Does more pushups = more strength?

[bladder23]

By being able to do more pushups, does that equate into more strength?

In other words, does doing lots of pushups increase strength at all? or just muscle endurance?

Edit:

120 lbs
5'8
Can do 55 pushups consecutively

Have a gym membership. Need you guys to recommend me how to get triceps, biceps and abs. (Currently pushups, chinups, situps)

Moved from Off Topic
moderator allisolm

 

[Injury]

Pushups are more or less worthless in terms of losing weight/gaining muscle.

AFAIK, more pushups just equals a higher threshhold for doing more pushups.

 

[halik]

unless theres someone sitting on your back, you're just burning calories

 

[Phokus]

What the hell are you guys talking about? Of course it increases strength... unless you weight nothing. If you can do pushups with ease, just have someone sit on you or put some weights on your back...

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: halik
unless theres someone sitting on your back, you're just burning calories

Depends on where you are at right now in pectoral strength. If you have weak pecs then pushups will build muscle, if you have a strong pecs it won't do much.

As for me, I weigh 185 pounds, I bench around 160. Push ups give me a pretty good pec workout. Not great, but it's better than nothing if I am not around a gym. My pecs are really weak though.

 

[bladder23]

Originally posted by: halik
unless theres someone sitting on your back, you're just burning calories

You mean Ive been doing nothing for the past 2 months but get skinnier?

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: bladder23

Originally posted by: halik
unless theres someone sitting on your back, you're just burning calories

You mean Ive been doing nothing for the past 2 months but get skinnier?

If you want to get bigger, you need to hit the big compound lifts - bench, squat, row, deadlift, pullups, dips, etc.

Oh yea, and eat a ton of healthy food

 

[Coquito]

I can pump out a nice chunk of pushups, but besides some stiffness in my chest cavity & an increased ability to do more pushups, it doesn't seem to be doing much.

 

[tfinch2]

Yes it does equal more strength. I am stronger if I can do 30 pushups compared to 15 push ups.

 

[TehMac]

Hey guys, all this talk of diet has got me wondering: is this good:

My usual diet:

Mashed taters (lots of butter), plus brocchili + occasional salad + lots of butter on taters + roast/chicken or if weekends, Brotwurst, Steak, chicken (ocasionally, if there's no steak) all BBQ'd + taters and vegetables. Maybe once ever week I have a lasagna that I could do without, but whatever.

How is that? Should I take supplements like creotine?

 

[bladder23]

Isnt a push-up just like an upside-down bench press?

edit: but with less weight

 

[UncleWai]

Triangle push-up is really nice, but quite straining on the joints.
I really prefer wide grip pull ups over push ups for results.
You won't get bulk like you would with weight training, but you get tone definition.

 

[KnickNut3]

Both, obviously. If you're weak, it'll build strength more. If you're strong and can do 50 already, it'll build endurance. Any resistance excercise does both. How there are such a wide range of answers here is beyond me.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: TehMac
Hey guys, all this talk of diet has got me wondering: is this good:

My usual diet:

Mashed taters (lots of butter), plus brocchili + occasional salad + lots of butter on taters + roast/chicken or if weekends, Brotwurst, Steak, chicken (ocasionally, if there's no steak) all BBQ'd + taters and vegetables. Maybe once ever week I have a lasagna that I could do without, but whatever.

How is that? Should I take supplements like creotine?

That diet looks like mostly fat to me, especially when you say "lots of butter". I don't see a lot of protein in there. I'm not sure what your goals are though. Compared to the average person, it might be pretty good However, since you mentioned creatine, I would say from a muscle-building standpoint, it's pretty poor.

You should definitely not take any supplements until you get your diet in order.

 

[SludgeFactory]

It'll increase strength to a point, pushups alone aren't going to get you to a 300 lb benchpress.

When you need to change things up try different hand positions, different angle of inclination, add a weighted backpack, etc. It's a good exercise, it activates a lot of muscles in the torso, even some abs/low back.

 

[Balt]

Originally posted by: TehMac
Hey guys, all this talk of diet has got me wondering: is this good:

My usual diet:

Mashed taters (lots of butter), plus brocchili + occasional salad + lots of butter on taters + roast/chicken or if weekends, Brotwurst, Steak, chicken (ocasionally, if there's no steak) all BBQ'd + taters and vegetables. Maybe once ever week I have a lasagna that I could do without, but whatever.

How is that? Should I take supplements like creotine?

Why would you think that mashed potatoes with lots of butter is a good thing?

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TehMac
Hey guys, all this talk of diet has got me wondering: is this good:

My usual diet:

Mashed taters (lots of butter), plus brocchili + occasional salad + lots of butter on taters + roast/chicken or if weekends, Brotwurst, Steak, chicken (ocasionally, if there's no steak) all BBQ'd + taters and vegetables. Maybe once ever week I have a lasagna that I could do without, but whatever.

How is that? Should I take supplements like creotine?

That diet looks like mostly fat to me, especially when you say "lots of butter". I don't see a lot of protein in there. I'm not sure what your goals are though. Compared to the average person, it might be pretty good However, since you mentioned creatine, I would say from a muscle-building standpoint, it's pretty poor.

You should definitely not take any supplements until you get your diet in order.

