itsme

a few months ago, i was able to do 40 push ups with no problem (Its not bad but oh well).
Today in gym class we had a test and i did horrible on push ups. i could only do like 6 push ups. I havent put on much weight at all. i have no idea why i cant do any push ups.
PLEASE HELP ME!!! any suggestions on how to get better??

if it helps im a 15 year old male. 151 pounds. and 5 feet 10 inches. and I can do as many sit ups as i want. but why cant i do push ups??

kuan

15 year old? Are you spending all you energy doing other stuff?

Seriously, just do more pushups.

Blaise655

You must've stopped doing them for a while to drop from 40 to 6. The only way to get better at pushups is to keep on doing them. I have mixed feelings about telling you to do them daily, but you can get better quickly by doing so. So tomorrow, or today, whatever, do your six. The next day do seven, or eight if you can. Just keep adding more and more incrementally until you're where you want to be.

itsme

thanks. hopefully it will work!

pmbmsu

There probably is alot of variables that may help you asess your push up performance today. That seems to be a pretty drastic drop in Pec strength. If it a true test of your pectoral strength than there are definetly ways to increase this strength. First come up with a game plan or work out plan if you will. If it is any consellation when I was your age I had terrible chest strength. I was a good football athelete but was laughed out of the gym by others. I put a plan together and when my NFL career was over I was benching 457lbs. So for what it is worth here is my suggestion. If you can only do 6 push ups. Than that is were you start.
Do 3 set of 6 push ups hand shoulder width apart.
3 sets of 6 with hand close. This will focus more on triceps
then do one set of 20 on you knees shoulder width apart.

Take a day of rest. Muscles grow on rest days.

You can of course vary and increase as you go and I am sure you will be pumping at as many push up as you want real soon. Good luck man.

itsme

thanks again!

jakemoffatt

At about your age I started doing push ups every night before bed. I would just do them until I couldn't anymore. I mean... I always went until it took me about 20 or 30 seconds to finish that last pushup... when I was done my arms were like jelly. Every night. No breaks. Every night. I got up to about 85 or 90 pushups per night. I don't know why I stopped but I did. I can only do about 35 or 40 now (but I've been going to the gym lately).

jakemoffatt

Oh one more tip, itsme!

Regardless of whether you use my method or pmbmsus method (which is probably better), I advise that you keep a log for yourself. Keep track of your reps and how many sets you did. Date each entry. Make a short note each time you work out, like "I felt really good today" or "a bit of a cold"... Keeping track of it will keep you motivated to stick to your workout routine and the more you do it the more it will just become a habit and not just a workout. Another thought I have is that if you make out a chart (like, in excel or something) and then you PRE-date each entry, if you get lazy one night and then see a blank spot on your chart it will "guilt" you into not forgetting or skipping.

Also... Always set a goal when you workout, before you start. Say to yourself... I will do 7 pushups tonight. Or... I will do 20 incline pushups... If you are not feeling well, just try to do what you did the day or workout before. If you feel really good, get a little ambitious and go for a bit extra.

You can also reward yourself for stellar performance. I don't know what a good reward would be for you but just pick something... like... treat yourself to a nice dinner or something.

Well, hope those suggestions help you out!

Cheers.

jslopez

Stay away form the x-box

deadly downtube

i spent months working at pushups and the most i could ever do on my best day was 30... thankfully i build leg muscle much better.

HDTVKSS

im curious with pushups, is it mainly chest or are there more muscles involved?
A bench press is more of an isolation as you are supported by your back, but i imagine in a pushup your bceps, shoulders, tris and back are being used to some degree? can anyone confirm that?

pmbmsu

Hdtvkss you are correct there are more muscles involved in both push up and a bench press. The biggest differance between push up and bench press is push ups you will use more core muscles to stabilize body while doing a push up.

Muscle used:
Primary
Pecs
tri's
Deltoids
secondary
Lat's (Back)
Lats are firing when you bringing wieght to your chest or going down with a push up.

*** You can get a more effiecient work out by going down on a 5 count. The washington Redskins had great success by increased resistance on negatives. Great Strength builder.