Just wondering how push-up club members are doing?
My push ups exercises have evolved a bit.
I was doing pushups daily or every other day.
Now, after reading up, I skip 2 or 3 days between exercise.
I don't do a huge number on those exercise days. About 40 "girl" push-ups to warm up. (2 x 20)
Then in a mix of sets I now do about 115 total "legal" push ups. I don' t do more even if I feel like it so as to avoid injury as I slowly build muscle over time.
Also, I was trying for most push ups with a time limit of 2:00 or even sometimes more time.. up to about 2:30 by which time I was exhausted anyway.
Was aiming to get to my age, 63, but saw that so far off I abandoned that goal for now.
I also got really tired of pushing so hard and having the last 10 or 15 pushups being totally painful, slow, halting (in the up position), and with legs shaking. I started not looking forward to doing them.
So I switched to a new plan.
Now I do as many as I can do in 1 minute. Sure, the last 15 seconds in still painful but not like the last full minute in the 2:00 or 2:30 format, where you are painfully and slowly grinding out the last 60 seconds.
OK, I'm making progress and now, with proper warm up, I can do 40
fully legal full range push ups in 60 seconds. Only a bit of shaking on the last 2 or 3.
I'm now up to the 99th plus percentile for my age group according to the fairly extensive Cooper Clinic data
See here for chart with push-up data based on lots of people tested. (used by many police departments and other agencies)
See page 7 for male and also some female data
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/post/pdf/PT.pdfRemember, these numbers are for a 60 second test. Most folks could do more if they slowed down and took 2 or more minutes.
The fully legal push up is not like what you see on 98% of youtube videos. Most of those are only partial push ups.
Fully legal means going down to the height of a fist (about 3 inches for most folks), where your upper arm is parallel to the floor and your elbows are at about a 90 degree angle. The fist height is the easy way to measure the height, then place a object or books equal to that height.
On the up portion of the push up you should have your arms fully extended, essentially locked out but not in a exaggerated sense. Also you need to keep your legs and back in a straight line instead of bending in the middle.
Progress can be slow, especially if you are older or heavy.
However with time....months and months, you can slowly see your muscles catching up with your goals.
Remember, you don't have to do them every day. Even skipping two days between exercise is fine.
Just keep doing some. "Girl" push-ups are OK if you can't do full push ups in the beginning.
Even doing a "plank" is good if you can't do a push up. (Like a push up , but without going up and down)
So go to that chart and see where you are on the Cooper Scale.
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/post/pdf/PT.pdfSlowly creep up the percentile scale.
If you've discontinued your push ups, now is a good time to begin again.
In a year you can be doing great, especially if you lose weight during that same time period.
Remember, you don't have to have equipment or a special place. Any time, any room, almost anywhere is OK. Even drop and do 5 or 10 if you think about it. Steady progress. Don't over do such that you injure your shoulders or tendons.