How many press-ups can you do?

finchy

My record's 70, usually I do 50 and my recent best is 55, all done without a break. Be honest, how many can you do?

I started doing press-ups seriously when my girlfriend told me that her hero is Attila the Hun. She's read loads of books and seen a few films/TV programmes about the man. I was starting to develop an inferiority complex, so I thought that the least I could do was to build up my strength. I'm quite pleased, because I used to struggle to get up to 25. For some reason, however many press-ups I do, I remain a hopelessly bad arm-wrestler.

fto-si

johnfinch wrote:

For some reason, however many press-ups I do, I remain a hopelessly bad arm-wrestler.

Different muscles involved thats why

STEFANOS4784

2, If i really push it

shockedsoshocked

fto-si wrote:

johnfinch wrote:

For some reason, however many press-ups I do, I remain a hopelessly bad arm-wrestler.

Different muscles involved thats why

And arm wrestling is about subtle maneuvering before hand. you want your arm as close to your body and upright as much as you can get away with.

Press Ups, my record is 46, during a PRMC I did (failed the running, pah). Much better at pull ups and tricep dips however. the Dip machine.

-liam-

Depends on how many time you move the pie from under my nose and back up again....

redddraggon

12 if I'm lucky - I normally end up in a quivering mess because of a bad shoulder injury I got playing rugby.

whyamihere

None. Bad wrists, my physio has banned be from doing them. Suits me.

HandjobDan

My best is 30 without break, usually do about 25 x 2 sets each night though, stops the man-boobs

ColinJ

Go for the hundred !

I'm too fat to do them at the moment, but last time I was slim I just got down and did 25 without any training. When I've lost weight I think I might try and build up to 100.

fuzzynavel

just did 30....could have done more but the xbox is calling

grimpeur

I do 2 x 60 every day on clenched fists, good for core strength. Trying to keep your back completely straight as you do them is challenging.

Vivid

Press-ups are a poor way of building up your strength.

If you trained full body then as your body weight increases it makes it harder to do press-ups as you are lifting more weight so it cancels itself out.

I used to weigh 9 stone at 5 10 and could manage 102, then after 3 years of training and weighing just over 13 stone i just attempted and got a mere 28.

micken

^vivid - agree

Try Pilates plank based exercises for core strength, move away from the six-pack and on to the trans-abs

shockedsoshocked

Vivid wrote:

Press-ups are a poor way of building up your strength.

If you trained full body then as your body weight increases it makes it harder to do press-ups as you are lifting more weight so it cancels itself out.
.

But because you're lifting more weight the muscles involved will become stronger enabling you to lift more weight, etc.

:?:

fuzzynavel

Vivid wrote:

Press-ups are a poor way of building up your strength.

If you trained full body then as your body weight increases it makes it harder to do press-ups as you are lifting more weight so it cancels itself out.

I used to weigh 9 stone at 5 10 and could manage 102, then after 3 years of training and weighing just over 13 stone i just attempted and got a mere 28.

If you kept doing press ups while you were gaining weight then your body should adapt

shockedsoshocked

Snap fuzzynavel!

on the road

My record is a big fat zero :oops:

sicknote

My best use to be 50 but now I can just get to 30 and have to start doing more.

merlie

just pushed 45 ... on the odd occasion when feel the need to do push ups I would normally do 5x20..... Last for a few days then I can't be bothered.

I like the idea of that 100 push ups link above - I think I'll give it a go.

GavH

Once did 80 in 2 mins but now I reckon I'd be lucky to get 60-65 without any kind of training in that area.
Worth noting that it makes a big difference if your hands are directly under your shoulders and your elbows pointing directly to the rear. This brings your triceps into play more than your pecs, which is what is used when the hands are wider apart.

Al_38

Personally I dont find them so useful...

