Exercises to improve press ups??

[IcedBlood]

I'm looking to improve the amount of press ups that I can perform within a set time limit. Obviously just doing press ups over and over again will help me achieve this but honestly it gets extremely boring lol. I've been doing chest presses with dumbells, at an incline and flat on my back. And I've also been working on my triceps and recently starting working on my shoulders. I exercise all my main body parts but really focus on arms and chest and will also now start properly focusing on my shoulders. Is there anything here that I've overlooked or anything else that you think I could do to help improve?

[sukhenkoy]

Just do different variations of press-ups (feet elevated onto a chair, one-arm press-ups, diamond press-ups, wide shoulder press-ups).

Also, if you're looking to increase your number of press-ups of a certain style, just do about 50 of that amount in sets. Then, the next week or two, increase that number to 55, or something like that. Might also look into maxing out your press-ups one or two times a week to see results.

That's what worked for me. Just keep working at it steadily and you'll see increases.

[g0tcha]

yeah it gets boring but the only way you can increase the amount and speed you have to just do it. do sets. i got to the point where i could knock out 300 in around 8 sets. just because your weight training doesnt mean it will improve your pushups by a lot. thats why even though mma fighters and boxers weight lift and still do a lot of conditioning with striking drills because your muscles need to get accustomed to the movements even if they are conditioned in some other form or fashion i.e. weight lifting. just do them in sets and go as fast as you can while preserving form. start of with set and rep range. i started with sets of 20-25 and increased the amount of reps and sets as i improved.

[TheNegation]

What do you mean by improve?

Ability to do More?
Lift More Weight
More Size?

........????

[IcedBlood]

Thanks for the advice

And it was the ability to do more..... who is that in your dp he looks like a monster!?!?!

[TheNegation]

Thanks for the advice

And it was the ability to do more..... who is that in your dp he looks like a monster!?!?!

No idea who he is but he's sponsored by Universal Animal.

Check this program out.
http://forums.menshealth.com/eve/for...21/m/612106525

[Squirrel]

Surprisingly enoug, to be able to do more push ups you should ... do more pushups.

Don't do a set amount of reps though; do them to failure, make sure you recover (wait 48 hrs) and eat right to gain strength.

Say you can do 10, after a week you should be able to do 12, then 14, then 16 etc.

Remember the 1st time you did a pull up? i bet you couldnt even squeeze one; nowadays you should be able to do multiple sets with double figure reps. It's all about progression and pushing yourself in a controlled manner.

[IcedBlood]

No idea who he is but he's sponsored by Universal Animal.

Check this program out.
http://forums.menshealth.com/eve/for...21/m/612106525

I've had a look at the evil russian programme before. It's hard for me to do with being in work most of the day. If i dropped down and started doing press ups every so often I think people may start to ask questions about my sanity. I'm going to start doing sets of press up's when i get home from the gym, on days that I'm not working on chest or arms. I tried doing it when I got home today but had done a pretty intense workout on my upper body and was barely able to push out 15. I've been told this is good though, doing press ups when muscles have been worked and are fatigued will increase the amount I can perform when my muscles are properly rested and have been warmed up adaquately.

[j]

1 - start out pushing off of a wall. but this is only for extraordinarily weak people.

2 - you probably wanna start here, with push-ups where the weight is on your knees instead of your toes. you should be able to do 50+ very easily. if you find that u can do more than 150, then start or advance to step 3.

3 - regular push-ups. you know these. once you can do 50+ with relative ease, move on to step 4.

4 - push-ups with small amount of weight on your back(use a backpack).

5 - push-ups with feet up on a chair so that your body weight shifts more on your hands than feet.

6 - after fairly hard work, you should move on to hand stands. balance against a wall for support at first. you may also start to practice finger tip push-ups which will strengthen the hand overall.

7 - hand stand push-ups.

8 - finger handstands and finger handstand push-ups. after a while of training reduce the number of fingers that you need to hold yourself up. eventually you want to be able to stand on just a finger or two. i have succeeded using just my two thumbs and also using the thumb and index finger variation. but i havent got past staying up for a considerable period of time on less than 2 fingers per hand(four in total) or the 2 thumbs only variation yet. Edit: using just two fingers on 1 hand alone usually has required tying the 2 fingers together for support the way i have seen it. i haven't got to this stage yet.

[sukhenkoy]

1 - start out pushing off of a wall. but this is only for extraordinarily weak people.

2 - you probably wanna start here, with push-ups where the weight is on your knees instead of your toes. you should be able to do 50+ very easily. if you find that u can do more than 150, then start or advance to step 3.

3 - regular push-ups. you know these. once you can do 50+ with relative ease, move on to step 4.

4 - push-ups with small amount of weight on your back(use a backpack).

5 - push-ups with feet up on a chair so that your body weight shifts more on your hands than feet.

6 - after fairly hard work, you should move on to hand stands. balance against a wall for support at first. you may also start to practice finger tip push-ups which will strengthen the hand overall.

7 - hand stand push-ups.

8 - finger handstands and finger handstand push-ups. after a while of training reduce the number of fingers that you need to hold yourself up. eventually you want to be able to stand on just a finger or two. i have succeeded using just my two thumbs and also using the thumb and index finger variation. but i havent got past staying up for a considerable period of time on less than 2 fingers per hand(four in total) or the 2 thumbs only variation yet. Edit: using just two fingers on 1 hand alone usually has required tying the 2 fingers together for support the way i have seen it. i haven't got to this stage yet.

I'd have to see you do 8 to believe it.