How to increase max Push ups

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Dbuikema

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Hey everyone, just a quick question about how to best increase my max push ups. For reference i did 58 push ups in one minute today. I do roughly 200 push ups 5-6 days a week. I've been doing them for about 4 months. I usually do 10 sets of 20 push ups, and sometimes i'll do 2 sets of 40, 2 sets of 30, 2 sets of 20, and 2 sets of 10. Not sure if this info is helpful but, my max pull ups is 16, max dips about 30. I'm 6'5 inches tall, and i weigh 195.

Mainly i was just wondering if i should be doing them everyday or every other day. I don't max often and i heard that if i wasn't sore i could do them everyday.

I'm preparing for the Airforce PAST because i want to join the special forces. they recommend that you be able to do 100 on the test. I have about 5 months to get as close as i can.

Thanks for your input.

-Daniel
 
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"max pushups" basically means the # of pushups you can do until failure. Therein you want to train muscular endurance. Just do lots of reps (from what you've been doing, apparently). But if you're not tired, keep going until you're tired. You'll work up eventually.
 
This is what I would do.... when I tried to do a lot of pushups for a PT test I did both a lot of bench training with the same handwidth as my push ups... I then did 99 in one minute.. all done correctly as two people made sure I did not do 'dipping' push ups, where you bend at the waist... so here is a little of what I did:

I would work on doing 100 reps...(for you by applying what I was doing) every workout. I would do sets of 15, either bench or pushups... with about 30 sec rest. Every week decrease the rest, OR, increase the number. For one week, do pushups, the other do bench. What comes into play here is the triceps.. mine just failed at 99, plain and simple. You will need do develop a tolerance for the pain in your tri's...so do a ton of rope pull downs for your tri's, about three days a week. Probably close to 100 reps again, AFTER
 
Sorry, I guess I hit enter.. but do the tri's AFTER the benching... they need to be isolated for this endurance test.

Good Luck!
 
A few things, try bench press if you have access to gym.

If not, try to put your leg on the bed or chair and do the declined angle pushups. Also try to change your hand position (shoulder lenght, wide, and forming a diamond) to attack the different part of the chest. Try doing dips with 2 chairs and if you are crazy and want to have fun, do a hand stand against the wall and do upside down pushups (this does mostly shoulders).
 
tic said:
A few things, try bench press if you have access to gym.

If not, try to put your leg on the bed or chair and do the declined angle pushups. Also try to change your hand position (shoulder lenght, wide, and forming a diamond) to attack the different part of the chest. Try doing dips with 2 chairs and if you are crazy and want to have fun, do a hand stand against the wall and do upside down pushups (this does mostly shoulders).
Click to expand...


I agree, and I said this about two months ago.
 
You can't now? Oh so for the test you need to be able to 100 in one minute? If not, I reckon you could do 100 push-ups now, try it out.
 
Ya, i've been doing different types of push ups (wide/diamond). I've also been raising my feet up to about a yard. Been doing some band resistance as well.

Is there a concrete answer on whether or not i should be doing these push ups everyday? I'll start to do tricep press downs tomorrow following my push ups.
 
I would rest between working out to let the muslce develope and re-engergize. At most, go every other day. Have someone light sit on your back while you are doing the pushups but go every other day. when you do workout, go at it hard and intense. You should be sore the next couple of days. Honestly, sometimes after my chest routine, i cannot even do ONE push, that is how hard I work it. I would not consider doing the same muscle group for at least 2 days of rest ( but then i am older and train with weights; old farts like me take more time to recover).
 
If you do them everyday, how are you going to give your muscles time to repair after a workout? When you rest you get bigger, otherwise you are tearing the same muscle tissue over and over again.

Edit, Agree 120%^
 
Okay, that gives me a lot of help. Is it all right to my push ups and pull ups in the same workout? Or should i do something like, push ups mon/wed/fri and pull ups tues/thurs/sat.
 
Either or bud. You can do both in one day or go at it at alternating days ( like how you wrote). But make sure to let the muscle rest. If I had to choose, go how you have it written up there, alternating days.
 
Great, thanks a lot for the advice tic and backspace. Been worrying for awhile that i was just killing myself without getting stronger.
 
Dbuikema said:
Okay, that gives me a lot of help. Is it all right to my push ups and pull ups in the same workout? Or should i do something like, push ups mon/wed/fri and pull ups tues/thurs/sat.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on your testing structure. You play like you practice.... therefore, whatever your test day looks like, you need to replicate that as best you can. Same intensity, same order. I say do both in the same day... I train my bench and my pullups in the same day now... only two times per week. I am definitely getting stronger in both, no question, using this frequency.

I would only train the pushups and the pullups about two days a week... by that I mean really 'train' them.. the sets and the quantity etc.... maybe on a third day, random.... when you feel like it.. just test yourself... an all out pushup test, and an all out pull up test... by doing this you see where you fail.. which means where you are weak.. and then you can work on that specific area for the next sessions a little more.
 
Buy a weighted vest and wear it when you do your current work-out. You can try the wide, narrow, off center and off height (put one hand on a medicine ball the other on the ground).

MG
 
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