Looking for some push-up tips

[nicker57]

It's been quite a few years since I've worked out, and within 3 months I've become very unsatisfied with my body. Spent the last 2 months cutting hard on my weight, and now I'm wanting to start getting back into physical shape. I want to start bumping my push-up count up. I can only do about 5 now and that makes me very unhappy.

Im looking for some tips to help me increase that. Not only techniques, but what muscles should i be working on in the resistance area of the gym?

 

[joe d]

when you say back into shape. what exactly are we talking about? how old are you? male or female? height, weight bf%?

 

[nicker57]

when you say back into shape. what exactly are we talking about? how old are you? male or female? height, weight bf%?

I'm 19, male, 6'0. 237, and 22% body fat-thats by a military measurement tho.

 

[joe d]

and what exactly are you looking to acheive in the long run?

 

[nicker57]

and what exactly are you looking to acheive in the long run?

I just want to be able to get back to doing a 2 mile run, 80 pushups, and 100+ situps. I dont have terribly high goals. Just want to be able to be back in decent shape. I figured the quickest way (besides just doing them) would be to hit up the resistance section of the gym and build the muscles need for those. Running and situps are obvious, but im not sure what i need to be focusing on for push-ups.

 

[joe d]

here is what i would do for the next month.

try this 3 days per weak followed by 20 minutes of cardio after each sesson
How to gain muscle mass over the summer with 20 rep squats

3 of the off days jog a mile

eat lots of veggies, an apple and a bananna every day, and stay away from processed foods and sugary stuff.

after a month see how many pushups you can do and how far you can run. if you are impressed do this routine for another month and repeat.

 

[nicker57]

here is what i would do for the next month.

try this 3 days per weak followed by 20 minutes of cardio after each sesson
How to gain muscle mass over the summer with 20 rep squats

3 of the off days jog a mile

eat lots of veggies, an apple and a bananna every day, and stay away from processed foods and sugary stuff.

after a month see how many pushups you can do and how far you can run. if you are impressed do this routine for another month and repeat.

Will probably start this next week. Want to give my body some rest time. My low calorie diet has been killing me with my gym time. will probably step it up once my liposhred gets in.

 

[travanx]

If he is liking this routine, is there anything he can add to up this routine?

 

[joe d]

i wouldnt. you could add a single set of ohp if you wanted.

 

[gstacker]

If your goals to do 80 push ups and a hundred sit ups then IMO is to jus do them... Maybe add in some calastetics, dips pull ups that kind of stuff... Don't have to be a huge body builder to meet those goals.

 

[nicker57]

If your goals to do 80 push ups and a hundred sit ups then IMO is to jus do them... Maybe add in some calastetics, dips pull ups that kind of stuff... Don't have to be a huge body builder to meet those goals.

LOL. God to only be able to do a pull up again. I took quite a few lazy years, my muscles got so unused that they melted away. I went from 240lbs and 15lbs of bodyfat to 190lbs of muscle and 50lbs of bodyfat. Its harder to build the muscles to do them when its hard to knock just a few out to start with. I figured the best approach was using some weight lifting to build the muscles back into shape to be used. I do push-ups every hour on the hour that im awake to help build them, but as far as situps i can do like 10 and my back muscles are wanting to take me out for the day, so ive been doing lots of crunches. i do 50 crunches on the hour when i do my push-ups.

