Push ups for beginners

barfordguy

Hello all,
Following on from my core exercise question I will be starting to do pushups nexts week. I have not done these for many years and am looking for any suggestions on beginners plans or routines that people have found useful. I am very conscious of starting to hard and too fast as I did have some tendinitous in my elbow / upper arm a few years ago and so want to start off easy.

As ever any input is greatly appreciated. Have a great day.

TeaBea

Google 100 push ups. This starts you out slow (or slower) based on your current level:

https://hundredpushups.com/week1.html

jayhschmidt

Small sets all throughout the day. Some people call it 'greasing the groove". Take the time (a couple of weeks) to gently and gradually work your way towards full range of motion. No pain necessary. I like pushup handles/bars because I have wrist problems, but they're not necessary if you can go all the way down without pain in the wrists.

barfordguy

thank you for those replies. appreciated

MidlifeCrisisFitness

The best exercise for starting out!

I have been doing 16 - 18, 000 pushups a year for the last 4 years. I started at 10 a day for 2 weeks, then 15 for 4 weeks, then 20 for 8 etc. until I was up to 50 in a set 2x a day.

No injuries from pushups. Ever... It's all about good form. Do them right and they will tighten your ribs, abs, triceps, glutes front delts and biceps. If you are serious watch this video.

https://youtu.be/IODxDxX7oi4

My current tally since Jan 1 2020

AnnPT77

And if a basic pushup is beyond you at this point, start with planks, and/or pushups with hands against a counter, stair or bench, so you're at a more upright angle, then progress from there.

barfordguy

Great help thank you for those replies. I was thinking that pushups would be a good place to start and then over time introduce a more structured upperbody weights training plan. I'm very conscious about starting slowly, taking my time and doing it right. I'm in no rush

DancingMoosie

If you have dumbbells, you can do wide and narrow grip chest presses if you can't perform full pushups

lorrpb

Personally I favor well balanced weight training over a single exercise like push ups.

sijomial

I did one of the hundred pushup challenge programs and it was frankly awful.
Ludicrous volume (and I'm someone who normally thrives on high volume) just created a lot of soreness, pretty silly and pointless variety of reps.

Followed the program to about 50 reps and then reverted to just simply doing as many push ups as I could every other day (which I first did as a teenager in the late Jurassic period...) and progressed much faster and with far less fatigue and soreness.

barfordguy

Thank you sijomial. I looked at it and it looked far too much for me. I have started with the 50 in 30 days which I will do for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. It seems a good amount for me to start with and I like the slow build up. I will then move to starting an all over body work out

MidlifeCrisisFitness

barfordguy wrote: »

Thank you sijomial. I looked at it and it looked far too much for me. I have started with the 50 in 30 days which I will do for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. It seems a good amount for me to start with and I like the slow build up. I will then move to starting an all over body work out

Fof my friends I suggested they do a 20 20.

20 pushups 20 squats everyday for the year 2020. I think you'll find you will begin increasing it halfway through but the take. off is a. bit more balanced and achievable..

Don't forget to start adjusting your eating habits and let us know how you are doing.

One thing I regret not doing it taking a purposeful before pic with all my measurements.

barfordguy

KHMcG wrote: »

barfordguy wrote: »

Thank you sijomial. I looked at it and it looked far too much for me. I have started with the 50 in 30 days which I will do for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. It seems a good amount for me to start with and I like the slow build up. I will then move to starting an all over body work out

Fof my friends I suggested they do a 20 20.

20 pushups 20 squats everyday for the year 2020. I think you'll find you will begin increasing it halfway through but the take. off is a. bit more balanced and achievable..

Don't forget to start adjusting your eating habits and let us know how you are doing.

One thing I regret not doing it taking a purposeful before pic with all my measurements.

Thank you for this. Regarding eating habits. I'm considering a protein shake to increase my protein intake. What are other important eating habits for fueling and refueling...especially regarding muscle repair and resting so as not to pick up injuries

MidlifeCrisisFitness

barfordguy wrote: »

KHMcG wrote: »

barfordguy wrote: »

Thank you sijomial. I looked at it and it looked far too much for me. I have started with the 50 in 30 days which I will do for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. It seems a good amount for me to start with and I like the slow build up. I will then move to starting an all over body work out

Fof my friends I suggested they do a 20 20.

20 pushups 20 squats everyday for the year 2020. I think you'll find you will begin increasing it halfway through but the take. off is a. bit more balanced and achievable..

Don't forget to start adjusting your eating habits and let us know how you are doing.

One thing I regret not doing it taking a purposeful before pic with all my measurements.

