Push ups - Whats going wrong?

Trotter

I need a bit of advice if possible..

I've been working on my sit ups and push ups for the last 2 months or so. I started from scratch and I can do more than 45 situps in a minute.

My push ups though are a disaster. I struggled to get to 20 in one go, and then managed to break the 30 push ups in a minute mark. Since then, I just havent been able to get that number again, and I've gone back to struggling to 20.

I don't understand why I can't get the pushups number up.. Im 10st 13 and 5ft 7.. and this hasnt changed in the last few months!

Any ideas or thoughts would be much appreciated.

BrokenArrows

im no expert, dont really do pushups but i think the replies your going to get are focus on doing the pushups correctly and not trying to squeese them into a certain time.

by rushing yourself to get the minute mark your sacrificing form and not developing the muscle properly

celestial

Trotter wrote: »

I need a bit of advice if possible..

I've been working on my sit ups and push ups for the last 2 months or so. I started from scratch and I can do more than 45 situps in a minute.

My push ups though are a disaster. I struggled to get to 20 in one go, and then managed to break the 30 push ups in a minute mark. Since then, I just havent been able to get that number again, and I've gone back to struggling to 20.

I don't understand why I can't get the pushups number up.. Im 10st 13 and 5ft 7.. and this hasnt changed in the last few months!

Any ideas or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Well it could be a million things really - are you doing push-ups fresh, or say after bench pressing maybe? You may not be able to crank out 30 every time, but if you are not progressing as you are, it's probably time to do something different. have you tried doing incline push-ups, different variations of push-ups? You may find that doing these means when you go back to regular ones you can do more of them.

Redrocket

maybe your pushing in the wrong direction!
try lying on your back on and push upwards, i can manage 50 of these in a minute

rubadub

Are you doing them every single day? if so try taking a break. Do them slow and controlled, why are you rushing? what goal have you actually got?

I used to do 50 every morning for a while, but on a good day I would do 70+ in the evening. If you can only do 20 and do them every day it would be possible to be overtraining, and you need a break. e.g. I could do 75 so 50 was no problem every morning. It was like doing high reps of bicep curls at a lower weight. I could do 20 reps of military presses at a certain weight, but I would not do them every day to failure

Trotter

I dont do weights so its normally a case of just once a day during a free minute doing either the press ups or sit ups.

I'm wondering has it got anything to do with my diet over the last while? Although my weight is the same, its been a very very busy few weeks and my eating routine has gone out the window.

10 13 is a bit heavy for my height too I think. Maybe if I get going on lowering that, the push ups will seem a lot easier.

tribulus

I wouldn't be surprised if they've stopped improving if you're constantly going to failure with them on top of a weights program.

Instead of always doing as much as you can try going near that amount say 25 (if you can do 30) and do several sets of them, then next week add to the number of reps or the number of sets and build it up gradually. Also make sure you're recovered from any upper body weights sessions.

While a lower weight will probably make the push-ups easier would you not rather just getting stronger at them! I'm about 92kg (and only 5 11 or so) and can easily do 50-60 so I don't think weight should be the main concern.

celestial

Trotter wrote: »

I dont do weights so its normally a case of just once a day during a free minute doing either the press ups or sit ups.

I'm wondering has it got anything to do with my diet over the last while? Although my weight is the same, its been a very very busy few weeks and my eating routine has gone out the window.

10 13 is a bit heavy for my height too I think. Maybe if I get going on lowering that, the push ups will seem a lot easier.

You're male right? If you are then then 10 stone is totally fine for your height. Dropping weight prob wouldn't make much difference anyway - if anything you could lose muscle, meaning less strength. No I don't think it has much to do with your diet at all. I would say give them a rest for at least 4 days, then go back to them and I'll bet you'll find you can do more (but make sure you have a bit of energy inside you when doing them!)

rubadub

But why do you do them? do you want to gain muscle? You can make them harder by inclining your legs. e.g. stick you legs on a chair or stairs up at a height where you can only do 8-12 in a row.

I would get some squats in too, better than situps. Get some books in a bag for squatting if you find it too easy.

Check out www.simplefit.org
http://bodyweightculture.com/forum/
http://www.beastskills.com/

Trotter

Thanks for your help! I'm not doing them to gain muscle as such, Im involved in the army reserve and I'm working on maintaining the areas that are tested in fitness tests. I've passed mine for the year (luckily when I was on the 30 mark) so I just want to keep it going now.

BossArky

Trotter wrote: »

10 13 is a bit heavy for my height too I think. Maybe if I get going on lowering that, the push ups will seem a lot easier.

I'm 73kg ish (11.5 stone), and the same height as you at 5 foot 7. Check out the video's on my log and let me know if I'm actually a tubby tustard in denial :eek:

I would say that your weight is not the limiting factor. Concentrate on putting on more muscle.

gabgab

Hey,

I found that how I do them really depends on how I many I can get done, but I must admit people talking about 50/75 in a row is making me feel a bit useless :D

The way I was shown them was to look forward not down forward, eg: I am in pressup position but trying to look up to the ceiling but not as strained, and once in that position with no back arching,

when my chest touches the ground and hips, I have completed one press up, its a whole different world I found anyway...... Hope this is some help,