouts.

 

go to walmart or a sporting good store and get you some push-up bars. you'll love em.

also doing push-ups with your elbows close to your body...rubbing your lats will work your triceps.

doing a wide push up...like you were bench pressing will build your chest.

if i could only do one thing it would be push-ups. they make you strong as shit!