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So, you want to know how to do more push-ups? Well, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss what you can do in order to increase the amount of push-ups you can do.
Table Of Contents
How to do More Push-Ups
Push-ups are one of the most common exercises people turn to when it comes to working out - and for good reason. Push-ups are an extremely effective exercise that engages multiple muscle groups at once and is very efficient at torching lots of calories fast. But how can you improve your push-ups and do more of them?
Master the Technique
The first step to improving your push-ups is to understand how to do push-ups fully. You may think you know how to, but you may be completely wrong, and this could be affecting your gains and therefore preventing you from getting better at push-ups. But what is the correct technique for push-ups?
How to do Push-Ups with the Correct Technique:
Start in a high plank position, with your palms flat on the floor, stacked directly below your shoulders
Squeeze your shoulders, glutes, and core to create full-body tension. Your spine should form a straight line, with a neutral spine
Bend your elbows to descend to the floor, stopping with your chest just above the ground. Your elbows should be at a 45-degree angle relative to the torso
Press back up off the floor, raising up to the top position with your elbows fully extended
Repeat for desired number of reps.
Ensure that you frequently practice your technique so you know for sure that you have it fully mastered, then after doing so you are ready to begin the next step of getting better at push-ups. Another benefit of understanding the form for push-ups is that you will reduce the risk of injury during the movement.
Set Your Routine
The next step is to try out different routines and find out which one works best for you. But why is this? By getting into a good routine, you can effectively speed up your progress, allowing you to increase your push-ups fast.
A good routine includes when you should do a certain amount of push-ups and when you should be resting. It could also include stuff such as stretching and warm-ups before or after doing push-ups.
Good Push-Up Routine for Getting Better at Push-Ups:
Day 1:
Assisted push-up (3 x 8-10)
Assisted temp push-up (2 x 6)
Decline push-up (3 x 6-8)
Extended plank (4 x 20 seconds)
Day 2:
Assisted close-grip push-ups (4 x 8)
Half range of motion push-ups (2 x 5)
Bodyweight skull crushers (3 x 8)
Up and down plank (3 x 10-12 reps)
Day 3:
Wide-grip assisted push-ups (3 x 8-10)
Assisted pause to dead-stop push-ups (3 x 5)
Lateral raise (3 x 10-12)
Prone YTWs (3 rounds)
Day 4: Rest
Try Different Variations
There is a large variety of push-up variations that you must consider trying out to find which ones work best for you. But what is the point in utilising different push-up variations? By incorporating variations of the traditional push-up into your workout routine, you can target different muscle groups and make the exercise harder or easier for you, allowing you to challenge yourself when needed. So which variations are the best?
Best Push-Up Variations and their Benefits:
Strict (Military) Push-Ups
Strengthens the upper body - primarily the chest, shoulders, and triceps - as well as the core and back muscles
Wide Hands Push-Ups
Strengthens the upper body and core, with more focus on the pectoral muscles
Diamond Push-Ups
Strengthens the upper body and core, with more focus on the triceps
Pike Push-Ups
Strengthens the upper body and core, with more focus on the shoulders
Staggered Hands Push-Ups
Trains the push-up muscles asymmetrically across the body and requires more core activation for stability
Archer Push-Ups
Applies a higher percentage of body weight to a single arm, while the opposite arm assists (a good way to build up to a one-arm push-up)
One-Arm Push-Ups
Doubles the weight on a single arm and further activates the core for stability.
Gradually Increase Workload
The next thing you should consider when trying to do more push-ups is increasing your workload gradually. This can be either adding a little bit of resistance to your push-ups to make it more challenging, or pushing your limits and slowly increasing how many push-ups you do a day - for example, you could do 100 push-ups today, 101 push-ups tomorrow, and 102 push-ups the day after.
By doing this, your body will get used to doing a higher workload much faster, therefore allowing you to do more push-ups in the long run. However, you can't do this forever as humans can only do so much, so you will eventually reach a point where you won't be able to do much more or your progress will begin to slow. When this happens, just focus on maintaining the level of strength you already have.
Add Resistance
Similar to the previous point about gradually increasing the workload, slowly adding more resistance to your push-ups will help you rapidly put on muscle strength, therefore allowing you to complete more push-ups in one go. But how should you be doing this?
Purchasing professional equipment such as a weight vest can help you add resistance to your push-ups, making them more challenging. You could also create a makeshift weight vest by putting some weight into a rucksack and wearing it on your back while you do push-ups. However, I would not recommend simply placing a weight plate on your back while doing push-ups as they can slide off and break your fingers and cause injury, which would mean you cannot continue doing push-ups - this will result in you losing your progress.
Weight Vests for Push-Ups:
Stay Consistent
The last step to getting much better at press-ups is to stay consistent. Staying consistent with your push-up workout routine will allow you to continuously improve and get better at doing push-ups. Whereas, not being consistent with your push-up routine will result in decreased push-up performance and you will not see the progress you want.
Some people find it very difficult to stay consistent with any exercise in their life. This may be due to other responsibilities such as caring for someone or going to work, or it may be because of a lack of motivation and dedication.
How to Stay Consistent with Exercise:
Write a to-do list every evening for the next day then fulfil that list during your day
Think about your goals and what you want to achieve
Take progress pictures or jot down milestones and reflect back on them when you need to in order to see how far you have actually come
Watch daily motivational videos by PeakFitness on our socials (look in the footer)
Get someone to make sure you stay on track
Do it on the days you don't want to do it.
Summary
In this article, we have discussed the steps you can take to get better at push-ups and do a lot more of them. These steps were:
I hope you have found the information in this article useful and I hope any questions you had have been answered. Thank you for reading, please come back soon.
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