10 Tips to Increase Your Pushups FAST
Pushups require the strength of your chest, shoulders, triceps, and even your core, so it's no surprise that the number of pushups that you can do is closely linked to the strength of your upper body. That's why pushups are used to test overall physical fitness by organizations like police, military, and even at schools in gym classes. Pushups can also build up your upper body any equipment...they can even be done at home. So today I want to share 10 major tips that helped me literally five to 10x the number of pushups I could do. And the first important thing to do is make sure that you're performing the push up correctly with proper form. Now I know this may sound like common sense, but you wouldn't believe how many people I've worked with that think they know, but they actually don't know how to perform pushups properly. One of the most common mistakes that I've seen is when someone doesn't brace their core and that causes their spine to round either up or down rather than stay in a neutral position. Not only can this lead to a lower back injury but it can also actually make the exercise easier when you drop your hips or harder when you raise them. Another common mistake is flaring your elbows out too far, you want them at about a 45-degree angle from your body. A good tip to prevent your elbows from flaring out is to slightly rotate your hands outward before planting them on the ground for pushups. This will naturally rotate your elbows inward. One last mistake that you might make if you're a beginner is positioning your hands too narrow, which is great for overloading the triceps but it will reduce the number of reps that you can do overall. So the way to do pushups correctly is by first getting down on all fours with your hands slightly rotated outward and spreading them slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Then plant your toes into the ground behind you, get into a pushup position, while squeezing your core and glutes so that the back of your head your hips, and your heels end up in a relatively straight line. Then bend your elbows and lower your body down until your chest is right above the ground and finally push yourself back up until your elbows are straightened. Now the next tip to increase your pushups is many times overlooked even though it's the lowest hanging fruit, which is to lose body fat. There are a couple reasons why gymnasts and people that are good at calisthenics have low body fat percentages and one of the most obvious benefits is that they have to overcome less resistance when moving their bodies. The same is true for the push-up. The more you weigh, the harder it'll be. And the less you weigh, the easier it’ll be. This is actually contrary to the bench press, where people are generally stronger the heavier they are. This is because, unlike a pushup, bench pressing doesn't force you to lift your body weight. And to get a better idea we can look at a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that found that, on average, you have to push up about 64 percent of your body weight when doing push-ups. (1) So if you weigh lets say 200 pounds you'll have to push through 128lbs of resistance, meanwhile if you weigh 150 pounds you'll only have to overcome 96 pounds of resistance. So, it's obvious if you want to be able to do more push-ups, lose excess body fat and I have a ton of videos that can help with that that i'll link to this video. Another tip that can help those of you that are advanced, as well as those of you that are beginners, is to use Kneeling and Incline Push-Ups. Since you have to press up about 64% of your body weight when doing a regular push-up a lot of that weight will be taken off when performing pushups from your knees or with your hands placed on higher inclines. Specifically, the same study found that during kneeling pushups you're only lifting about 49 percent of your body weight and during elevated pushups, it can drop to 41 percent or even lower. So, it's pretty obvious how this can help beginners. If you can’t do a regular push-up yet, you could get started with kneeling or incline push-ups and progress from there. But even if you're advanced when you push yourself to failure it's very effective to drop to your knees and squeeze out a few additional reps especially if you haven't hit your rep target before giving out. This is actually very similar to performing a drop set when lifting weights and drop sets are very effective for gaining strength and size...
Push-ups engage the muscles in your chest, shoulders, triceps, and even your core, making it clear that the number of push-ups you can perform is closely tied to the strength of your upper body. This is why push-ups are often used as a measure of overall physical fitness by organizations like the police, military, and schools during gym classes. Additionally, push-ups can effectively build upper body strength without the need for equipment, allowing you to perform them at home. Here are ten essential tips that dramatically increased my push-up capacity. First and foremost, ensure you are executing push-ups with the correct form. While this may seem obvious, many individuals believe they know how to do them properly but actually do not. A common error is failing to brace the core, which can cause the spine to either round up or down instead of maintaining a neutral position. This not only increases the risk of lower back injuries but can also make the exercise easier if the hips drop or harder if they rise. Another frequent mistake is allowing the elbows to flare out too widely. Aim for a 45-degree angle from your body. To prevent flaring, slightly rotate your hands outward before placing them on the ground. For beginners, positioning the hands too narrowly is another mistake. While this can overload the triceps, it limits overall repetitions. To perform push-ups correctly, start on all fours, rotating your hands slightly outward and spreading them wider than shoulder-width. Plant your toes into the ground, engage your core and glutes to maintain a straight line from the back of your head to your heels, then bend your elbows to lower your body until your chest is just above the ground. Finally, push back up until your elbows are fully extended. Another often overlooked tip to increase push-up performance is reducing body fat. Gymnasts and those skilled in calisthenics tend to have lower body fat percentages, which makes it easier for them to move their bodies. This principle applies to push-ups: the more you weigh, the harder it is to perform them. Research indicates that when doing push-ups, an average person pushes up approximately 64% of their body weight. For instance, if you weigh 200 pounds, you are pushing against 128 pounds, while a person weighing 150 pounds pushes against only 96 pounds. Therefore, losing excess body fat can help you perform more push-ups effectively. Kneeling and incline push-ups are beneficial for both beginners and advanced participants. Since you lift less weight during these variations, they can help ease the transition to regular push-ups. During kneeling push-ups, you only push up about 49% of your body weight, and during elevated push-ups, this can drop to as low as 41%. Beginners can start with these variations to build strength, while advanced individuals may benefit from dropping to their knees to squeeze out extra reps when reaching failure, similar to performing drop sets in weightlifting. Once you can do more than 15 push-ups, it's important to challenge yourself with advanced variations to overload your muscles. Maximizing push-up strength is crucial, as increased strength makes performing regular push-ups easier. Elevating your feet during push-ups shifts more weight to your upper body, increasing difficulty. Research shows that raising your feet two feet off the ground increases resistance from 64% to 74%. Begin your workouts with these advanced variations, switch to regular push-ups as fatigue sets in, and consider using drop sets or kneeling push-ups for additional repetitions. In addition to variations, incorporating resistance bands can enhance the effectiveness of your push-ups. Studies indicate that using resistance bands during bench pressing leads to greater strength gains compared to using only free weights.
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