Is it ok to do pushups every day?

bump - I would like to know also

You should probably do they every other day, at most. When you do any exercise involving resistance, you're tearing your muscles down, and they need time to recover if you want them to build strength. My rule of thumb is to never work the same muscle group two days in a row, and it's served me well. Best of luck with your progress!

i think its ok. i also love doing jumping jacks and burpies

You should probably do they every other day, at most. When you do any exercise involving resistance, you're tearing your muscles down, and they need time to recover if you want them to build strength. My rule of thumb is to never work the same muscle group two days in a row, and it's served me well. Best of luck with your progress!

I think it depends on how many you're doing. If your muscles are seriously fatigued afterwards, I would wait a day to let them rest & recover. Eat something high in protein afterwards to help your muscles recover and heal.

You CAN, but if you're trying to get stronger by building muscle, you SHOULDN'T.

Muscle grows during periods of rest after periods of usage.

Apparently it's a good thing you asked, since some people seem to be incorrect in their thinking.

But I guess I can only speak from experience to say that I never strictly followed the "don't train the same muscles on consecutive days" rule with respect to pushups and I've been able to increase my fitness by leaps and bounds.

But do you live on 800 cals per day? You'd increase your weight loss by doing that, but it's not the best, most efficient, or healthiest way to do that.

I'm glad working the same muscle groups on consecutive days has worked for you. It's not the best, most efficient or healthiest way to incorporate pushups in to your routine, though.

The original post said, "I can only do them when I lean against something (like a 45 degree angle) for now."

I doubt that doing push-ups that way will tear down your muscles enough to need a break every other day. It's not exactly the same strain as weight lifting.

This is straight out of the book "Weight Training For Life" by James Hesson (I just took a weight training class at my university):

"Although weight training exercise is the stimulus, the positive changes in the muscular system as a result of weight training take place between exercise sessions as your body rebuilds and adapts to the exercise overload. Adequate rest and nutrition are necessary for these positive changes to occur. Weight training progress is best when a muscle receives 2 to 4 days of rest between exercise sessions. Fewer than 2 days of rest or more than 4 days between workouts results in slower progress."

The original post said, "I can only do them when I lean against something (like a 45 degree angle) for now."

I doubt that doing push-ups that way will tear down your muscles enough to need a break every other day. It's not exactly the same strain as weight lifting.

the angle doesn't really matter. What matters is the fatigue level. Reaching the anaerobic threshold for a muscle doesn't depend on absolute volumes, it depends on relative % of maximum. In other words, if someone works to technical failure, whether that person is able to do 5 push ups or 50 they are forcing their muscles to work to the technical failure point, which will force the muscles to become stronger, which requires rest and recuperation time (DOMS is big, especially in the beginning of a new routine).

Thanks for clarifying things for us.

With respect to the OP's question, I agree -- assuming she's working to technical failure. I mentioned that sometimes do them multiple days in a row. In that, I am often not doing enough to get to failure. Most of the time, I am incorporating them into a calisthenics circuit that I do more for cardiovascular purposes. When I do them to failure, it is as part of a weight-lifting workout with an upper body focus. So, I guess, I wouldn't think that simply doing pushups every day is going to hinder progress -- it depends upon the intensity. I mean, would we say that we shouldn't do bodyweight squats every day? If so, then I guess I have to reserve sitting down in a chair to an every-other day activity!

My trainer is also of the "every other day" school of thought. Like others have noted, she says that working the same muscle groups two days in a row doesn't give them time to recover and strengthen. It slows progress and leaves you prone to injury. She said it doesn't matter if you're just starting out or if you've been doing it for years, or if you're using machines, free weights or body resistance like push ups, the muscles need to recover for at least 24 hours.

However, it is apparently okay to do crunches or other ab work on consecutive days, although I'm not entirely clear as to why. (Sure, because crunches are everyone's favorite!)

I realize that there is no reason why anyone should go by what a stranger says, but she does have a kickin' body and she works out 7 days a week, so I'm willing to give her the benefit of a doubt :laugh:

It's true that the abs (and certain other muscle groups) can be worked every day with little downside.

The reasoning behind this is the type of muscles the abs (and the rest of the core) are. They are stabilizers and co-contractors, which means they are built to perform for a long time with minimal force. This means recovery is faster, and they don't build bulk as fast as other muscle groups. In other words, your core muscles are there to make sure you have balance and that your spine and lower back don't become overstressed, and when ever there is a need to keep your spine straight or to keep your body centered, the core muscles are working (I.E. ice skating, walking, standing, bending to pick something up, jumping, running, canoeing, surfing, standing in line at the store...etc. essentially anything that doesn't involve laying flat or sitting in a chair with a back rest).

These type of muscles don't do much in the way of "micro-tears" and therefore don't require a lot of recovery time, then again, they don't have a lot of relative force, which is why it's so easy to hurt your back picking up relatively light items, because the core muscles don't have much power and they connect to the spine, if you strain them too hard, you risk damaging the lower lumbar spine.

that's why people with sciatica, and lower back problems are encouraged to do core work, it stabilizes the spine and keeps you from re-injuring it.