Thank you for this. Regarding eating habits. I'm considering a protein shake to increase my protein intake. What are other important eating habits for fueling and refueling...especially regarding muscle repair and resting so as not to pick up injuries

When I say eating habits. I mean start recording it. Input your goal weight. By your own admission you are seditary. MPF will suggest your daily calories. Only eat what the target is. So that means to increase your protein you will eat less fat or carb.

Shakes and bars are likely not needed to start. Try Greek yogurt or hard boiled eggs for breakfast instead of breakfast cereal. Have a small serving of cottage cheese at 7:30 pm for a protein boost. But mainly you need to find your baseline first. What are you eating now and what needs to change. And then, just like the training, slowly make the adjustments.

The slower you are the more sustainable it will be. It will become your lifestyle and not a diet.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

sijomial wrote: »

I did one of the hundred pushup challenge programs and it was frankly awful.
Ludicrous volume (and I'm someone who normally thrives on high volume) just created a lot of soreness, pretty silly and pointless variety of reps.

Followed the program to about 50 reps and then reverted to just simply doing as many push ups as I could every other day (which I first did as a teenager in the late Jurassic period...) and progressed much faster and with far less fatigue and soreness.

I looked at this programme and thought the same. I can do about 15 full push ups. The volume seems crazy high. I’d still like to be able to do a hundred though. I’m thinking it’ll take me longer than 6 weeks

sijomial

cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

I did one of the hundred pushup challenge programs and it was frankly awful.
Ludicrous volume (and I'm someone who normally thrives on high volume) just created a lot of soreness, pretty silly and pointless variety of reps.

Followed the program to about 50 reps and then reverted to just simply doing as many push ups as I could every other day (which I first did as a teenager in the late Jurassic period...) and progressed much faster and with far less fatigue and soreness.

I looked at this programme and thought the same. I can do about 15 full push ups. The volume seems crazy high. I’d still like to be able to do a hundred though. I’m thinking it’ll take me longer than 6 weeks

@cupcakesandproteinshakes

The one I did had a weekly AMRAP test (AMPAP test perhaps? ) to decide the progression for the following week but even then the test to failure was done after a seemingly random bunch of sets with varied reps for no apparent purpose.

IMHO if your max is 15 then perhaps 3 sets of 12 or 13 rather than (I exaggerate slightly!) 2-5-3-8-5-10-8-14-2-3-7.... etc. etc. would be better.

MidlifeCrisisFitness

cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

I did one of the hundred pushup challenge programs and it was frankly awful.
Ludicrous volume (and I'm someone who normally thrives on high volume) just created a lot of soreness, pretty silly and pointless variety of reps.

Followed the program to about 50 reps and then reverted to just simply doing as many push ups as I could every other day (which I first did as a teenager in the late Jurassic period...) and progressed much faster and with far less fatigue and soreness.

I looked at this programme and thought the same. I can do about 15 full push ups. The volume seems crazy high. I’d still like to be able to do a hundred though. I’m thinking it’ll take me longer than 6 weeks

100 consecutively or in sets to total 100? My best was 65 consecutively. Could not seem to get past it.

AnnPT77

sijomial wrote: »

I did one of the hundred pushup challenge programs and it was frankly awful.
Ludicrous volume (and I'm someone who normally thrives on high volume) just created a lot of soreness, pretty silly and pointless variety of reps.

Followed the program to about 50 reps and then reverted to just simply doing as many push ups as I could every other day (which I first did as a teenager in the late Jurassic period...) and progressed much faster and with far less fatigue and soreness.

In general, I think many of these fairly common "do the same thing every day, increasing reps" programs or challenges (even those with occasional rest days, but frequent consecutive days) are not the best way to build a specific capability, let alone the best way to build overall fitness (in the respects that activity is intended to address). (Some are fine. I said "many" for a reason.)

More pithy: Most of the "30 day challenges" or "work your way to 100 whatever" routines are pretty much crap.

And expecially crap for beginners, who sadly may be more likely to stumble over them and think it's the best way to go.

Can they result in improvement? Sure. The most improvement, in the most efficient amount of daily or overall calendar time? Much less likely.

Even if one thinks they don't need to be time efficient, keep in mind that wasted (inefficient) time could've been used on other non-conflicting fitness objectives.

That's without even getting into injury potential, or the misery factor.

This is not how elites train. (They may be performing these volumes/frequencies daily now, but at a point in development where those volumes/frequencies are dead easy for them, not at all a physical challenge, just maintenance.)

Even if we don't care about being elite, many of the same training principles apply, if we just want efficient routes to improvement. Proper recovery, specifically, is a near-magical part of the process IMO.

barfordguy

Thank you Jim, having done some "normal" push ups yesterday I feel that I may benifit from modified version in order to take the strain off my elbow and tricep and help that get used to the movement. A question I have is this...how do you know when to move from modified to full?

barfordguy

sorry should have said thank you jm_1234 and I can't edit my above post. Apologies.