[BodiPUA]

Hi guys,

Ok I was having a discussion today with someone and this weird debate arose. (sounds like one of those spam adverts).

Imagine two identical guys. One decides to start doing 50 pushups a day, every day. The other does not.

What actual benefits does the pushup guy get? Strength? Size? Joint conditioning? Calorific loss. Better ageing? Or perhaps negative? Would the 18,250 pushups per year wear out the joints faster? How about body imabalances and injury, would the pushing without the pulling fuck up the shoulder joint and the elbows?

I just thought it was an interesting perspective, and wondered what people's thoughts were.
cheers.
B

[Sonoma]

Discipline built would outweigh any other risks/benefits

[godofwar]

I don't know why you are even asking this. There is something else you are trying to ask - what are the benefits of push-ups maybe?

This is a pointless question. If you are going to do push-ups, then might as well do pullups. And better yet - just learn to workout properly and make it a lifestyle. Lazy mindset.

That said - as a guy, working out is going to increase your testosterone and alter your hormones. That will affect everything, not just your chest.

Use it or lose it. I can't imagine any circumstance where it is better to do nothing with your joints. Spend time with someone who has spent the past month in a hospital bed. Their joints and muscles are strong as hell, huh?

[Hannibal]

If you're not doing jack shit, anything is better than nothing. The 50 pushup a day guy is going to be bigger, leaner, and stronger than the guy who didn't do them, assuming these two guys are identical twins.

It also depends on who is doing them.

A skinny guy who is 5 foot nothing at 130 lbs is not going to get a whole lot out of 50 pushups a day. There's a reason why professional gymnasts tend to be stocky and short. A pushup might be 60% of your bodyweight, at 130 lbs that's what, 80 lbs? Not only that, but a regular pushup gets lighter on the top of the repetition due to leverage so it's not the same as pressing an 80 lb static weight.

A 340 lb fatass might actually get fairly strong in absolute terms doing 50 pushups a day. I knew a guy who did something like that and it did not take him long to get a 225 bench.

50 pushups a day will give you some results the first couple months you do it if 10 reps at a time is challenging for you. If you're at a level where you already perform one long set of 50 pushups with little difficulty, then no, you're not going to get much bigger or stronger doing them if that's your only source of exercise.

As far as fucking up your shoulder on a diet of pushups with no pulls whatsoever, you could ask this guy.

[BodiPUA]

Thanks. Good reply. Did you read Bronson's book? He does loads of isometric pulling work, too.

@Sonoma, yes... never thought of that, but discipline is something that needs to be built up just as fitness does. Interesting concept.

[RichieP]

Pushups with good form are a kind exercise to your joints (unlike bench press!). The shoulder moves very naturally and the elbows are nice and safe.

I also don't think he'd be overtraining at 50/day.

He'd be stronger, better conditioned, better cardio fitness, better bone density, more lean muscle mass. Not VASTLY stronger mind you, or vastly bigger. But a significant difference.

I doubt muscle imbalance would be an issue, although it would be better if he varied it and rotated in chinups and something for legs/hip/back too. I don't think he'd wear out the joints.

I'd like to see him doing the pushups with proper form though (elbows at 45deg to body, not 90deg flared out), and warming up enough (i.e. not Batman style jump-out-of-bed straight into it).

If he's just gonna do one exercise forever, I'd suggest a better one... bodyweight squats. 50-100 of them per day would be a great "minimum effective dose" for overall functional fitness, mobility, conditioning, muscle mass, etc. It's the sort of habit that would have a lifelong payoff, keeping you mobile and fit well into old age. Sad how many people can barely get up out of a chair at age 70+.

[RichieP]

double post!

[Hannibal]

(03-20-2015 07:21 AM)BodiPUA Wrote:  

Thanks. Good reply. Did you read Bronson's book? He does loads of isometric pulling work, too.

@Sonoma, yes... never thought of that, but discipline is something that needs to be built up just as fitness does. Interesting concept.

Yeah I read his book a while back. The way his cell is set up he has no way to do isotonic pulling work like chins or rows.

Unsurprisingly, his workouts look nothing like Convict Conditioning's philosophy of doing each exercise once a week for two sets. No, it's a metric fuck ton of daily pushups, bodyweight squats, burpees, headstand pushups, sprints when he can get outside, and isometrics. I know there's some other stuff but it's been at least a year since I read it.

[Sourcecode]

For one.. 50 push ups would not be enough.
not for one day.
now if you were planning to try to knock out 50x3 times a day.
you would get more out of it.
doing wha 25 push ups twice a day?

I know children that do more than that.

[The Reactionary Tree]

Yea, eventually you will outgrow 50 pushups a day. It is a good place to start though. You will also build a solid chest doing pushups. Eventually though you will be doing hundreds a day.

