push ups for strength

[thefelixculpa 0]

Just wondering since I have no knowledge of strength training, but would doing a ton of pushups be just as good as lifting weights?

I was told that pushups actually work your arms chest and back.

I would love it if it were as simple as doing a bunch of pushups to build my upper body strength than to get a gym membership and do all sorts of weight exercises.

[thorpedo26 0]

Just wondering since I have no knowledge of strength training, but would doing a ton of pushups be just as good as lifting weights?

I was told that pushups actually work your arms chest and back.

I would love it if it were as simple as doing a bunch of pushups to build my upper body strength than to get a gym membership and do all sorts of weight exercises.

it works almost all upper body muscles but it will only get you so far. i try to do bolth

[usahockey22 0]

No...push-ups are ok for working on your upper body's muscle endurance, but they are too easy for actual strength training. Explosive push-ups are pretty good for power.

[thorpedo26 0]

clap pushups are good

[hockeyherb 1]

Pushups will mostly hit your chest and triceps. If you really want to build up your back, buy one of those contraptions for a door at home and do some pull ups.

[davis 0]

You can only do push-ups until you reach that plateau where your bodyweight simply isn't enough. As others have said though, the pushups mainly hit the chest and triceps though. There are variations on pushups to focus on the triceps or different parts of the pectorals, but it's still hitting just those two areas. You're gonna need some shoulder and back development as well.

[Cavs019 710]

Buy a weight vest to continue progression, and as davis said, variations in how far you spread your hands will contribute to working out different areas of your chest.

[willy0314 0]

once they get too easy you can put your feet up on a chair/bed/stair / high up on the wall. That will shift the weight forward onto your arms (thus making it harder).

If you wanted to go as simple as possible for your upper body, situps, pushups and pull ups are the way to go. Simple but very effective.....to a point.

In the end, the best thing for you is a weight lifting program, but if for whatever reason you really can't get into that, then the above three exercises are a must for upper body.

For your lower body, you need some type of weight to make your workout effective. Squat rack, two 50lb DB's in each hand, your little brother picked up over your shoulders...whatever. Point is body weight isn't enough to see strength gains when working out your legs.

[gman 0]

There is not a whole lot you can do to make situps harder except for doing more and more at different angles. But for pushups and pullups you can go to one handed varieties of each when you get bored with the two handed style. If you have some freeweights, or sandbags, you can tie them around your waist for the pullups. If you have a little brother or sibling or spouse have them sit on your shoulders while doing pushups.

You can do explosive pushups (already mentioned) where you can get close to standing up from a push off. You can do one legged squats as well. If you throw in some rope jumping and hill sprints, you can go a very long way towards fitness before you have to buy extra weight.

Eventually you may need to buy weights, but more than likely it will be due to boredom rather than maxing out the potential of body weight exercises. That is certainly what happened to me.

[usahockey22 0]

A better idea would be to find (or construct) a couple of parallel bars, and do dips. These are a much tougher bodyweight exercise, and you can also hang weight from your waist when they become too easy. They will usually end up focusing more on your shoulders and triceps than your chest however.

You can actually get a very effective upper body workout just doing a combination of weighted dips and weighted chin-ups...get a rack and a barbell, do squats and deadlifts for legs/core (or hack squats without a rack). Throw in some clean and presses, and you would have a pretty decent home workout for the price of one barbell set.

[gman 0]

Great ideas and spot on. I got the impression the original poster was looking for the most simple no frills way to do whole body. A tree branch or door jam for pullups and jump rope are about as simple as you can get combined with your own bodyweight. If he can find two parallel tree branches or something to do dips on he is golden. But without constructing anything it may be difficult. I have heard of people doing dips on barstools but I have actually never tried it.

[usahockey22 0]

You should be able to get a combination chin-up/dip/ab station and decent 300 some pound barbell set for maybe $300 or less...probably quite a bit cheaper even if you look at garage sales or ebay. This would be much less money than a year long gym membership ( as well as much more convenient), and you would have pretty much everything you need (a squat rack, bench, and dumbells could be added later to give you a near complete home gym).

[gman 0]

Back to the original question. If you start doing pushups now you will be better off and stronger than if you are doing nothing at all. If you start doing pushups from scratch, I guarantee you will get stronger all over your body. Try this, start doing pushups and one legged squats. Find a doorjam or other bar to do pull ups on.

When you can knock out 200 pushups in a row, 25 one handed pushups on each arm, 25 bodyweight single-legged squats with each leg, 50 pullups in a row and ten one arm pullups with each arm come back and we will give you more advice on how to get even stronger. Of course by then you'll be fitter than most folks you'll talk to.

[thefelixculpa 0]

thanks for all the responses.

I'm not sure how much strength you guys think I am trying to achieve, but I'm by no means trying to get into body building. I just want to improve my stamina, get some extra power into my shots, just overall be a little bit stronger.

