# having trouble adding reps



## DiamondDarryl (15 Mar 2006)

sorry if this has been covered but im really having trouble increasing my pushup reps.

at the start when i was only doing 12, i quickly progressed every day. now im at 23 and i seem to have hit a wall of sorts. i have been training just as hard if not harder yet im not making much progress. i know when your weight lifting you should be resting the certain body muscles for a while after each workout. 

I am currently doing 100+ pushups every day. should i be pushing myself harder on some days and then breaking for a few days?

As for diet, i have been drinking lots of milk obviosly and trying to take in atleast 3 eggs a day. Any tips on some meals would be great. I am the tall and thin if that helps. 6'3 and 185lbs. 

thanks in advance :cheers:


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## darmil (15 Mar 2006)

If you go push-ups everyday and don't rest thats the problem.Push-ups work the Pectoralis major,Deltoideus anterior part and Triceps brachii.They are the push muscles, just like in weight training you have to rest the body parts you exercise. Give atleast a days rest, you will see progress.A good book is Strength Training Anatomy (its a illistrated guide to muscles at work) and heres a good site on strength training.http://www.labrada.com/


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## DiamondDarryl (15 Mar 2006)

alright ill make sure to take some break days. and i checked that website but they seem to be pushing alot of suppliments. any ideas for meals that are relitivly cheap, and high in protein? i would prefer stuff thats basic or can be cooked in under 30 mins.


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## Jonathan (15 Mar 2006)

I dint like supplements either, I do have a protein drink in my house but I dint like to drink it, I eat a lot and I dint think I need more stuff, does anyone no if I am going to see less gains, when I don't drink it I usually see more off an improvement, It is possible to improve without extra protein right? I weight 140, how much protein should I have?


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## foerestedwarrior (15 Mar 2006)

Protein is used to assist in muscle recovery. 

Common protein drinks are also high in sugar(ie, due to the fruit you put in it, well this is how I make them), so unless you are planning on doing something like running, lifting, cycling, ect. within a few hours of drinking this. Dont use it. That is only if you make like a fruit flavored milkshake with protein additives. 

High protein foods. Hint, google is your friend.
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=high+protein+foods&spell=1


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## darmil (15 Mar 2006)

Yes that site has supplements just sign up and find the lean body challenge it has no supplements.Just everyday meals.You can get protein from chicken breasts,turkey breasts.The amount of protein intake is based on your body weight 1g of protein for 1 pound of body weight 140BLS man =140 grams  of protein a day.Protein contains 4 calories per gram.This means a 140 pound man needs to consume 140x4 =560 calories from protein daily,spread over 5 meals.Thats if your serious about packing on the muscle.You have a computer use it!!!!


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## Jonathan (15 Mar 2006)

thanks, but only eat 3 meel a day, I am only 16 and my mom still cooks most of my meels, do I really deen to eat 5 meels a day, I would rather just eat 3


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## DiamondDarryl (15 Mar 2006)

awsome tips guys. putting it into motion right away. thanks again


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## derael (16 Mar 2006)

Yeah, don't work the same muscle groups day after day...for the most part its just counter-productive. Also you just have to make sure you push those extra bit of reps out as best you can. What I would do is do as many as I can then rest 7-10 seconds and then do as many as I can again and repeat. Don't wait too long between sets because you don't want your muscles to recover completely. You want them to recover just enough so they don't hurt and then you can go at it again so 7 secs should be enough. You want to tire your muscles as much as you can in your workout and then rest them afterwards so they can come back stronger. By doing this I was able to increase my rep count on my first set usually by 5 every 4 days(2 workout, 2 rest) I started somewhere around 45 and ended up at 85 and I really never thought I would ever be able to do that many, so don't give up. You'll amaze yourself with what you can do if you keep to a good routine and push yourself towards your goal. Just don't get lazy or go on holidays without keeping to it. I made that mistake and I lost a good 20 pushups off my max. Best of luck!  

