Hi you guys!
Are some of you struggling with push ups? A lot of the time they're either pretty easy for some people or pretty hard to perform. Along with this guideline, I'm also providing a PUSH UP tutorial video and some tips you may have not heard of yet or thought about. I hope you enjoy!
PUSH UP TUTORIAL VIDEO: https://youtu.be/ieds7BjoffY
What's going to help you increase your push up strength? CONSISTENCY
I know what some of you may be thinking, "If i tried push up's every day I'd probably be too sore to effectively keep doing them". You would be kind of right and kind of wrong. How about if there was a way to perform them every day, not get sore, and still get stronger over time?
Here's a VERY SIMPLE way I teach some of clients to perform push up's over a long period of time.
Here we GO!
Step 1. Figure out your MAX REPS – how many push up’s can you do consecutively in a row. Make sure to use your current modification if needed. Standard: on toes, chest to the floor. Modifications may include 2 knees on the floor, 1 knee on the floor, or using an elevation for the hands.
Step 2. PERFORM 50-60% of your MAX REPS every day.
a. Example: Max Reps = 10 reps
i. Perform 5-6 reps DAILY and that’s it.
Step 3. Every 2 weeks or so RETEST your MAX REPS.
Performing 50-60% of your MAX REPS should feel really doable and not impossible to do. However, definitely feel challenging enough when performed with PERFECT FORM. You also wont be too sore the next day to be able to perform them either.
This is how the math adds up:
Lets stick with 10 being your MAX REPS. If you perform 5-6 reps every day out of the week (7 days). That’s 35-42 push up’s you perform every week. It adds up!
If you constantly try to kill yourself by always maxing out, you’ll be too sore to constantly practice. Let’s say you performed 10 reps on Monday. But then you’ll be too fatigued and sore to do more on Tuesday or Wednesday. You’ve already taken a day or 2 off. Then you try again on Thursday and you get 10 more. Then you probably wait again until Saturday or Sunday to do them again and perform 10 more. You’ll only reach around 30 reps a week. You’ll be missing out on 5-12 extra reps you could have done. That’s only after 1 week – We gotta think LONG TERM. After a month or year, those extra reps and days will add up! You do the math on that…
It comes down to the simple concept of:
Consistency > Intensity
Challenging the body intensely is okay and definitely good for you. But REDLINING yourself every day can take its toll on you. Consistency over time is what truly pays off!
Anyways, hope this helps! If any of you want to take on the challenge of improving your PUSH UPS and practice them DAILY, please let me know! I’ll help hold you ACCOUNTABLE. Then those push up’s during our workouts wont seem as bad anymore. Maybe then I can show you more advanced variations!
Yours in Strength,
Andrew Flores