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Exercise question - push ups

Just wondering if i were to do say 500 push ups every day apart from making good explosive energy would i be likely to see much in the form of muscle gains?

Would it be comparable in terms of muscle gain to free weights or can just working on push ups never achieve the same thing as free weights? I'm just interested in getting some real strength instead of the static strength that "gym muscles" provide as a lot of is quite useless in real world. I was just thinking of break dancers and free-runners.

Thanks for any help.

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

im quite interested in doing the same, however i dont think 500 push ups a day would do much except tire u (i may be completely wrong as i never work out am just giving my opinion) i personally who am trying to improve both my free running and break dancing lol, am doing as many push ups as i can in the morning, then doing 3 sets of that number in the morning and evening. i then leave one day 2 recover and try and do the same thing the next day.

this may be completely wrong so i apologise if it is

also i find actually taking part in free running and break dancing and practicing certain moves every day is worthwhile

Reply 2

Solid_L

11

I'd recommend doing weights, but learning about how and why things work before hand. After all, if push ups where as effective/easy as doing (free) weights.. all the gyms would be empty of body builders!

I imagine doing the push ups every day would help you gain muscle, but you are concentrating on certain muscle groups (mainly pectorals and triceps I believe) and so only working on them will mean you become misbalanced in muscle.

I recommend going onto the "bodybuilding society" thread and joining a gym if you want to increase muscle. There are also some good websites out there, such as:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/
http://www.ironmagazine.com/
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/index.php
http://www.animalpak.com/

Alot of pages on these sites are aimed at the gym addicts, but don't be overwhelmed, read on the "beginning body building" parts and follow tips :smile:

These guys know what they're talking about (for the most part, question their scientific knowledge at times :smile:

)

Reply 3

Note

11

The best type of useful muscle building are the excersizes that use your body as the resistance or weight. It depends how you structure your sets and how you vary in your press up method - for example using a yoga ball to put your feet on while doing it makes your core muscles stronger as you have to stabalise yourself as well as do the press ups and so is much more useful etc.

Having said that, doing 500 a day will definately show you some returns, although be careful not to damage yourself too much and to leave a day or two for recovery.

Reply 4

Wonderboy Blue

1

I used to do 100 a night when I was younger. I got quite muscular I think. at least I was beating the people who did weights and stuff in arm wrestles..

I did that in 5 sets of 20 so wasn't all that hard or anything. But I was cycling a lot too at the same time. Sometimes I'd mix it up with 20 pressups then 20 sit ups etc.

I've got some weights from Argos, 14.99 they're not bad. You just flex with them in all diff directions often and not bad results. The problem is my flabby stomach lol it sickens me. It's only when I sit down...but still.

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

o yea a friend of mine studies yoga, and doing some of the exercises will really help you with ur freezes especially the turtle freeze

Reply 6

G4ry

OP

1

I might give it a go seeing as i'm away from uni at the moment and not a member of the gym. I'd love to just be able to do hand stand push ups and stuff that requires real strength instead of bench-pressing 100kg which doesn't mean much apart from make you look good in a gym.

I'm not going to be able to do 500 in one go, but if i did sets of 30 or so over the duration of a few hours and built up the amount in a set would this still have much effect?

Reply 7

Ryan

10

500 a night...blatant over training TBH

Reply 8

erk

14

G4ry

Just wondering if i were to do say 500 push ups every day apart from making good explosive energy would i be likely to see much in the form of muscle gains?

Would it be comparable in terms of muscle gain to free weights or can just working on push ups never achieve the same thing as free weights? I'm just interested in getting some real strength instead of the static strength that "gym muscles" provide as a lot of is quite useless in real world. I was just thinking of break dancers and free-runners.

Thanks for any help.

you will not gain doing just pressups.

go to a local park where you have some sort of climbing frame and parallel bars.

climbing frame provides a tool for chin/pullups. and even tricep exercises if you're strong enough.

parallel bars provide a tool for chest and tri dips. add a back pack full of weight (bricks etc. (when you've had enough of just bodyweight)) and yes, you'll get stronger.