Ok, not butter, but healthy margarine. The meat is really the main course, with taters (and vegetables) as a supporting dish.

Originally posted by: Balt

Why would you think that mashed potatoes with lots of butter is a good thing?

I like eating taters with butter. I don't drown em out in butter, but I like using a lot, especially for baked taters.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TehMac
Hey guys, all this talk of diet has got me wondering: is this good:

My usual diet:

Mashed taters (lots of butter), plus brocchili + occasional salad + lots of butter on taters + roast/chicken or if weekends, Brotwurst, Steak, chicken (ocasionally, if there's no steak) all BBQ'd + taters and vegetables. Maybe once ever week I have a lasagna that I could do without, but whatever.

How is that? Should I take supplements like creotine?

That diet looks like mostly fat to me, especially when you say "lots of butter". I don't see a lot of protein in there. I'm not sure what your goals are though. Compared to the average person, it might be pretty good However, since you mentioned creatine, I would say from a muscle-building standpoint, it's pretty poor.

You should definitely not take any supplements until you get your diet in order.

Ok, not butter, but healthy margarine. The meat is really the main course, with taters (and vegetables) as a supporting dish.

Originally posted by: Balt

Why would you think that mashed potatoes with lots of butter is a good thing?

I like eating taters with butter. I don't drown em out in butter, but I like using a lot, especially for baked taters.

potatoes give very little in terms of nutrition, especially if you load it with butter/sour cream/bacon etc. If you want to build muscle, you need to eat a lot of lean meat like chicken breast.

Lasagna? hahahahaha. And what kind of dressing do you use with the salads?

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TehMac
Hey guys, all this talk of diet has got me wondering: is this good:

My usual diet:

Mashed taters (lots of butter), plus brocchili + occasional salad + lots of butter on taters + roast/chicken or if weekends, Brotwurst, Steak, chicken (ocasionally, if there's no steak) all BBQ'd + taters and vegetables. Maybe once ever week I have a lasagna that I could do without, but whatever.

How is that? Should I take supplements like creotine?

That diet looks like mostly fat to me, especially when you say "lots of butter". I don't see a lot of protein in there. I'm not sure what your goals are though. Compared to the average person, it might be pretty good However, since you mentioned creatine, I would say from a muscle-building standpoint, it's pretty poor.

You should definitely not take any supplements until you get your diet in order.

Ok, not butter, but healthy margarine. The meat is really the main course, with taters (and vegetables) as a supporting dish.

Originally posted by: Balt

Why would you think that mashed potatoes with lots of butter is a good thing?

I like eating taters with butter. I don't drown em out in butter, but I like using a lot, especially for baked taters.

potatoes give very little in terms of nutrition, especially if you load it with butter/sour cream/bacon etc. If you want to build muscle, you need to eat a lot of lean meat like chicken breast.

Lasagna? hahahahaha. And what kind of dressing do you use with the salads?

Yeah, I'm going to go with Mo0o on this one - your diet still isn't all that great, and you still haven't said what your goals are.

If you want to see how it all breaks down in terms of calories, protein, fat, and carbs, enter a typical day's diet here:

fitday

 

[TehMac]

I'm into muscle building, simply put. Building biceps, triceps, pecs, etc.

Trying to tone down my stomach, make it a little less protruding. I weigh 165, am 6' now.



I don't have any dressing with salad. The Lasagna was a liberal estimate, probably every 2 weeks or so. It's hard to say.

 

[imported_LoKe]

This is a funny thread. Pushups and situps are two of the greatest exercises you can do at home if you have no gym equipment. Now, that's not to say that you'll be ripped all over, but it will definitely help. Hell, even for cardio and building up your endurance, it's worth it.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: TehMac
I'm into muscle building, simply put. Building biceps, triceps, pecs, etc.

Trying to tone down my stomach, make it a little less protruding. I weigh 165, am 6' now.



I don't have any dressing with salad. The Lasagna was a liberal estimate, probably every 2 weeks or so. It's hard to say.

Your diet could still be improved quite a bit, and if you want to lose fat, you would be best off tracking what you ate anyway.

 

[Mo0o]

if a regulat pushup routine is too easy, try a backpack of weights/books.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TehMac
I'm into muscle building, simply put. Building biceps, triceps, pecs, etc.

Trying to tone down my stomach, make it a little less protruding. I weigh 165, am 6' now.



I don't have any dressing with salad. The Lasagna was a liberal estimate, probably every 2 weeks or so. It's hard to say.

Your diet could still be improved quite a bit, and if you want to lose fat, you would be best off tracking what you ate anyway.

I dont want to run myself into a skinny dude, I just want to turn it into muscle. Imo, situps are good for that, problem is, I don't have much time anymore.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: UncleWai
Triangle push-up is really nice, but quite straining on the joints.
I really prefer wide grip pull ups over push ups for results.
You won't get bulk like you would with weight training, but you get tone definition.

diamond pushups are really bad for the shoulders.
you can get pretty much the same thing though, by just doing regular close-hand pushups.
But do a variety. Do wide-arm, regular interval, and close-hand (have one-hands width inbetween both hands, thumbs pointing straight toward each other and touching, making what appears to be a box shape).
But yes, you definitely want to do more than push ups. On their own they will only get you so far.