Spreading out push ups

Korrora

Does anyone know if spreading out your work outs decreases its efficiency? For example, I'll do as many push-ups as I can every time I get a break, which is every couple of hours. In total, I probably do more push-ups throughout the day than I would in one sitting, but I'm not entirely sure how useful it is if I'm giving myself too much time to recover. Any thoughts on this?

imhungry2012

Working your muscles to failure is good...it tears the muscle more making it stronger as it rebuilds. Or so I'm told...

kathleennf

For cardio benefit you need to do at least 20 minutes continuous. But other than that I don't think it matters.

yogicarl

If it is strength you are wanting to develop, you would be better to find a bodyweight exercise that makes the push-up harder to do so you can ideally only do around 6 - 8 reps. That might mean finding a low box to place your feet on while you press-up from the floor, or bringing you hands closer together in the push-up, or maybe both. You get the idea.

Another idea is you could use each break to do a different bodyweight movement. So if it is pushing day, first break a push-up movement within the 3 x 6-8 range, next break hands closer in or feet elevated, next break maybe doing sets of dips or pike push-ups.

Depending on what props or furniture or space is available to you a pulling day could be inverted rows (look up Let-Me-Ups), could you place a pull-up bar in a doorway safely and do some pull-ups?

Same with leg day - Bodyweight squats, lunges with the rear foot elevated on a chair seat (make sure your working leg knee does not go forward of your foot on this one), pistol squats etc.

Loads you can do like this. I work in a doctor's surgery setting like this and do sets of things between patients!

JoRocka

depends on why you are doing them

if you are doing them to get BETTER and do higher volume-- like say be able to bang out 100 in 2 minutes (for a PT test) then doing them through the day is great. google "Grease the Groove". It's a great thing to do- in moderation (days and days and days of high repetition can lead to injury though- just ask my shoulder and my elbow from doing a 100 day burpee challenge)

it's a training technique. and it's a good one- i recommend it a lot for pull ups.

but if your goal is to get STRONGER- then no. it will not help you.. if the goal is strength- anything over 10-15 reps will only work muscle endurance. under that rep range you are working muscle STRENGTH.

So go for a harder variation of a pull up if you want to get increase your physical strength.