pushups/pullups everyday?

[betheman]

now I try to do this, push ups mainly as the opportunities for pullups are fewer, however is the pushups/pullups at every opportunity (as Ive seen touted around this site) actualy of benefit?
I ask because this seems to be in conflict with the view of taking time off to let muscle heal? is there any actual benefit to pushups pullups at every oportunity?

 

[runner83]

I used to do similar. But if you are looking for maximum muscle growth it is a waste of time.

Why?

The workout itself - there is a limit as to how much stress you can put on your muscles with these exercises.

Pushups you could put a weight on your back when doing it (but how much?) and pull ups you can lift some weight as well.

But how does this compare to the stress from heavy weights e.g. bench press, overhead press, deadlifts, bent over rows, squats etc with heavy weight.

DOESN'T EVEN COME CLOSE.

Focus on the real exercises and keep focusing on lifting heavier weights for more reps and you'll get much better results.

Weighted wide grip overhand chin ups should still be part of your back program though in my opinion.

Rest timing - Muscle does not grow when training. Muscle grows when you're resting and eating, in response to stress from your training.

So you need enough rest in between for this to occur.

While the stress from these exercises might be of some use to get some strength in preapration for a weights regime, in the longer term I suggest getting into weights since it will be a much more productive way to spend your time.

You would get more results out of 3 x 1 hour sessions of heavy weights than you would out of 7 days a week of push ups / pull ups.

 

[escobar04]

pushups/pullups and letting muscles heal?


WTF???? Heal from what? pushups?



Yes, you can do a ton of pushups/pullups every single day and dont worry, neither will "tear" your muscles

 

[GoodButNotGreat]

naw you don't want to be doing anything every single day. why? because in order to see real results, you need to consistently be switching things up. as in different exercises, weight, and reps.

if you keep doing push ups and pull ups everyday, first and foremost you're body will not be able to rest that area and you'll see limited growth, but also your body will be accustomed to you doing it and not feel an impact which means it won't be forced to grow.

good luck!

 

[ChalengeGuyFan]

They are better than nothing, giving you some tonicity.

 

[betheman]

last two weeks! Been varying my workouts, different muscle groups getting worked on dfferent days, workign out 6 days per week, gained 2 lbs, body feel tighter and lothes feeling looser, slightly
Changed my diet to incorporate a lot more protein, Im amazed I ont feel hungry and Im well on the mark with daily calories

 

[Noodles]

pushups/pullups and letting muscles heal?

WTF???? Heal from what? pushups?

Yes, you can do a ton of pushups/pullups every single day and dont worry, neither will "tear" your muscles

Congratulations. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard on this site. And that's saying something.

In 9 years of military PT, never once did someone say that...amazing. You can do it...for around 6 days...unless you can't move your arms or shoulders...but I assume the point was for development, not destruction.

Let me ask you this Arnie...how many pullups and pushups can you do in two minutes?

 

[disgustipated]

I've never understood why you "couldn't" do workouts every day. There are some jobs out there that will have you doing physical hard labor straight for 8+ hours, much more taxing than a lifting session..or can be. But people are able to do those jobs day in and day out, I have.

Now if you're looking for a certain type of shape you want to acquire, the question for me is if you "should" do something every day. And I guess it matters what type of shape you're after.

 

[escobar04]

Congratulations. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard on this site. And that's saying something.

In 9 years of military PT, never once did someone say that...amazing. You can do it...for around 6 days...unless you can't move your arms or shoulders...but I assume the point was for development, not destruction.

Let me ask you this Arnie...how many pullups and pushups can you do in two minutes?

dafuk? Ok, now this post does not make any sense!

OP is asking if its ok for him to do pushups/pullups everyday

the answer is yes, you can!



as far as my personal being, about a year ago my youtube video was featured on http://www.extremepullups.com/

 

[Noodles]

dafuk? Ok, now this post does not make any sense!

OP is asking if its ok for him to do pushups/pullups everyday

the answer is yes, you can!

as far as my personal being, about a year ago my youtube video was featured on http://www.extremepullups.com/

My apologies. Let me try again to explain then.

He asked:

is the pushups/pullups at every opportunity (as Ive seen touted around this site) actualy of benefit?

