75 good form
10 diamond
75 good form
10 diamond
I just did 77, although not the four-point-touch style mentioned earlier--I get within an inch of the ground with my chest and go all the way up. Three times a week I do five sets of alternating push-ups and abdominals; I can do 25 push-ups each set right now. This question has inspired me to go over 100, which I haven't done in about 20 years.
I had a fitness-maniac coach in college who had us do thousands of sit-ups, and I did 3,333 in a row when I was 21. But I honestly can't understand how anyone can do thousands of push-ups straight. It seems vastly harder than doing a lot of sit-ups. I do push-ups pretty frequently and can't imagine getting past 250 or so, even if I devoted the kind of time to it that I do to running. How does that work? [quote]Minds of giants wrote:
I got in 11 before my arms gave out. Pushups are hard!
Last timei tried around 40, but I always do them with elbows tucked in, hands shoulder width apart, which is apparently harder than elbows out...
WR for 5 minutes is 441, the video is absurd, form looks illegal, who judges this stuff?
My max set is 65, which is a little frustrating because I easily do one set of 35-45 every day (sometimes many sets). Any tips on increasing one's max set?
See also the 4-minute push-up challenge: As many as you can in 4 minutes, with your rest distributed however you like. My best is 106, and I consistently hit 100.
Queen la queefa
You nailed it. You can easily double or triple your max with lousy form. Anything over 35 is excellent with proper form. Honestly report your result using Brian's technique. Or cheat, whatever....who gives a s**t.
Age almost 58:
I never do regular pushups, but when I do I can usually grind out 70 military-style (one fist diameter off floor). 103 is my all-time best.
What I DO do:
sets of 10-20 pullups depending on style or grip, 10 with 30 lbs added weight. Last year I trained for # and got up to 30 in a set (age 56)
32 dips the other day
tons of squats, with/without weight. Other drills and jumps as I feel.
Run 35-45 miles /week in 4-5 sessions, with hills and speedwork (no races right now) long runs up to 14 miles on trails.
PLUS at least three sessions of gymnastics/parcours/rock climbing, lasting up to 4-6 hours (with breaks, obviously). PLUS a session or two of weights (3-5 sessions for all of this each week). Mostly these are ancillary/for injury prevention.
Yoga throughout the day, mixed with other training.
Total 3-6 hours a day training (semi-retired). 163 lbs with 29-inch waist.
By this time next year I will have a website with vids of all my training.
30-40. I'm 5 8, 145.
about 30 slow ones with good form. my goal is to be able to do 100 by the end of the year
[/quote]
Trouble with this is that the difficulty of doing pushups is strongly dependent on form and how low you go. If you're doing them for your own benefit then as long as you're consistent then you can make comparisons with your own past performance.
It's really hard to make meaningful comparisons with the performance of others.[/quote]
Precisely. The best you can do to make a meaningful comparison is to set a standard for form and time allowed. Most probably assume this, too, but resting can only be done with your body off the ground (except your hands and toes of course). Elbows locked or in the bottom pushup position with arms at 90 degrees.
Following the Navy PRT rules as I remember them (2 mins, lock arms going up, 90 degrees going down, whole body straight) I did 37. As I already knew, I need work on upper body strength.
eshekinah wrote:
Precisely. The best you can do to make a meaningful comparison is to set a standard for form and time allowed. Most probably assume this, too, but resting can only be done with your body off the ground (except your hands and toes of course). Elbows locked or in the bottom pushup position with arms at 90 degrees.
Following the Navy PRT rules as I remember them (2 mins, lock arms going up, 90 degrees going down, whole body straight) I did 37. As I already knew, I need work on upper body strength.
I do not see how it is possible to be resting in the bottom pushup position with arms at 90 degrees.
Brian wrote:
Arms locked at the top - contact with floor at 4 points on the bottom (nose, chest, pelvis, knees) is a full pushup.
Only a clown does pushups like this. Right-angle, full extension is the standard.
It is patently ridiculous to lock elbows on an exercise as easy as a pushup. It requires no extra effort and merely slows it down. It also allows you to rest and adjust your stance between reps.
It's not a powerlifting competition where you have to prove to a judge that you can hold several hundred pounds at full extension. It's half your bodyweight.
Bad Wigins wrote:
Only a clown does pushups like this. Right-angle, full extension is the standard.
It is patently ridiculous to lock elbows on an exercise as easy as a pushup. It requires no extra effort and merely slows it down. It also allows you to rest and adjust your stance between reps.
It's not a powerlifting competition where you have to prove to a judge that you can hold several hundred pounds at full extension. It's half your bodyweight.
70%
Chest-to-floor is also ridiculous because it pushes the range of motion of the involved muscles well beyond what the kinetic chains employing them involve. There is a stretch reflex that kicks in at around 90 degree elbow flexion, anything below that and it becomes a useless isolation exercise. It's like doing plyometric bounds, but each time you land you turn it into a one-legged squat before bounding again. Functionally useless.
And again, adding points of support allows you to stop and rest. If your chest is on the ground, your arms are not bearing your weight at all. You are the cheater, Brian.
Right angle, full extension but no locking, means your arms are bearing at least half your weight the entire time through their natural range of motion.
30 Tops. Maybe 1 Diamond. Probably 1 Clap. Maybe.
physics/engineering folks wrote:
To get an idea of how much weight you are actually "benching" place your hands on a bathroom scale while remaining in pushup position. For me the reading is about 70% of my body weight. For everyone it will be more than 50%. For men, in general it will be a slightly higher percentage than for women because men's weight is more concentrated in their upper body as compared to women's relatively higher concentrations around the hip area.
Good explanation!
Also interesting is while on the scale, hold the up position (around 70% of my body weight), and then hold in the down position (around 76.5% of my body weight).
And, while holding in the up position - switch between good form (straight back) and poor form (sagging back). I was surprised to see the weight go up with the poor form.
22 and I'm a girl. No modified pushups, real ones. I'd like to work up to 50. 22 was tough.
Conventional: 45
Diamond: 20
Clap: 1