push-up sweet spot

[vegetus25]

What is your push-up “sweet spot” (the number of push-ups that gives you the best results in terms of size and strength)? Does it change for you depending on the number of days you perform push-ups? Does it change for you depending on the amount or type of other exercises you are performing? Does it change for you from workout to workout or from type of push-up to type of push-up? If so, how do you know you have found it in that workout (pump starts to go away, etc.)?

Thanks and God bless,

Veg

[Aaron Hoot]

I like to keep my sets between 20-25 and complete the days pushups totaling 500. I don't seem to be wearing myself out and I really enjoy it. Sometimes I do more than 500. Have a great one my friends!

Your servant in Christ,

Aaron

[gs300tx]

Right now, I would have to say that it is 15 reps. A couple of weeks ago when I did 600 push ups, they were mostly done in sets of 15, sometimes 20, at other times 10..it varies.

[Bill_Meyer]

This is an interesting question. I have been doing pushups regularly since February 1994.
I have done as few as 50 a day and up to 1,000 a day. Four years ago I was doing the
standard pushup in sets of 50. Then in 2006 I began to do Atlas I pushups and my reps
dropped. Right now my "sweet spot" seems to be 30. I get a good pump, good stretch, and
I have to 'work ' at doing them in good form. I have done sets of 50 in the Atlas I, but my form
starts to falter. It would be interesting to learn what others are doing.

Bill

[EyeDoc]

I've done upwards of 700 military pushups a day for extended periods of time. Now I'm doing 150 a day of feet elevated or Hindu push ups and I'm at least the same size I was before and I'm spending much less time doing pushups. For me, I think sticking with the harder variations and doing them all in a few sets all together works at least as well as doing regular floor pushups in higher numbers throughout the day. Like today I did 60, 50,and 40 feet elevated pushups about 2 minutes apart and I think that works about as well for me as any other way of doing it I've tried so far.

[Greg Newton]

I've been rethinking a lot of the things I've been doing. Sets of 25-50 work. However, after conversations with John, where he talked about the training he did as a teen under his grandfather's instruction, I feel like I've set artificial celilings on my efforts and I've started the goal of doing all my power calisthenics in strict sets of 100. My short term goals right now are 100 strict Atlas pushups in the p.m. and 100 strict regular pushups done in the a.m. after doing 100 Tiger Stretch pushups.

[gs300tx]

I've been rethinking a lot of the things I've been doing. Sets of 25-50 work. However, after conversations with John, where he talked about the training he did as a teen under his grandfather's instruction, I feel like I've set artificial celilings on my efforts and I've started the goal of doing all my power calisthenics in strict sets of 100. My short term goals right now are 100 strict Atlas pushups in the p.m. and 100 strict regular pushups done in the a.m. after doing 100 Tiger Stretch pushups.

That is amazing GregNewton, I bet your workouts must be pretty quick. Right now I am trying not to get ahead of my self and just using the GTG format and doing push ups, I end up stopping way before failure hits in a set, just trying different techniques.

[gs300tx]

That is amazing GregNewton, I bet your workouts must be pretty quick. Right now I am trying not to get ahead of my self and just using the GTG format and doing push ups, I end up stopping way before failure hits in a set, just trying different techniques.

I forgot to add one little detail and that is my push up speed has decreased, I am doing them in much stricter form and really seem to be "tensing" my muscles much more than I normally would. When doing the standard Leiderman push ups my chest now touches the ground ever rep.

[vegetus25]

Interesting... I was thinking of a sweet spot for total reps per day, not per set, but I guess there would be a sweet spot per set also.

Greg,

Can you fill us in on your conversation w/ John, the whys behind increasing reps per set, and how you are going to go about increasing your reps to 100 per set?

Thanks for all of your replies.

[Greg Newton]

Hey Guys,

I am not there yet. Atlas pushups are currently at 70 and regular pushups at 45 after my Tigers. I train six days a week or until I feel I need extra rest. I try to keep my workouts under 30 minutes. I also have to be careful in the a.m. not to waste myself before work.

John can correct me if I am wrong, but his grandfather was the one who pushed him to start thinking in terms of 100 or more in all his calisthenics, not just pushups. He has a pretty funny story about 100 reps in the eight count leg raise. Realistically, any calisthenic gets hard after the first 30 reps. That is where the mental ceiling needs to elevate. Also, I can do 100 regular pushups when I am fresh, but not all will be strict. I want strict form. Sometimes we put John too high on the pedestal and think the things he does is out of reach for us normal folks. We forget that mental drive is what you puts you at the top of what you attempt to do.

I am doing nothing unusual. I do my set and when it starts getting hard, I take some extra deep breathes in the up position. Too, I save my shoulders by using a medium width hand spacing with elbows toward the body. I was on a maintenance schedule for most of the fall, and over the holidays I was able to rev my training up. So far I have been able to keep up the momentum. There is a fine line between productive training and overtraining and in this mode I push to the edge. Not necessarily what I would recommend for anyone else, but I listen to my body.

I also recommend buying all of John's books and rereading them periodically. Over the past three years I continually discover things I missed previously. They are also chockfull of positive motivation.

[stingray]

Greg,

I found that I had created a mental "ceiling" for myself with regards to push ups. I still refer to the comment you made about them being hard after a certain number. It helps to know that. I think that I was telling myself that it would be easier once you hit 40 or 50 push ups. Great post.

[Bookman]

I do about 3 sets of 25 every day right now, using various hand positions. I usually start out wide and bring my hands in closer to my torso to eventually work the triceps a bit. I do Atlas I pushups occasionally. I am going to try and devote more time on that exercise this year. I have to say, that buying and reading M7 and PYTP has taught me a lot about working out at home and becoming less reliant on weights. I still have a fitness club membership, which I intend to cancel at the end of the month due to financial issue, so thanks to those two books I will be able to exercise anytime I want to and stay fit and healthy.