To which the answer is no. Muscle development is gained by progressive overload - i.e. pushing yourself further than you can comfortably manage. This results in microtrauma to the underlying muscle (you'll feel this primarily as DOMS - mild muscles soreness the next day). As the body recovers it adapts and grows stronger. If you're exercising properly this takes around 48 hours - hence resistance training should be performed every other day. If you don't allow yourself to recover from this microtrauma, this leads overtraining which has both short and long term problems.

So what if he's doing just a few push-ups / pull-ups everyday - and he's developed enough to deal with the workout without developing microtrauma? Well...it's largely pointless - he's not developing he's muscle strength or hypertrophy. To an extent he is helping the retention of his muscle mass...but this is no aid if he's doing a real workout three times a week.

And with regards to your video thing? I'm sure you happen to be the most amazing pull-up practitioner ever. All I'm trying to gauge is how many pull-ups and push-ups you can perform in two minutes. It's a question with two simple answers - both numbers. Ignoring the question is fine, deflecting it is slightly odd.

I believe your advice is at best pointless - telling him to do something that won't aid him at all, and at worse dangerous - giving him advice that could lead to overtraining and long term health problems. I have, and continue to train, extensively for over 14 years with some of the very best fitness professionals in the world. That is where my information comes from. You are more than welcome to discard it if you choose.

I've never understood why you "couldn't" do workouts every day. There are some jobs out there that will have you doing physical hard labor straight for 8+ hours, much more taxing than a lifting session..or can be. But people are able to do those jobs day in and day out, I have

You can 'do' anything you like. Doesn't make it optimal for muscle development. In most manual labouring jobs people are working at a level they are comfortable with - i.e. they are not pushing themselves past what their body can handle. And a lot of manual workings suffer from chronic muscle soreness and a whole range of other issues in later life (mainly back issues with labourers) - just like athletes (knees) and soldiers (also knees).

 

[AAAgent]

u can still get bigger and stronger from doing these to a certain extent. I used to do them all the time but i incorporated lifting inbetween.

If you're not going to lift increase your weight by doing elevated pushups, then add a bookbag with books to increase it further.

same for pullups, do book bag pullups.

I used to compete with myself by seeing if i could beat my personal record for pushups by doing this ladder routine.

i'd do 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

when i did these, i did them all in one go without breaking form. I was allowed as much rest as i wanted but could not break form.

My best was starting from 10-1, 1-7 or 8. I forget. It was a little over 80+ pushups in one attempt.

But as long as you increase the difficulty and intensity you muscles will tear and get leaner or bigger depending on where you are.

 

[Bible_Belt]

The point of doing something everyday is to get very good at that one activity. Pushups and pullups will turn you into a ninja warrior: http://g4tv.com/ninjawarrior/

but notice those guys aren't going to win any weightlifting contests. As with most H&F questions, the answer depends upon your fitness goals.

 

[escobar04]

My apologies. Let me try again to explain then.

He asked:


To which the answer is no. Muscle development is gained by progressive overload - i.e. pushing yourself further than you can comfortably manage. This results in microtrauma to the underlying muscle (you'll feel this primarily as DOMS - mild muscles soreness the next day). As the body recovers it adapts and grows stronger. If you're exercising properly this takes around 48 hours - hence resistance training should be performed every other day. If you don't allow yourself to recover from this microtrauma, this leads overtraining which has both short and long term problems.

So what if he's doing just a few push-ups / pull-ups everyday - and he's developed enough to deal with the workout without developing microtrauma? Well...it's largely pointless - he's not developing he's muscle strength or hypertrophy. To an extent he is helping the retention of his muscle mass...but this is no aid if he's doing a real workout three times a week.

And with regards to your video thing? I'm sure you happen to be the most amazing pull-up practitioner ever. All I'm trying to gauge is how many pull-ups and push-ups you can perform in two minutes. It's a question with two simple answers - both numbers. Ignoring the question is fine, deflecting it is slightly odd.

I believe your advice is at best pointless - telling him to do something that won't aid him at all, and at worse dangerous - giving him advice that could lead to overtraining and long term health problems. I have, and continue to train, extensively for over 14 years with some of the very best fitness professionals in the world. That is where my information comes from. You are more than welcome to discard it if you choose.



You can 'do' anything you like. Doesn't make it optimal for muscle development. In most manual labouring jobs people are working at a level they are comfortable with - i.e. they are not pushing themselves past what their body can handle. And a lot of manual workings suffer from chronic muscle soreness and a whole range of other issues in later life (mainly back issues with labourers) - just like athletes (knees) and soldiers (also knees).

oh wait, hold on, let me time my pullups for some guy on the internet....

all I can tell you is that I can bust out at least 20 overhand pullups at any given moment, which was again, documented on the website's competition about a year back, I'll PM you a link if you want.