Reply 9

Anonymous #1

cheers erk i think ill give that a try aswell

Reply 10

G4ry

OP

1

erk

go to a local park where you have some sort of climbing frame and parallel bars.

climbing frame provides a tool for chin/pullups. and even tricep exercises if you're strong enough.

parallel bars provide a tool for chest and tri dips. add a back pack full of weight (bricks etc. (when you've had enough of just bodyweight)) and yes, you'll get stronger.

You should see my local park, there's nothing much like that - it's all been destroyed :p:

Guess i could do pull ups off a bar about 20 foot in the air; it's not going to be fun falling down though. I do work on pullups too. But if i wanted to work on a handstand push up for example is there anything i could do to help?

Reply 11

Tw!stEd

2

Press up will help you gain endurance, and add a little strenght n muscle mass...

Reply 12

friendsfreak88

Ryan

500 a night...blatant over training TBH

Yeah I agree and think that you should not work the same muscle groups on consecutive days eg do upper body training one day, lower the next. That way the parts of your body that are not being worked can rest themselves but you still get to work out regularly. Like others have said though, push ups alone are unlikely to get you the results that you want.

Reply 13

Cirsium

19

Do you do pushups at the moment? Or any kind of weight training? If not then there is absolutely no way you'll be able to do 500 straight away even if you break that down into 10 x 50.

Reply 14

Orizon

G4ry

Guess i could do pull ups off a bar about 20 foot in the air; it's not going to be fun falling down though. I do work on pullups too. But if i wanted to work on a handstand push up for example is there anything i could do to help?

Well, I guess if you do them 20 foot up you have more of an incentive not to let go :biggrin:

As for handstand push ups, start off doing them against a wall, and get the hang of doing normal push ups with your feet resting on a chair (or somewhere high) first, then with gradually increasing weights on your back.

Reply 15

supertramp

9

I'd say 500 is a bit much, but you will definitely get bigger muscles. I used to do about 45 every morning and night and was really proud of my muscles, which got lots stronger. Then I kept going out on the piss and missing days and couldn't be arsed anymore. Oh well.

Reply 16

2late

13

Do weights. There is no point in doing 500 push ups a day because that will only make your muscle feel exhausted and because you are planning on doing it every day, the muscle won't have time to repair- when you do exercise your muscle 'tears apart' and for the next 48 hours after your work out it heals back, growing by a tiny, tiny amount (subject to sufficient amino acids and proteins in the body).

Don't overtrain. Best if you do say 8-10 reps with a weight and 3-4 sets, with usually 3 or 4 exercises per body part. After you do so, you should feel as if your muscle is "getting larger" (its a temporary effect just right after you finish the exercise but it shows that you are training well). If you want a proper work out you should work (for a beginner) 3 times a week, monday wednesday friday - do chest/triceps on monday, shoulders/legs on wednesday, and biceps/back on friday. You want to know what sorts of exercises to do? Feel free to PM me.

Personally I can do about 71 push ups in 60 seconds, but the key is to handle a weight that will enable you to do from 8-10 (max) reps.That's when you will see the largest muscle growth. Anything above that will only shape the muscle, but you need muscle first in order to shapen it!

Mind you, you need a really good diet if you want to see results. I think 80% is diet, 20% is exercise. But hell,you will grow without a *proper diet*. Just at a much slower rate :smile:

Reply 17

Chi3f

1

you can't shape a muscle, the shape is dependant on your genetics

Reply 18

2late

13

Ofcourse you can, by changing exercise intensity and the programme which you are following- some want to increase muscle bulk, some want to shape their muscles.

Reply 19

erk

14

2late

Ofcourse you can, by changing exercise intensity and the programme which you are following- some want to increase muscle bulk, some want to shape their muscles.

Come again. You either put muscle on, or lose weight, thus losing bf % and creating the 'tone' many bang on about.

Are you saying i can *change* a muscle? if so, you're off your rocker.

Exercise question - push ups

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