Atlas Pushups and Pyramid Training

[Max McKinley]

Hello Gentlemen,

I recently (in the past month) began training again after a very long lay off. About the time I decided to re-engage, I received on of John's daily emails discussing the pyramid method of quickly increasing reps and strength with push ups. I decided to do the Atlas push up as my exercise of choice and have been very impressed with the progress. However, I have noticed that it seems rather easy to tweak a shoulder or an elbow if I vary even slightly my technique by the width of my hands. Is I also recently read John's email stating that 100 Atlas push ups is considered high volume for that type of push up. Using the pyramid method, I have gotten to the point of doing 202 in the morning and 202 in the evening. I love the results of the Atlas push up because of the stretch and the ancillary work that is employed by the lats. My questions are, should I begin doing varied styles of push ups since I have reached this number? Am I risking injury by doing more than what is considered high volume (I am not anywhere near as advanced as many of you who can do 100 per set)?

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

Max McKinley

[NoBite]

Max, I am by no means an expert on this, but I can offer up my personal experience with Atlas pushups. This year I decided to accept the Pushup Challenge. In short, it is a daily challenge of doing one pushup on Jan.1 and adding one per day, every day all year long. It is as much a mental discipline as a physical one and I needed both! I chose the Atlas pushup.

Yes, tweaking a shoulder is possible. But, my experience has been to greatly vary the hand width and feet elevation. I created a pushup area using cinder blocks. There I have four different heights for my feet. Indoors, I use pushup handles and a large exercise ball for my feet to further make the exercise a bit harder. IMO, all the variations have made it possible to complete this challenge by NOT stressing any one area too much.

Having said that, I relish the thought of 2009, when my challenge will be over and I will add many variations of pushups to my routine. So, I'd say continue to have fun with your routine! Add variations if you are curious as to their effect. Play around. You have very well established a base to build on, and then some! Congratulations.

[Max McKinley]

Hey Nobite,

Thank you for your input. The elbows are starting to not have the discomfort (I think that was a conditioning issue). And, as you said, the hand width makes a big difference with the shoulders. So far, using the pyramid method, I am doing 200 Atlas pushups in the morning and 200 Atlas III pushups in the evening. I have found that I need to schedule a rest day during the week. This helps tremendously.

Thanks again,

[Greg Newton]

Hey Max,

As long as you enjoy what you are doing and don't have any problems, I see no reason to change. More variation tends to reduce the chance of injury, but if you aren't having problems, I wouldn't worry about it. Also different variations make the pushups harder and hence less reps are possible. All in all I think your pushup numbers are pretty good and I'm sure you're noticing some major changes in your physique along the way.

As well, good to see you back.