How Many Pushups a Day YouShould Be Capable of
Getting out of bed and performing pushups first thing in the morning is one of the simplest and most popular daily fitness routines used by guys to incorporate more physical activity into their lives. You’ve undoubtedly been doing this time-tested bodyweight exercise for as long as you can remember. And for good reason: when done properly, the simple pushup is a fundamental upper body workout that works a variety of important muscle groups.
Owner and coach at Beyond Numbers Performance Kurt Ellis, C.S.C.S., believes that pushups are generally underestimated. It’s a crucial bodyweight exercise that everyone ought to be able to perform. One of the fundamental human movements is the push-up.
You may eventually want to increase your pushup strength and see how many reps you can do in a row. Our 30-day pushup challenge can help you achieve that objective. That desire raises the question of how many pushups you should perform each day, regardless of whether you’re aiming to add additional movement to your daily routine or using the exercise as part of your upper body training. Is it safe to perform all of your reps at once, and is there a maximum number you should be able to do?
Like the exercise, there is more to the answer than meets the eye. Find out more about how many pushups you should and should be able to do each day below.
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The Number of Pushups You Should Be Capable of
In the end, the response will differ depending on objectives and background. That said, Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., fitness director for Men’s Health, states that “big picture, everybody should at some point be able to get to 20 to 25 consecutive pushups.” He continues, “Although that might not seem like a lot, it’s actually more challenging than people realize,” so don’t expect to perform that many repetitions on your first try. This is due to the fact that ideal shape is what you should aim for.
“A proper pushup is lowering your chest all the way to an inch from the ground and being able to drive all the way up — it’s not just going down halfway and coming up a little bit.”
Another common pushup mistake Ellis observes is speeding through careless repetitions, which can cause injury and undue strain on your joints. Ellis breaks this bad behavior during his training. “I have people perform pushups at a precise pace when I test them to determine their level of upper body strength and ability,” he explains. That could resemble this: lowering yourself for two seconds, then raising yourself up after a brief pause. “You might see someone go from banging out 20 quick reps to much fewer at a slower tempo because that really challenged the pushup itself.”
This method can ultimately benefit anyone who wants to increase their pushup ability, even if its main focus is on quality rather than number. By going more slowly and focusing on form, you will develop stronger, more useful muscle.
The key is to be persistent and patient. Samuel advises doing as many clean pushup repetitions as you can, then taking a five-second break. “You’ll find that as time goes on, you can perform more pushups in a row and require less rest.”
Samuel adds that if you really want to, you should be able to complete three sets of 20 to 25 pushups each day, taking all those considerations into consideration. Granted, you may receive calls from guys who double or even quadruple that amount, but in the long run, their representatives won’t be as successful as yours.
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Push-up advantages
There are many reasons why the pushup is a mainstay of training. This exercise is incredibly adaptable with numerous variations, doesn’t require any special equipment, so you can perform it almost anyplace, and targets a variety of key muscle groups with just one movement.
According to Ellis, the triceps are a crucial secondary muscle group that aids in controlling the basic pushup. “If you’re looking at the anatomy of the actual chest itself, we have the pectorals as the main driver, then the deltoids and anterior deltoids are involved as well,” Ellis adds. Furthermore, Ellis states that “being able to maintain a nice, sturdy, rigid trunk is going to help with the movement” because pushups are effectively a moving plank. This means that performing a pushup will reinforce proper core activation.
Additionally, numerous pushup variations can be used to target different body parts. Close-grip pushups, for example, where your hands are slightly narrower than shoulder-width, can stimulate more triceps than the usual variety.
Ellis believes that in addition to targeting particular muscles, pushups can also assist you in achieving other strength training objectives. He states that you should be able to push your bodyweight before attempting a loaded barbell or dumbbell bench press. “I look at the pushup as a precursor for any loaded, pressing movement,” he says.
He remarks, “It doesn’t make sense to me that strong guys who can bench press 300 pounds can’t even perform a few pushup reps.” Therefore, regardless of where you are in your fitness path, I believe that being able to regulate and control your own bodyweight should merely be a terrific beginning point for humans in general.
How to Perform Push-Ups
If you want to see any increases in strength and growth from all those pushup repetitions, proper form is crucial. For flawless repetitions, pay attention to these cues.
With your palms flat on the floor and piled just below your shoulders, begin in the high plank posture.
To generate tension across your entire body, tighten your shoulders, glutes, and core. You should have a neutral spine that forms a straight line. To do this, keep your eyes on the floor rather than gazing up.
To lower yourself to the floor and halt with your chest slightly above the surface, bend your elbows. The elbows and torso should be angled at a 45-degree angle.
Raise yourself back up off the ground and stretch your elbows to the maximum position.
Is Daily Push-Up Practice Safe?
In theory, doing pushups every day is OK. But if you want your practice to be both safe and successful, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Above all, your exercises shouldn’t end when you reach your rep limit. Samuel advises against practicing pushups in a vacuum every day. “This is the common mistake that people make; they believe that it’s a simple upper body workout that they can perform every day and that results will appear overnight.” Instead, it’s critical to exercise purposefully to prevent imbalances in your muscles and posture. This entails coordinating back-focused workouts with pushups as well as pulling activities, which are basically the reverse of pushing exercises.
To target your back muscles, Samuel advises getting some weights (a large backpack, dumbbell, or kettlebell) and performing a row. Additionally, you can attempt a T Superman exercise if you don’t have access to weights.
Ellis also suggests incorporating pulling and pressing variants in various planes of motion for well-rounded programming. This could involve pull-ups or chin-ups in addition to an overhead press. “Basically, it would be ideal to target the musculature around the chest to balance things out,” he states.
Of course, proper form is essential if you want to perform pushups on a regular basis safely. Ellis emphasizes that maintaining a firm and erect trunk is essential; this means avoiding a drooping or shaky midsection and extending the lower back. He states, “We want to try to have everything move as one unit.”
Ellis suggests that novices work their way up (well, down) to a regular pushup by beginning with an incline pushup (putting their hands on an elevated surface like a bench) in order to preserve that right form and stability. It’s possible that instructors in group exercise programs have advised you to scale by lowering yourself to your knees, but you should not do this. Instead of shortening your lever, you want to modify its angle so that you can work with the same level of core engagement.
Ellis recommends increasing the difficulty of your movements by varying their pace as your strength increases. “It’s a terrific method to either improve your frequency or your form if you can maintain control over the course of a certain amount of time,” he explains. Try an advanced pushup variant or add resistance other than your bodyweight, such loading up with a weighted vest or putting a plate on your back, to really level up.
Regarding the precise quantity of reps performed each day, Ellis suggests varying it. If you perform 75 reps one day, for example, you might merely perform 20 the next, then return to 75, and so on. Stop if you have pain that goes beyond the normal soreness in your muscles after working out.
In the end, Ellis claims that the volume — the total amount of pushups you perform in a particular day — and the intensity — the addition of an external load — determine how many pushups you complete overall. However, your daily pushup habit can be the foundation of a well-rounded fitness regimen if you don’t overdo it, take time to recover, and maintain a pleasant and balanced training schedule.
