Push-up problems.

M

magick

0
First, a bit of background, and apologies for a long-winded post,

I've been following this website () to build up my push-ups for the past several months. I was making great gains initially, fully able to do 40+ push-ups, until I realized that my form sucked and thus wasn't carrying all of the weight. When I tried doing proper form, I couldn't do anymore than 10. So I adjusted accordingly and after a month or so of effort I got to a point where I can do 24 or so good form push-ups.

And then progress just stopped. I wasn't making any noticeable progress, with the 16/18/13/13 set of week 4 quite difficult and week 5 effectively impossible.

So I decided instead to rest on push-ups for one week and go back to the start of week four , and instead do push-ups everyday. To clarify, what I did was do the 12/14/11/10 routine everyday for a week, then did the 14/16/12/12 routine for another week, and then the 16/18/13/13 routine for another week. This worked wonders, and I was easily doing the 16/18/13/13 routine with a minute break between each set.

Feeling confident, I went to do the 17/19/15/15 routine in week 5, with a minute and a half break in between. The first week was difficult, but that was expected. What I didn't expect was the fact that I'm actually struggling more when I repeated it this week.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to go from here. I think it's over-training, though I haven't experienced any of the symptoms except not looking forward to doing push-ups, and plan to take a week off and see what happens from there.

What I really wanted to ask here though is whether this routine I'm following works or is it a bad way to do it? I feel that I'm making progress, but only in terms of making the exercises easier. I did not make any notable gains in my max push-up, though the first 15 or so are a breeze now. Would doing weighted push-ups or bench-pressing be a better idea if I wanted to improve my max?
 
Push ups use many different muscle groups: pecs, triceps, shoulders, back, biceps and your entire core. If you want to improve how many push-ups you can do with proper form you could definitely incorporate some other exercises, which strengthen the same muscle groups. So doing chest press and flies, shoulder press and raises, biceps curls, triceps extensions and even planks to strengthen your core will all benefit you.
There are also many different types of push ups, which will work slightly different muscle groups more intensely. You can do wide grip/crucifix push ups, close grip/triceps push ups, one handed push ups, incline and decline push ups. You can also do lop-sided push ups where you place one hand on a slightly higher platform and the other on the floor and then alternate.
The other thing to consider is whether your nutrition is promoting muscle growth. Are you eating enough protein and carbohydrate? Are you eating enough calories?
 
magick said:
Would doing weighted push-ups or bench-pressing be a better idea if I wanted to improve my max?
Click to expand...
Yes. But stop doing upper pressing movements every day and start doing a more well rounded routine incorporating squats, deads, pulls and presses. Getting the whole body involved will help your body to grow in balance and speed up progress
 
I agree. It is great to have a goal, such as increasing your Push-ups, but don't do so without balancing everything out. I also strongly agree with strengthening your core, but I would encourage more dynamic movements, using a Physioball (or Swiss ball) or a Medicine Ball.

And if you want to change up your Push-ups, I can give you a list or a link to a page with video demonstrations of over 20 types of Push-ups. There are some that are just plain crazy and fun to do to keep you motivated, and they change things up just slightly enough.

Pavel Tsatsouline, author of the Naked Warrior and Power to the People talked about "greasing the groove," which is where you practice a movement (such as a Push-up) a couple times a day, each day to create the muscular/neural connections. But what you may want to avoid is making a complete workout program around one movement. If you are not into Olympic Lifts such as Deadlifts, Presses, Squats, there is a whole world out there of fun stuff to do at home. Outside of tons of bodyweight movements, you can make a homemade Medicine Ball, Macebell, Clubbell, or Slosh Tube for real cheap.

Fitness can be a mind game, so many of us need variety. In addition to that, you need a balanced program (total body all the time). I would suggest do a few Push-ups for a warm-up and make sure you have plenty in your workouts throughout the week. You know...5 here, 10 there, depending on what type of Push-up.
 
Yes, any movement (even bodyweight) needs to be done in proper form. You can injure your lower back, knees, ankles, and even shoulders without using any weights.
 
I agree with what others have said. It's fantastic that you have made such great improvements in your pushups, but to get true results and meet your goals you will need to incorporate a routine that works your entire body. I do a ton of different pushup variations. Burpees are a great one to work your entire body.

Doing only one type of exercise will cause biomechanical imbalances in your body that can lead to long term problems. I am guessing that arm strength isn't the issue, it's probably core, back and overworking of a specific muscle group.

Good luck with your goals!
 
yep i agree too - squats and deads especially for the core
 
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