Anthony


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## Jonathan (3 Apr 2006)

My muscles dont heal in 7 seconds. I can do like 30 the first set, wait even 7-15 seconds and then I can only do like 10-15


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## derael (4 Apr 2006)

Where in my whole post did I say "heal"?

The purpose of only waiting 7-10 seconds between sets is to tire your muscles out as much as possible. Then rest a day and repeat. Your muscles should come back stronger everytime. For me I was able to add an additional 5 reps on my first set every 4-6 days.(including rest days)


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## DiamondDarryl (4 Apr 2006)

i guess i have not been training hard enough, but i did do that method of the 10 second rest between each set and it did work. I'm up to 25 now so I'm feeling alittle more confident for basic. I used the same tactic with my chinups and pullups and the results have been very satisfying.


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## Jonathan (5 Apr 2006)

OK, I think I am going to try this 7-10 second rest periods, I just realised that when I started working out like 4 months ago I could do 24, now I can do 17, not much progress. I would like you to tell me how many sets doing the 7-10 second rests, do I keep on going till I cant do 1 or is that going to result in overtraining? Another question, do you only do this once a workout, or do you do it, and then do something else then do it again?  Thanks for the info!


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## Jonathan (5 Apr 2006)

just tried it, waited 10 seconds in between each set, I got
27,11,8,5,5,4,4,4,3,4,5,4,3,1

I am not used to rested so little in between sets, I usuall rest about 90 seconds
I actually got a little sore though , haven't got sore in a long time
Is what I did good, should i have kept on going or should I have just stopped there
I added it up, it equals 88, I would like to do more than that, I am just going to repeat the process again and ma by once more throughout the night


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## spoon man (5 Apr 2006)

I would suggest adding some resistance to some of your sets. If you have one of those yoga balls, you can prop your feet up on it so that you are inclined while doing your pushups. This will also work some core musucles becasue you have to stabilize the ball. If you don't have one of those, improvise, use a foot stool, the edge of your bed, whatever, doing some of your sets like this well help your regular pushups improve quicker.

Use this thread from now on: http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/20897.30.html


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## Jonathan (5 Apr 2006)

thanks


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## derael (6 Apr 2006)

Sorry for the delay in reply.

Usually I'd only do 2 or 3 sets, although I was putting down a lot more reps(ex: 70,40,20),so do about 3 or 4 sets in your case...5 max. You *do not* want to over do it. Like above mentioned you can also add resistance etc. which may help. In the end only persistance will get the job done...do not be discouraged if you don't get immediate results, some people have "walls" at certain levels. You just got to keep at it and break through them. BTW this is not a professional opinion so do not take it as such, its just what has worked for me. You may need to modify what I do to meet your own personal needs etc.


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## Jonathan (6 Apr 2006)

ok ,thanks, If I only do 3-5 sets of those I will not do many pushups, so I think I will do that once every workout(3 times a week) and then do pushups between other things, like in breaks between sets on other things


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## Jonathan (6 Apr 2006)

Is that all the pushups you do, you dont do these every night do you? 
70,40,20  is still only 170, is that really all you do for pushups
I dont meen to sound meen or anything, you can kick my ass but I thought it took a lot more than 170 every workout to get up to 70 in a row. I guess I am wrong. Could you tell me if you do anything else for your tricepts.

On a good note, I am actually sore today, just a bit but it actuall feelss like I did something


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## derael (6 Apr 2006)

It takes a while to build up your count. It took me a good month and half to go from 50 to 85 on my first set. The only added thing I do are dips (you can do these using a chair or your bed) and a different type of pushup at the end of my workout. Hands are together under you forming a diamond shape with the inside contours of your hands together. Other then that I was only doing my workout every second day.(doing it everyday seemed to yeild no progress) Oh and make sure you don't go a while out doing your pushups...its easy to lose your ability to do them if you slack off. I went for holidays over Christmas and when I came back I could only do about 60-65 on my first set.


