Spreading out push ups

Korrora
Korrora Posts: 8
in Fitness and Exercise
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?

Replies

  • imhungry2012
    imhungry2012 Posts: 240 Member
    Working your muscles to failure is good...it tears the muscle more making it stronger as it rebuilds. Or so I'm told...
  • kathleennf
    kathleennf Posts: 606 Member
    For cardio benefit you need to do at least 20 minutes continuous. But other than that I don't think it matters.
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
    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
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    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.

Categories