I feel that I naturally have a decent amount of strength even when I go without doing any physical activities.. I am 5'11, 180 lbs but even though when I do those BMI calculators and they tell me I am overweight, there is no possible way that can be so. I figure those things don't take bone mass and all that other stuff into consideration..I mean what kinda fatty can fit into size 32 waist?

I could do 40 pushups in a row without stopping the first time i tried to do them the other night. I'm not sure if that is a lot but I figure it is pretty good for the first time. I'd just like to be able to get to the point where I can do 60 in a minute.

If I try and do 100 per night will I start seeing results within a month or 2?

[kovalchuk77 0]

I remember a guy who played the nfl he was the heisman trophy winner i cant think of his name but he did like a 1000 pushups and situps everyday and he was like the best in the league didnt lift a single weight.

[Nov101775 0]

I remember a guy who played the nfl he was the heisman trophy winner i cant think of his name but he did like a 1000 pushups and situps everyday and he was like the best in the league didnt lift a single weight.

Eric Dickerson - I think, I don't knwo about the no weights stuff, but he was famous for his crazy numbers of situps and push ups

[gman 0]

I remember a guy who played the nfl he was the heisman trophy winner i cant think of his name but he did like a 1000 pushups and situps everyday and he was like the best in the league didnt lift a single weight.

Eric Dickerson - I think, I don't knwo about the no weights stuff, but he was famous for his crazy numbers of situps and push ups

How about Bo Jackson?

If I try and do 100 per night will I start seeing results within a month or 2?

YES, no question.

[usahockey22 0]

Those BMI calculators are just a very basic health indicator...they certainly shouldn't be used to judge an athlete's weight. I am around 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, and the calculator says that's overweight...except I have a 30 inch waist and bodyfat<12%. BMIs consider the average person, who has a less acceptable muscle/connective/bone tissue: adipose tissue than most athletes do.

A better indicator of fitness would be a bodyfat caliper test, as well as blood pressure, resting heart rate, and cardiac/respiratory function (i.e. an actual doctor's assessment). In other words, don't pay attention to BMI.

[thorpedo26 0]

. I have heard of people doing dips on barstools but I have actually never tried it.

i do them with the kitchen table chairs

[BobMcRobertson 0]

Herschal Walker was the NFL running back who did like a thousand pushups, situps and the like each day. HE was built like a brick sh%thouse. 40 Pushups is respectable, considering most Americans can't do 10 proper ones. Just make sure you are doing them correctly, (back straight, head up, down far enough etc.). If you set a goal for a hundred each day, you will see improvement within a week, I garauntee it. After you can knock out a hundred, move you hands into a diamond, spread you hands far apart or keep them right at your side. When you can knock out all of those, try dive bombers.

[gman 0]

Herschal Walker was the NFL running back who did like a thousand pushups, situps and the like each day. HE was built like a brick sh%thouse. 40 Pushups is respectable, considering most Americans can't do 10 proper ones. Just make sure you are doing them correctly, (back straight, head up, down far enough etc.). If you set a goal for a hundred each day, you will see improvement within a week, I garauntee it. After you can knock out a hundred, move you hands into a diamond, spread you hands far apart or keep them right at your side. When you can knock out all of those, try dive bombers.

HERSCHAL

That's who is was. Dang, I can't belive I forgot that. He was my hero for a long time because of his workout routine. There are scores of variations on the pushup. If you have the patience to learn, it will be hard to become bored.

[nni 0]

pushup can help you gain strenght. there are different hand positions you can use for targeting different muscle groups. hindu pushups are great, and you can add resistance to them. if its all you have then make the best of it.

[Fury of One 6]

I'll sound like a commercial here but I bought those perfect pushup handles and I actually noticed some results within a week. I only do about three sets of 10 each time and changing hand positions. I tend to work late hours sometimes and play about 5-6 times a week and right now it's the best alternative for me to lifting weights.

Here's the link.

http://perfectpushup.com/

[Hockeyman9621 0]

I do 4 sets of 50 push ups before I got to bed every night. I've been doing this for about 1 year, I could definitely do more and I used to do more before I started lifting weights. By now I'm just doing it for maintenance specifically when I don't go to the gym. You will see a lot of very good results especially if your push up muscles are basically untrained. For free weight exercises I'd have to say pull ups are the best. After your first day of pull ups I guarantee that muscles you didn't even know you had will be sore.

[epstud74 24]

When I hit my freshman year of HS, I was tired of being lanky and skinny, so I started doing pushups with my feet on the bed and pushing off a set of dumbells on the floor. I started off doing 20 and then 50 and by the end of the year I was cranking out 5 sets of 50 without a problem. 1000 pushups a night is not something that is unreacheable..It may take 2-3 years to get there, but it is possible. I went from being a 160lb HS freshman to a 215lb HS junior in 2 years.