The Single Most Important Thing About Push-Ups
Calisthenics can build a nice lean physique if you do the right exercises
Increasing your push-up count is simple, all you need to do is stop doing them. Seriously, if you continue to bang away high repetitions of the same old standard push-up you will get nowhere. Instead, you’ll look in the mirror and scratch your head wondering when the results will finally show up.
This isn’t to say that the standard push-up isn’t a good exercise. But if you want to go to the next level, you need to understand the concept of progressive overload.
Progressive overload is essential for strength training. It involves a gradual increase in stress placed upon the musculoskeletal and nervous system. In other words, to get bigger and stronger, you must make your muscles uncomfortable, adding new stressors all the time.
The most straightforward answer is to add more weight. Slap a dumbbell on your back and start pushing away. Sure, you could do this, but progressive overload isn’t just about increasing the weight load; it’s all about stress.
This means doing slower push-ups, perhaps setting a timer for one minute, and only doing one slow, gruesome push-up in that amount of time. You could also change up your chest workouts, give the…