Im not sure if its going to take me 2 minutes or not and I dont care.

I also understand everything you have pointed out but cmon, doing pushups everyday is not going to "overload" anyone muscles

hitting a 20 set chest routine everyday? Yes

hitting a few sets of pullups/pushups everyday is not going to cause any harm

in fact, I do that very same thing as a warmup before starting my workout no matter what it is.

come in the gym, hit a few sets of pullups, then some pushups, stretch, and then start the actual workout

 

[JustLurk]

My apologies. Let me try again to explain then.

He asked:


To which the answer is no. Muscle development is gained by progressive overload - i.e. pushing yourself further than you can comfortably manage. This results in microtrauma to the underlying muscle (you'll feel this primarily as DOMS - mild muscles soreness the next day). As the body recovers it adapts and grows stronger. If you're exercising properly this takes around 48 hours - hence resistance training should be performed every other day. If you don't allow yourself to recover from this microtrauma, this leads overtraining which has both short and long term problems.

So what if he's doing just a few push-ups / pull-ups everyday - and he's developed enough to deal with the workout without developing microtrauma? Well...it's largely pointless - he's not developing he's muscle strength or hypertrophy. To an extent he is helping the retention of his muscle mass...but this is no aid if he's doing a real workout three times a week.

And with regards to your video thing? I'm sure you happen to be the most amazing pull-up practitioner ever. All I'm trying to gauge is how many pull-ups and push-ups you can perform in two minutes. It's a question with two simple answers - both numbers. Ignoring the question is fine, deflecting it is slightly odd.

I believe your advice is at best pointless - telling him to do something that won't aid him at all, and at worse dangerous - giving him advice that could lead to overtraining and long term health problems. I have, and continue to train, extensively for over 14 years with some of the very best fitness professionals in the world. That is where my information comes from. You are more than welcome to discard it if you choose.



You can 'do' anything you like. Doesn't make it optimal for muscle development. In most manual labouring jobs people are working at a level they are comfortable with - i.e. they are not pushing themselves past what their body can handle. And a lot of manual workings suffer from chronic muscle soreness and a whole range of other issues in later life (mainly back issues with labourers) - just like athletes (knees) and soldiers (also knees).

Yeah, dude. Absolutely. That's why boxers and MMA guys, with their pushups and bodyweight exercises and punching a weight bag are so wimpy and without muscle. xD

 

[Noodles]

oh wait, hold on, let me time my pullups for some guy on the internet....

all I can tell you is that I can bust out at least 20 overhand pullups at any given moment, which was again, documented on the website's competition about a year back, I'll PM you a link if you want.

Im not sure if its going to take me 2 minutes or not and I dont care.

I also understand everything you have pointed out but cmon, doing pushups everyday is not going to "overload" anyone muscles

hitting a 20 set chest routine everyday? Yes

hitting a few sets of pullups/pushups everyday is not going to cause any harm

in fact, I do that very same thing as a warmup before starting my workout no matter what it is.

come in the gym, hit a few sets of pullups, then some pushups, stretch, and then start the actual workout

Easy cowboy. I just assumed that given you where quite happy to show video of your impressive feats you wouldn't mind giving out a statistic. Where I come from it's pretty standard, but that doesn't mean anything.

And then we disagree. You're giving advice without understanding the person's circumstances. While I'm sure you can drop 20 pull ups without a sweat (or 100 push ups for that matter) most people can't. Especially someone that's asking on a forum like this. If he could perform these feats he would be asking.

So we go back to progressive overload. Doing MORE than your body can deal with. If he's body can't do one pull-up or five push-ups then doing anything daily is going to cause damage. If he's got the body of an Greek god like you then no problem. If you disagree...maybe you can post some evidence to supplement your argument? Otherwise I think your ideas are slightly dangerous.

Yeah, dude. Absolutely. That's why boxers and MMA guys, with their pushups and bodyweight exercises and punching a weight bag are so wimpy and without muscle. xD

Again we come back to progressive overload. There is a huge difference from a person in amazing shape doing X push-ups a day (when they bench twice their body weight) and someone who can barely do X push-ups. As for boxing and MMA? I've a blackbelt in Judo, Kyokushin Karate and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jiutsu, as well as 9 years training as a Royal Marine Commando, and section boxing trophies. Function strength. I'm sure you've got an equally good knowledge of those areas?