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## Jonathan (6 Apr 2006)

OK, I will try doing this routine every second day for 3-5 sets of max with 7-10 second breaks. If it got you up to 85 from 50 in a month and a half it should work good. I have till the summer for the BMQ so that is like 3 months, so I should be able to bring my max up a lot. My goal is to go from the 27 I can do now to 50 by summer. Think that is possible? I hope so. If this works as good as your results for me I am going to be a very happy person.

Thanks


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## derael (6 Apr 2006)

Just keep at it and you'll hit the mark you want...maybe even surpass it. If you can add at least 5 reps to your first set every week you should be doing fine.


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## Jonathan (7 Apr 2006)

thanks, I will try very hard to increase my first set by 5 each week


thank you, you have been a lot  help


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## Northern Touch (7 Apr 2006)

Do pyramid workouts using 15 seconds as a rest time.


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## Jonathan (7 Apr 2006)

there is so many diffrent ways to get better at pushups, I am going to stick with the 7-10 second rest one for a while, but thank you for the idea. Do you think it would be overtraining to do both. I really dont thing 5 sets of max is enough for a workout, but I could be wrong, it may take alot less than I thought


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## Sh0rtbUs (7 Apr 2006)

I do all my push-ups while wearing my ruck (full). I find it more challenging (and entertaining) than a regular joe push-up. 45 Ruck push-ups will translate into 60-70 without the ruck.


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## Jonathan (7 Apr 2006)

yeah, again, when I get more advanced


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## Jonathan (7 Apr 2006)

I just did 30(proud of myself), but after waiting 10 seconds I did 3 and fell(gave out). Though I don't dowt that it works but I don't think my muscles are made for such little breaks. I might try peramids. I think my muscles need longer breaks


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## Thaern (6 Jun 2006)

I was having a similar problem as you till one of the pte. at my unit told me about real world str.  Doing huge numbers of pushups looks and sounds great but the best way i have found to increase my ability to do pushups is simply by doing dead walks.  Now the aptly named "Dead walk" is quite simple to preform.  All you need is a large amount of weight and somewhere to carry it to and fro.  I find that large bags work best.  I started using 20kg bags of dog chow and have worked my way up to 30kg bags of rice if i feel like a good challenge.  A sand bag (fertilizer would also work but the smell of manure may just make the dead walk even more fatale) would also work.  Anyway you carry the bag for about 1k in your arms without setting it down, you may switch positions or even put it on your shoulders to give your arms a bit of a breather but you should do your best not to drop it (if you cant keep it off the ground try using a smaller bag)  I recommend using a bear hug as long as you can and then switch to an underarm carry.  Then after about a K set it down, drink some water and let your heart rate recover back to resting (about the same time it takes for you to return to normal breathing) then pick it back up and head on home.  Ive been doing this about 3 times week in addition to some cardio and core training and have worked my way up from just being able to do 20 to 40-42 if i really push myself.  (PS remember to do most of your lifting with your arms/legs or if your careful the back with proper technique)


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## CDNBlackhawk (7 Jun 2006)

DiamondDarryl said:
			
		

> As for diet, i have been drinking lots of milk obviosly and trying to take in atleast 3 eggs a day. Any tips on some meals would be great. I am the tall and thin if that helps. 6'3 and 185lbs.



No Offence but whats three eggs a day goona do for you, i dont mean to harp but if your serious about training, Diet is Just as important as working out, if not more important.

so right now you can only do 23 pushups, and you are Plateaud...try doing wide pushups, diamond pushups.  also get into a GYM and start trasining with Weights..


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## paracowboy (7 Jun 2006)

have you read my thread Blisters Shin Splints and PT? There are a number of tips on push-up variations.

Start adding weight to your push-ups. Put a plate on your back and do them. Do weighted dips, both hanging, and on a bench. If your goal is to increase the number of push-ups, you don't want to add size. That simply increases the force of gravity on yourself. You want to stay light. Don't increase your caloric intake.


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