Combining Pushups and Chinups

[slimvictor]

Hi.
I have recently started a new exercise program.
I am doing pushups, chinups, squats, and crunches, trying to get whole body in shape.

main question:
The muscles worked by pushups and pullups (or chinups) overlap, but just a bit (right?).
The only real overlap is in the lats and (less so) shoulders.
lats are already pretty strong. So, can I do pushups when I am recovering from doing pullups the day before, and alternate in this way? Or, is it better to do both on "upper body" day?

A related but more general question, if I don't feel any muscle pain the day after working out a muscle group, can I work that group again the next day?

I am especially hoping for responses based on personal experience or expert knowledge.

Thank you in advance!

Victor

[vamp]

Victor, hello and welcome to the site.

Just because you don't feel sore or fatigued in a muscle group the day after does not mean to work it the next day. Give the muscle group a day rest between workouts for healing and muscle growth. Some people feel the after day soreness and others do not.

Do your whole body routine every other day and try some interval work on the off days and take the 7th day off

pull ups and pushups do use some similar muscle groups but are used in a different fashion for each exercise.... I would do your pull ups first and then your push ups. Crunches are OK but plank and leg raises are probably better. Squats are an amazing exercise and is close to a full body workout... These should be the first in your workout..... (work largest muscles to smallest and most compound to least compound or isolated exercises).

I hope this answers your questions and helps you on your way

[slimvictor]

Thank you for your response, and your welcome, Vamp!
This site looks really great, with lots of solid information, so I hope to become a frequent visitor.

I understand what you said about not working out 2 days in a row, even if muscles don't hurt, and I will make sure to do so.

I am doing everything without weights - even squats, though I do 40-80 reps in a set, which is still really challenging for me.
I will do the squats first, as you suggested.

I have tried plank, but didn't like it too much. It may have a ceiling effect, where it was hard to get a workout after a while. I do leg raises sometimes, and they are great. You sound a bit hesitant about the crunches - would situps be better? I have heard that you can hurt your back, so I wanted to avoid them. Leg raises and "boat" (from yoga) seem to be safest for abs.

Again, thank you for the information!

[Boss Man]

Situps are difficult to do unless you have someone anchoring you down, or you can wedge your toes under some sort of piping, so you are preventing any unneccessary movement in the lower body that could negatively affect the technique.

This is not me dissuading you from doing them by the way, just using a cautionary note

Perhaps you might find side planks a different tack to normal planks. The main thing to remember if you have never done them before, is use the forearm as part of the stabilisation, don't do what many do which is prop your upper body up on the palm of the hand, as that can increase the risk of damage to the wrist area.

You could also incorporate things like v-situps a.k.a bananas, or roman chairs.

[ultimatehlth]

You got some great advice here already. Just wanted to add make sure you vary your workouts often to avoid plateaus. You can still do push-ups just position your hands differently or use a Bosu ball etc. to increase the variety of push-ups. Do similar with pull-ups by changing your grip: both over hand, both under hand, one over one under, use a towel around the bar as a grip, narrow grip, wide grip, you get the idea. And yes, pull-ups and push-ups work muscles that are antagonistic to each other (they work as a system) and therefore are best worked on same day.

Hollywood Personal Trainer Los Angeles

[phiallis]

I am not aware of push ups working your lats actually.
There's a bit of overlap in the shoulders, but since these are not a prime mover, it doesn't really matter at all.
You can easily train both push ups and pull ups in the same session.