I used to do 1-200 every night but all that it really made me was good at doing press-ups, similarly doing sit-ups every night used to do 200 religiously. Stopped doing that but I can still easily do that many in one go. I can't do as many press-ups in one go now but after a fair amount of weight training I can bench significantly more than I used to and have better endurance benching and more muscle mass. To make the press-ups more difficult try counting to 4 very slowly as you compress to the floor, pause for a count of 1, then lift away from the floor for another count of 4, pause for 1 at the top and repeat, it also makes a big difference how deep you go - nose to the floor is a lot harder than to upper-arms parallel to the floor. Or try clap press-ups

If you are looking to build muscle to look a bit more built I would recommend doing a rotation based on bench pull, bench press, military press, flys and some solid beach weights - bicep curls and scullcrushers or something.

finchy

Al_38 wrote:

If you are looking to build muscle to look a bit more built I would recommend doing a rotation based on bench pull, bench press, military press, flys and some solid beach weights - bicep curls and scullcrushers or something.

I've built up big biceps, but remain thin. I don't think I'd want to put on any more weight - I'm 6'3" and weigh 12st, and I have a decent balance between strength and power. I've decided to overcome my Attila the Hun inferiority complex by sacking a few cities. Anyone want to join me?

hambones

Big fat ZERO from me too. The 12 pins in my shoulder don't allow it!

OffTheBackAdam

Even when I was doing Tae Kwondo twice a week, I couldn't do more than 15-20, no chance of doing knuckle press-ups, wrong shaped hands for that.
Now?
Put me down for five at a push.

unclemalc

Vivid wrote:

Press-ups are a poor way of building up your strength.

If you trained full body then as your body weight increases it makes it harder to do press-ups as you are lifting more weight so it cancels itself out.

I used to weigh 9 stone at 5 10 and could manage 102, then after 3 years of training and weighing just over 13 stone i just attempted and got a mere 28.

Agreed. I have always been top heavy - big chest, 5L lung capacity etc, and could (once) easily bench-press stupid amounts. I blame it on having to use crutches regularly over the years from the age of 3.
Can still do 25-30 now but it hurts in places it never used to and I am a jellyfish afterwards.... :shock:

scwxx77

I usually do 3X20.

I tend to forget to breath which doesn't help.

itboffin

:shock: :shock: :shock:

No really :shock:

kettrinboy

when i was in my thirties and into working out my best was 62 press ups in a minute , just had a go right now and managed 26 , i,m 45 now though but if i practiced them for a while i could do more .At the time i did the 62 in a min press ups i could also do 600+ sit ups in one go as well , now i can just about do 100 of them

finchy

ColinJ wrote:

Go for the hundred !

I'm too fat to do them at the moment, but last time I was slim I just got down and did 25 without any training. When I've lost weight I think I might try and build up to 100.

I'm going for it! Started my training this week. I jumped straight into week 4, because I could already do 50. I might repeat the week, because I did find it fairly heavy going, although I managed to complete all of the sets. I did my first test today and I'm up to 59.

I'll keep this thread going to let you know how I'm getting on. Not that anybody could care less, I suspect, but I do love shameless boasting.

Anyone fancy joining me on this little challenge?

blackworx

Push ups are an exercise with so many variations in technique and posture that one man's 20 could easily be another's 40. As GavH pointed out, tricep pushups are a completely different kettle of fish. Most people - even those who consider themselves pretty buff - when actually made to do *proper* tricep pushups without a hint of cheating can't manage more than a dozen - and that's just one variation.

sicknote

blackworx wrote:

Push ups are an exercise with so many variations in technique and posture that one man's 20 could easily be another's 40. As GavH pointed out, tricep pushups are a completely different kettle of fish. Most people - even those who consider themselves pretty buff - when actually made to do *proper* tricep pushups without a hint of cheating can't manage more than a dozen - and that's just one variation.

There are lots of variations on press ups to and I learned this from the head of my Karate association, who had some very good ones :shock:

@ johnfinch

I am up for a challenge but not up to 50 yet but so see what I can do