Original poster - I've suggested what I think and attempted to back up what I'm saying with my background. You're a man - make your own choices. If you think that doing 1 push-up a day will help you...try it. Record it. See how you develop. If you think trying push-ups until your triceps give way is the way to go...try that to. Your body. Your life.

Or you could just go to a gym and talk to a professional. Save all of us some time.

 

[escobar04]

Easy cowboy. I just assumed that given you where quite happy to show video of your impressive feats you wouldn't mind giving out a statistic. Where I come from it's pretty standard, but that doesn't mean anything.

And then we disagree. You're giving advice without understanding the person's circumstances. While I'm sure you can drop 20 pull ups without a sweat (or 100 push ups for that matter) most people can't. Especially someone that's asking on a forum like this. If he could perform these feats he would be asking.

So we go back to progressive overload. Doing MORE than your body can deal with. If he's body can't do one pull-up or five push-ups then doing anything daily is going to cause damage. If he's got the body of an Greek god like you then no problem. If you disagree...maybe you can post some evidence to supplement your argument? Otherwise I think your ideas are slightly dangerous.



Again we come back to progressive overload. There is a huge difference from a person in amazing shape doing X push-ups a day (when they bench twice their body weight) and someone who can barely do X push-ups. As for boxing and MMA? I've a blackbelt in Judo, Kyokushin Karate and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jiutsu, as well as 9 years training as a Royal Marine Commando, and section boxing trophies. Function strength. I'm sure you've got an equally good knowledge of those areas?

Original poster - I've suggested what I think and attempted to back up what I'm saying with my background. You're a man - make your own choices. If you think that doing 1 push-up a day will help you...try it. Record it. See how you develop. If you think trying push-ups until your triceps give way is the way to go...try that to. Your body. Your life.

Or you could just go to a gym and talk to a professional. Save all of us some time.

even if the OP is on a typical routine he can still bust out pushups and pullups at any opportunity

they are basic bodyweight exercises and will not "damage" or "overtrain" even a beginner gym-goer

quit acting like he asked if it's ok to do Olympic style training for 8 hours/day 7days/week

he's doing pushups/pullups for fuks sake!





LOL'd at Greek God!

I guess where you come from, 20 pullups before lifting = GreekGod

 

[Noodles]

quit acting like he asked if it's ok to do Olympic style training for 8 hours/day 7days/week

...

I guess where you come from, 20 pullups before lifting = GreekGod

Since you won't take my word for it...look at the US Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test Scoring Table (source: http://www.usmc.mil/news/publications/Documents/MCO%20P6100.12%20W%20CH%201.pdf), Appendix G - somewhat closer to home for you. For a PERFECT score (i.e. well past the entry requirements) 20 pull-ups are required.

Now whilst I'm sure you can perform 20 pull-ups without enduring any muscle damage...it would appear the average US Marine cannot. Whilst this may indeed be the case, may I suggest that you're simply not doing them right?

I've never said that pull-ups, chin-ups or any other bodyweight / weight assisted exercise doesn't have a good place as part of a work out. What I've tried to state is that it's not something that should be performed daily at 'at every opportunity'. But hey...what ever floats your boat.

 

[Duracell_Bunny]

Pullups are only effective for muscle gain up to a certain point. After that point the only way is to increase your bodyweight by attaching a chain and weight.

At the moment I can only get 6-7 pullups done. I do 3 sets of these twice a week, and each week increase by one rep. When I first started I could only manage about 3. The same applies to dips.

 

[Veridin]

You get bigger muscles by spending three evenings a week at the gym, but doing 100 pushups a day is definitely better than nothing. It does change the way you look. You can keep your feet high while you do them to increase pressure, and you can do them at a shorter interval as your muscles get stronger.

The vast majority of people won't go to the gym. Let's accept that they too can do exercises, without being met by contempt by the gym goers every ... single ... time it is brought up in an internet forum.

 

[betheman]

ok, I can manage 5 pull ups at a time, 4 sets of 5 and Im done!
Im looking to increase this to get stronger and bigger.
Im wel aware that it has its limitation, what I guess Im asking is if I do this each day, will it be efective in terms of getting stronger and getting bigger (increasing reps to 10...15, 5-6-7 sets? ) or do I give a days rest in between? either way I dont mind, just want to get it right