Bodyweight exercises

Lockstep

I work out 3 times a week, so far so good but I'm still pretty poor at bodyweight stuff.

I'm applying for the army reserves and part of the medical is Bodyweight exercises (Push ups and sit ups)
I do them as during boxing training but I'm especially poor at the push-up.



Could one of the fine people here maybe give me a schedule for improving my push ups? I'm really rather poor at them. Any help at all with improving them would be great.

I'm pretty good at sit ups so no problem there.

rubadub

You can do them inclined so you can still keep up 8-15reps and progress to less inclined.

I used to use the stairs, you fall down onto it so you are inclined, or do them against a wall. Also just practice, I did some every morning, try and beat it the next day by 1. I was up to 60 fairly quick, could do 75 on a good day.

Colm_OReilly

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/69/

This the grease the groove method. Basically, if you can do 10 push ups normally, throughout the day do sets of 5. Then build it up to 6, 7, 8... testing your max reps every couple of days or so and doing half that number frequently throughout the day.

Incline push ups also help, depending on what level of strength you're currently at.

rubadub

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

This the grease the groove method.

Have you tried this technique for any exercises Colm? I have heard some say it will add strength but not really get much hypertrophy?

I was thinking if you had plateaued on the amount you could lift you could do this method, get stronger, and then go back to lifting bigger wieght in the 8-12 range and hence trigger hypertrophy once again.

Have you any other good links about GTG methods, or know people who found it good?

Lockstep

rubadub wrote: »

You can do them inclined so you can still keep up 8-15reps and progress to less inclined.

I used to use the stairs, you fall down onto it so you are inclined, or do them against a wall. Also just practice, I did some every morning, try and beat it the next day by 1. I was up to 60 fairly quick, could do 75 on a good day.

Thanks for the help mate. How often should I do them?
just once a day?
And every day? YOur the expert here but would I need a rest day in between?
Sorry, I dont get what you mean by the incline.

With my legs on the steps or my hands?

rubadub

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Thanks for the help mate. How often should I do them?
just once a day?
And every day? YOur the expert here but would I need a rest day in between?
Sorry, I dont get what you mean by the incline.

With my legs on the steps or my hands?

I am no expert, just saying what worked for me personally. If all you can manage is 8-12 reps then you would probably need a rest day to recover. I used to do them everyday, but I was doing 50 cold in the mornings. In that case I was well able for them and would not really need recovery time. It helped my benching at the time too.

If you can not manage 8 then you need the incline ones. Feet on the ground, hands against the wall, on a table/chair, or on the stairs. I prefer the stairs, you know it is stable, no mucky hands on the wall, and you get a better grip as your palm position is more flexible position wise. You can put a towel on a wooden stairs step.

At this angle there is less gravity acting on your body when trying to push up. Once you can do more than 12 you might want to try decline ones, feet on the stairs, hands on the floor. This makes gravity work against you. I could do 70 normal pushups right now, but probably only 15 at a deep incline. Cant do a single handstand pressup yet though.


Colms link is worth looking at. Doing half of your max amount all during the day. i used to do them in the morning, at night and sometimes during ad breaks on TV, if you have a set routine or event to do them it helps. I heard of a guy doing a few pullups each time he entered a certain room with a ledge on it. After a month he was dramatically stronger.

You are training for a specific test though. What do they expect from you? a certain number? If so it might be better to train at that number if you can manage it. Colm or others might know more about that than me.

Colm_OReilly

I'm using GTG for pull ups, as mine are seriously lacking. To the point where they are almost comparable to my muscle ups. i'm good at the transition part, so if my PUs start to fail, I start the transition earlier.

If you've plateaued on a weight using a linear progression, Practical Programming for Strength gives guidelines for intermediate programming. Heck, you could get an intermediate program off the CF.com discussion forums. Search for Rippetoe Compendium or Texas Method.

Lockstep

rubadub wrote: »

I am no expert, just saying what worked for me personally. If all you can manage is 8-12 reps then you would probably need a rest day to recover. I used to do them everyday, but I was doing 50 cold in the mornings. In that case I was well able for them and would not really need recovery time. It helped my benching at the time too.

If you can not manage 8 then you need the incline ones. Feet on the ground, hands against the wall, on a table/chair, or on the stairs. I prefer the stairs, you know it is stable, no mucky hands on the wall, and you get a better grip as your palm position is more flexible position wise. You can put a towel on a wooden stairs step.

At this angle there is less gravity acting on your body when trying to push up. Once you can do more than 12 you might want to try decline ones, feet on the stairs, hands on the floor. This makes gravity work against you. I could do 70 normal pushups right now, but probably only 15 at a deep incline. Cant do a single handstand pressup yet though.


Colms link is worth looking at. Doing half of your max amount all during the day. i used to do them in the morning, at night and sometimes during ad breaks on TV, if you have a set routine or event to do them it helps. I heard of a guy doing a few pullups each time he entered a certain room with a ledge on it. After a month he was dramatically stronger.

You are training for a specific test though. What do they expect from you? a certain number? If so it might be better to train at that number if you can manage it. Colm or others might know more about that than me.

Sorry, should have been more specific.

I need to do as many pushups as possible in one minute. I need to be able to do around 30.

I dunno how manu pushups I can do, I did 10 this morning fine just as a warmup so I can probably do more without needing incline or knee pushups.

I'll come back in a minute saying how many I can do.

Colm_OReilly

Afaik army standard push ups are the elbow and shoulders in alignment. I'd still recommend doing full RoM (chin, chest, crotch, thighs to the floor) push ups using the grease the groove during the day to build up the numbers.

Even if you're only called for reduced RoM push ups for the test, being able to bust out real push ups will be a huge benefit.

Lockstep

I can do around 20 in a sitting.

Sometimes 30ish if a good day

usually 20-25

Scottty2Hottty

I know this isnt exactly what you were looking for but I found this the other day and I'm thinkin of giving it a go.. If your going for the army reserves you could skip on a few levels and take it from there.

I'd appreciate any views on whether people thinks its an effective program or not?

Sorry for the hijack..

Heres the link!

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/armyfitness/0,,2230720,00.html

rubadub

kickoutthejams wrote: »

I need to do as many pushups as possible in one minute. I need to be able to do around 30.

That shouldnt be too hard. If doing as many as possible they will obviously not be worried if you do them quick. I can lash them out quickly, you get a momentum going. You can sort of cheat letting yourself down with gravity, rather than a slow controlled descent.

I would go along with Colm and practice good proper ones though, this will build the strength needed so you can lash them out when needed.

I'm using GTG for pull ups

I am going to give them a go for a month. Started this morning, I did it on a few exercises, not sure if that is recommened, or if you normally focus on one. I did a single sets, half max reps, of military press, chins, pullups, dips on rings rings by my sides, and dips with the rings infront of me (i.e. hoops flat to my side, and then rings flat to my front.)