[Ingocnito]

One of the most chiseled guys I went to H.S. with used to live by this routine. He was a beast. Said he did 50 push ups and 100 sit ups when he woke up, and same before he went to bed every day. He was a forward on our basketball team.. played other sports too.

When I'd bump into him posting up on defense, it was like hitting a brick wall.

[Ibagemyoutagem]

I remember back in middle school when I was challenged by high school kids in a push-up contest. I lost , however I thought "ima come back and beat these kids." My goal was 100 push- ups straight . Which i accomplished by 8th grade and those kids started to get scared to challenge me fearing that they would embarrass themselves. Once I got to high school I was challenged to be the best when there was like a "fitness test" and max out on push-ups . Me and my friend were about even and we both did close amount of push-ups . I did 248 and he did 255 something like that. Everyone was impressed. I always had a big chest and back and I gotta thank those high school kids teasing me and challenging me since im naturally competitive .

[Sourcecode]

I would also like to throw in, that you should have a time limit on your push ups.
2 minute drill.
Do as many as you can without stopping and keeping proper form.

Most people think they are doing push ups correctly.. but if someone actually watch you, or if you recorded yourself.... are you actually doing a proper push up? or are you just wiggling your body up and down.

[civpro]

By doing 50 pushups per day you would build the amount of muscle in your chest, arms, and shoulders needed to do 50 pushups per day. Yeah.

[Don Felice]

Doing push ups per day is a great way to easily build muscle without building too much of a sweat. Its also a great way to build muscle/core strength on days that you miss the gym. I suggest doing it every other day, but that's just me. Here has been my experience:

I do 300-500 push ups every other day. Now you may say DF you are a crazy bastard no one does that. But when you break it down its really not that difficult. I'll do 50 when I wake up. 50 after my shower. 50 intermittently throughout the day at the office (I work at a very liberal forward thinking work space like Google or Linkedin) and then another 50 before dinner. Before you know it, in about 5-10 minute I have done 500 push ups. I also vary the types (V, Normal, Wide, Shoulder, slow etc.). I have done this over the past year and now have a very defined strong chest without ever having to bench.

So what am I saying here - YES do Push up either daily or every other day. Very easy, quick way to build muscle especially during those days you miss the gym.

[THE STRONGEST]

Recently had a conversation with an ex-teammate of mine. Neither of us get after it in the gym they we we used to and that specific topic came up. Anyway he said the only thing he does as far as working out these days is X pushups every single morning when he wakes up and X pushups every night before he goes to sleep. Says he doesn't even count, he just goes until he feels any kind of burn at all and stops. I don't know why but it's kind of stuck with me for the past couple of days. I assume that using this method one would gradually do more pushups overtime. Of course without counting there's no real way to know.

[Ensam]

Yeah, dudes I know who get results from push ups alone are always doing 200+/day.

If you want to get fit with bodyweight exercises you need to follow the Muhammad Ali approach and not start counting until it starts hurting.

[Sp5]

I'm 58. A couple of years ago I was doing 200+ pushups and squats a day.

On the weekend, I'd rest for a day and then the next day I'd set aside an hour to see how many pushups I could do. I was up past 300 in an hour.

This thread has motivated me to pick up that routine again, I am working my way back up to 200+ a day.

[INegUThenLol]

(03-25-2015 04:27 PM)Ibagemyoutagem Wrote:  

I remember back in middle school when I was challenged by high school kids in a push-up contest. I lost , however I thought "ima come back and beat these kids." My goal was 100 push- ups straight . Which i accomplished by 8th grade and those kids started to get scared to challenge me fearing that they would embarrass themselves. Once I got to high school I was challenged to be the best when there was like a "fitness test" and max out on push-ups . Me and my friend were about even and we both did close amount of push-ups . I did 248 and he did 255 something like that. Everyone was impressed. I always had a big chest and back and I gotta thank those high school kids teasing me and challenging me since im naturally competitive .

A perfect example that competition and bullying works wonders

[zatara]

50 pushups per day (or even twice a week) would be great....for about 6 weeks, until your body gets used to it. To keep progressing you need to do a proper workout with free weights, where you can up the weight continuously.

30min a day 3 times a week will have you in better shape than 90% of the population.

[The Reactionary Tree]

(04-01-2015 08:43 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

I'm 58. A couple of years ago I was doing 200+ pushups and squats a day.

On the weekend, I'd rest for a day and then the next day I'd set aside an hour to see how many pushups I could do. I was up past 300 in an hour.

This thread has motivated me to pick up that routine again, I am working my way back up to 200+ a day.

Do you bench or squat? If so, did you noticed an improvement in your numbers when you were doing pushups and body squats daily?