 

[spk55]

nicker57
a few ways to improve on your pushups.
GTG.. or grease the groove. during the whole day, do 70-80% of your max pushups. if your max is 5, do 3 every 1.5 hours. do this type of training 4 days a week.
do a set of 3 before work. maybe a set of 3at 10am, a set of 3 at lunch, another set of 3 at 3pm another set of 3 before dinner.

another way of pushup training, when you get tired of GTG training, train the pyramid way..
do 1 pushup, get up shake your arms out, rest a few seconds, then get down and do 2, rest a bit , then do 3, rest a bit and do 4, then back down the ladder... thats 20 you just did..
do this training 3 days a week.

abs, same way.
you'll be fine.

as fas running, do two things first. go to a good running store. not athletes foot or foot locker, but a good running store. take your old shoes in so the sales rep can see how you're wearing them.. pronating, supenating... he'll pick the proper shoe for you. an expensive shoe, or an expensive knee operation.. you get to pick..
RUN ON THE GRASS OR SOFT TRAILS ..GRAVEL ROADS, DIRT TRAILS, ETC..
BLACKTOP IS BAD, BUT BETTER THAN CONCRETE..TRY TO STAY OFF THESE TWO.
go at it slowly..
look at runnersworld.com for a beginners program

good luck

 

[gstacker]

Use the pullup/dip asisist machine at the gym and take off weight as you progress... It comes back quick if your dedicated.

 

[Dutchman_82]

When I was in the Army I used the pyramid routine (mentioned above) to increase the amount of push-ups I could do during a PT test. I would go to 10, then work my way down. Which I believe comes out to 110 push-ups. I couldn't finish it when I started out.... I think I got through 80 push-ups or so. I was doing maybe 65 in two minutes at the time during my PT test. I eventually got to where I was doing the Pyramid routine up to 12 while propping my feet up on my bunk. After that I was doing 115 in two minutes during my test.
Just remember that if your goal is to increase the amount of push-ups you can do, then that's an endurance work-out! Weight training might assist you in training the muscles needed... but unless you're lifting with endurance (high reps) in mind it won't do much good. I've seen pretty big guys that can't do 50 push-ups. I'm pretty lanky, I can do well over a hundred without stopping. something I currently do when I don't have access to a gym is I wrap a "JumpStretch" band across my back and hold it to the floor with my hands while doing push-ups. The bands are awesome, and you can use them later in weight training routines also.
As far as running, Take short slow jogs. Don't worry about distance. Once you feel like you won't blow your knees/lungs out, try an interval method: jog two minutes, sprint 30 seconds for your run. As your endurance improves you can increase the amount of time for your total run. You can also decrease your jogging time, and increase your sprinting time. For example, if you're running on a track, jog a lap, sprint a lap. This method of running kept my two mile times under 13 minutes my entire time in the Army. It's not track star speed by any means, but it's fast in the Army! good luck dude.

 

[nicker57]

When I was in the Army I used the pyramid routine (mentioned above) to increase the amount of push-ups I could do during a PT test. I would go to 10, then work my way down. Which I believe comes out to 110 push-ups. I couldn't finish it when I started out.... I think I got through 80 push-ups or so. I was doing maybe 65 in two minutes at the time during my PT test. I eventually got to where I was doing the Pyramid routine up to 12 while propping my feet up on my bunk. After that I was doing 115 in two minutes during my test.
Just remember that if your goal is to increase the amount of push-ups you can do, then that's an endurance work-out! Weight training might assist you in training the muscles needed... but unless you're lifting with endurance (high reps) in mind it won't do much good. I've seen pretty big guys that can't do 50 push-ups. I'm pretty lanky, I can do well over a hundred without stopping. something I currently do when I don't have access to a gym is I wrap a "JumpStretch" band across my back and hold it to the floor with my hands while doing push-ups. The bands are awesome, and you can use them later in weight training routines also.
As far as running, Take short slow jogs. Don't worry about distance. Once you feel like you won't blow your knees/lungs out, try an interval method: jog two minutes, sprint 30 seconds for your run. As your endurance improves you can increase the amount of time for your total run. You can also decrease your jogging time, and increase your sprinting time. For example, if you're running on a track, jog a lap, sprint a lap. This method of running kept my two mile times under 13 minutes my entire time in the Army. It's not track star speed by any means, but it's fast in the Army! good luck dude.

Thanks man. I appreciate all the help ya'll have given me.