I was wondering how many of you guys incorporate pushups as part of your GPP conditioning workouts, or if you use them at any time during your training programs.
Last night I did some sprints and after we had finished my training partner suggested doing a few sets of pushups. Now I hadn’t done them for ages but it felt good going back to doing a simple exercise which after just a few sets made me feel like I had done a great workout.
Are they a good exercise to use as high rep recovery from upper body weight training? How much would be too much? How are you using them at the moment? Discuss.
I’m in my 12th of 13 weeks at the FDNY academy, and we’ve done more pushups in the last 12 weeks than I care to count. As any military guy can tell you, pushups do a lot for your body. If you maintain strict form, you’re hitting all kinds of muscles, not just in your upper body, but also in your legs and core. I’m strongly considering keeping them in my training routine after academy graduation, and would definitely recommend them to others.
[quote]bg100 wrote:
Last night I did some sprints and…a few sets of pushups. [/quote]
hmmm. Are you stalking me? I did exactly the same thing yesterday arvo!!!
I have been doing pushups in an EDT format for the last 4 weeks. I seriously suck at them, but am getting better. I think there is something inherently good about exercises where the body moves against solid stuff, ie dips, chins, pushups…more natural, so to speak.
I use pushups on my GPP day, and they have been great. I do a circuit of bodyweight exercises that goes for about 10 minutes that incorporates squats x 50, pushups x 25, situps x 25, girlie pull-ups x 15 and reverse hypers x 25 with no break in between exercises or sets. I repeat this 3-4 times depending on how I’m feeling. I’ll do this once a week just to get the blood flowing to the whole body. It really helped me with excessive DOMS, but don’t do it if you are hung over.
[quote]scrooge wrote:
bg100 wrote:
Last night I did some sprints and…a few sets of pushups.
hmmm. Are you stalking me? I did exactly the same thing yesterday arvo!!!
[/quote]
I know you live in Newcastle…
I agreee that pushing against solid stuff like the ground feels good, there was something very satisfying about doing pushups compared to bench press. The strength training seems to have helped though, last night I was able to knock out a set of 30, could have done more but I had just finished 6 sprint intervals! After a bit of rest I did 10 explosive reps, I really felt them working deep in the chest muscles. A few months ago I struggled trying to get 20 normal reps done. It’s a far cry from when I used to do a bit of karate as a teenager and pushups were part of the fitness regime. Back then I could do a set of about 80, then again I probably weighed about 60kg compared to my current 94!
I use pushups on my GPP day, and they have been great. I do a circuit of bodyweight exercises that goes for about 10 minutes that incorporates squats x 50, pushups x 25, situps x 25, girlie pull-ups x 15 and reverse hypers x 25 with no break in between exercises or sets. I repeat this 3-4 times depending on how I’m feeling. I’ll do this once a week just to get the blood flowing to the whole body. It really helped me with excessive DOMS, but don’t do it if you are hung over.[/quote]
I use pushups on my GPP day, and they have been great. I do a circuit of bodyweight exercises that goes for about 10 minutes that incorporates squats x 50, pushups x 25, situps x 25, girlie pull-ups x 15 and reverse hypers x 25 with no break in between exercises or sets. I repeat this 3-4 times depending on how I’m feeling. I’ll do this once a week just to get the blood flowing to the whole body. It really helped me with excessive DOMS, but don’t do it if you are hung over.
That’s seems like a very intense circuit!
Have you got a reverse hyper machine at your gym?
Cheers,
Ben[/quote]
I wish!!! I do that circuit at home. For the reverse hypers, I simply put a decline bench on two upside down milk crates and lie on the bench with my head at the low end, and my hips bent over the high end of the bench. If I want some resistance, I get a leather belt and strap 2 20 kilo weights between my legs. Its not perfect but it’s better than nothing.
[quote]Massif wrote:
I wish!!! I do that circuit at home. For the reverse hypers, I simply put a decline bench on two upside down milk crates and lie on the bench with my head at the low end, and my hips bent over the high end of the bench. If I want some resistance, I get a leather belt and strap 2 20 kilo weights between my legs. Its not perfect but it’s better than nothing.[/quote]
Very innovative. You may remember from my “Buying Weights in Aus” thread that I have got to do the same sort of thinking if I want a power rack for my home gym. I’m still thinking things through but I’ve got a few ideas already.
[quote]bg100 wrote:
I was wondering how many of you guys incorporate pushups as part of your GPP conditioning workouts, or if you use them at any time during your training programs.
Last night I did some sprints and after we had finished my training partner suggested doing a few sets of pushups. Now I hadn’t done them for ages but it felt good going back to doing a simple exercise which after just a few sets made me feel like I had done a great workout.
Are they a good exercise to use as high rep recovery from upper body weight training? How much would be too much? How are you using them at the moment? Discuss.[/quote]
I do them about 3 days a week, together with burpees with a couple of 10-lbers, hanging pikes and thick bar L-chins(same thing as chins, only with your legs horizontal in front of you, as in the top position of a leg raise).
I try to work back up to doing 100 in 2 minutes, I mostly do 3-4 sets of 5 reps less than I’m able.
Find em great, especially for my shoulder and elbow joints.
I love push ups. Its odd day when I’m not doing them. I break it up depend how I feel. Hindus, divebombers, handstand, I also very my hand width quite often. Some will look at me wierd when I do them, but then they try and cant push out ten. I also dont think they are as chest specific as most people think, my lats just blow up when I’m doing sets of high rep push ups.
[quote]BJBliffert wrote:
I love push ups. Its odd day when I’m not doing them. I break it up depend how I feel. Hindus, divebombers, handstand, I also very my hand width quite often. Some will look at me wierd when I do them, but then they try and cant push out ten. I also dont think they are as chest specific as most people think, my lats just blow up when I’m doing sets of high rep push ups.[/quote]
It’s funny you should mention the lats, yesterday and today my lats are hurting…
[quote]bg100 wrote:
BJBliffert wrote:
I love push ups. Its odd day when I’m not doing them. I break it up depend how I feel. Hindus, divebombers, handstand, I also very my hand width quite often. Some will look at me wierd when I do them, but then they try and cant push out ten. I also dont think they are as chest specific as most people think, my lats just blow up when I’m doing sets of high rep push ups.
It’s funny you should mention the lats, yesterday and today my lats are hurting…
[/quote]
I’ve found the same thing. I wonder if pushups by themselves are enough for the upperbody on GPP days (no need to balance them with some sort of pulling movement) Because can’t find a bar to do fat-man pull-ups and regular pull-ups aren’t so easy that I could do them as GPP.
i just finished bct and i have to admit if there was one thing they stressed during PT it was form, if your form wasnt perfect, they wouldnt count the rep. ive seen alot of guys waste energy on pushups that the drill sgt didnt count. when i finished bct and ait i found my upper body was more solid than ever, and i was actually vascular in my chest area if i tried to watch what i ate in the chow hall. i still do them every evening dispite what my day had consisted of.
[quote]bg100 wrote:
How about some advice on the frequency they should be used to prevent overtraining, no one seems to have commented on that yet.[/quote]
i love pushups, they are probably my all out favorite exercise. however, when I was doing them everyday, along with whatever strength training routine i was doing (normally a four or five day split), I found that my chest was worn out more from doing them every night, and my bench plateaued. they also gave my chest a lean look, like a guy who does a lot of pushups (surprise surprise).
I keep them in my workout, and mostly do them on chest or shoulders days, with occasionally close grip ones on triceps days. they are very versatile, and you can do’em anywhere. Just watch the volume if you’re in the game for size.