Push Ups

Questions or concerns about specific exercises? Post them here!

Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose

firemanb72
STARTING OUT
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:54 pm
Location: Mebane, NC

Push Ups

Post by firemanb72 »

"Quality is better than quantity" What is a good number of push ups before adding any kind of weight? Because of space in home I cannot have any kind of home gym and because of scheduling I can only use gym membership twice a week. I try to do cardio and "specialized" weight training while there. I was thinking I could do chest stuff at home using a chin up or push up bar in a door way. In high school (17 years ago) we use to strap a 20 pound weight plate to our chests and do upside-down sit ups on a chin up bar. I was thinking of doing the same for push ups. Thanks for any and all advice.
User avatar
Boss Man
SITE ADMIN
Posts: 15458
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:27 pm

Post by Boss Man »

Push-ups will work Chest, but as a mass builder don't expect much.
swanso5
VETERAN
Posts: 10658
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:25 pm
Location: melbourne, australia

Post by swanso5 »

push ups are fav chest builder as long as you can overload them...i do gymnastic ring push ups with up to 50kgs strapped to me at times depending on goal...if you can load them then do so if not maybe try towell sliding push ups, diamond push ups, tiger bend push ups, plyo metric push ups or handstand push ups
Hero of Games
STARTING OUT
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:02 pm

Post by Hero of Games »

I think push ups are best for warm ups. Since I've been working out, I've never really found push ups helping fitness level. If you want to work the chest area, presses are better.
swanso5
VETERAN
Posts: 10658
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:25 pm
Location: melbourne, australia

Post by swanso5 »

here's where push ups are often better than bench presses

push ups performed perfectly (which most can't do) have you lift about 60% of your bodweight

i am 73kg and bench about 80 - 90kgs for reps but i can do push ups with 30kgs strapped to me for reps...these are also done with feet on a bench so it's probably 65 - 70% of bodyweight plus the extra wt

bench wt lifted: 85kgs
push up wt lifted:81kgs

as you can see push ups are at least on par with bench presses

and for those weaklings who can't do push ups, doing push ups with your bodyweight woill more than likely equate to more wt being lifted than 30kg bench presses

and how do you get big or lose wt??? lift as heavy wt as you can
jd12
ESTABLISHED MEMBER
Posts: 131
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:36 pm

Post by jd12 »

I had great results from doing pushups, i can now do 15 pushups with nsoe touching teh ground each time, i could have progressed and probably done 30-40 by now, but i had to stop doing them because chest was getting too big, but maybe it's just me because i found that chest grows way faster than other muscles so you might have different results...
swanso5
VETERAN
Posts: 10658
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:25 pm
Location: melbourne, australia

Post by swanso5 »

what a problem to have
jd12
ESTABLISHED MEMBER
Posts: 131
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:36 pm

Post by jd12 »

yep it's a nice problem to have, i just wish i had teh same problem with the rest of muscles....
(Rage)
HIGH FLYER
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:39 pm
Location: UAE

Post by (Rage) »

Do girls push up have the same outcome? I never really done pushups, like really do them, but do they work for arms and sholders, as in, help you gain muscle?

Are they enough for building muscles for beginners? I think im still a beginner, and have basic muscles, strong to a point, but have a lil flab covering them, not much though.

As in for guys push ups, b4 i couldnt even get myself down without falling, I can do 4 now, but i can NEVER go wayyyy down... wrist started hurting me yesterday when I was doing pushups, any idea why?! Maybe wrong postion?

Swanso, i looked up all the pushups u told me about, and more...I tried some of them, pretty good, but I'm not a push-up person, so I have to work on those.
jd12
ESTABLISHED MEMBER
Posts: 131
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:36 pm

Post by jd12 »

yah girl pushups help too they just make you lift less weight because when you do a normal pushup you have to lif 70% or so of your body weight (i think that's it sry if im wrong) and when you put your knees on the ground you probably only need to lift 30% or something like that... it's sad to say but before i started working out i couldn't do a normal push up either (but that may have to do with teh fact that i was 12 1/2 years old and 62kg). as for the wrist hurting that happened to me too, i don't know why, but i found that the more i ddid them the less and less it hurt and now i'm able to do 15 full pushups (nose touching the ground every time) and rpobably could ahve done way more by now but as i said before, chest was getting too big...
(Rage)
HIGH FLYER
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:39 pm
Location: UAE

Post by (Rage) »

Aha, i see, the normal wrist pain is no big deal? For the guy's push, i can do about 4, but nose cannot touch the floor. I'll work n the girls push up first, then try to work on the guy's puchups.

What do pushups do for girls tho? How does it work our chest muscle?
I mean, we ain't gonna have big cheats like guys, are we?!!! :P
jd12
ESTABLISHED MEMBER
Posts: 131
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:36 pm

Post by jd12 »

i don't know if the wrist pain is a big deal or not afetr all im not an expert, what i do know, is that as i progressed in working out adn doign pushups it went away...
(Rage)
HIGH FLYER
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:39 pm
Location: UAE

Post by (Rage) »

I hope it will be the same with me too. I never really do pushups, just use weights and such for the parts i want to target.

Edit-

do push ups help you gain muscle in your arms? silly Q, I knoq, but i'm talking muscles mucles,. not just baby muscles. I'm sick of those.

How long should it take for muscles to become obvious?!
nitecrawler
ESTABLISHED MEMBER
Posts: 126
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:40 am
Location: India

Post by nitecrawler »

a nice Pushup video can be found here:
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Cros ... ndards.mov

yes the arms get worked up doing pushups, basically it depends upon your arm position. the closer to the body they are more triceps will be worked.
(Rage)
HIGH FLYER
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:39 pm
Location: UAE

Post by (Rage) »

Thank you so much, that's very helpful. I've been searching for pushup vedios, and found some, but all done by men, I sorta needed to see one done by a woman. It helps better, I guess!
Post Reply