Pushups?

[powerlord]

OK this is really eating at me,I met a guy yesterday,an older guy probably 46 or so,he had a huge chest and some pretty good size all over,we started talking and the question came from me (how did ya build the chest?)He says lots and lots of pushups.I thought he was kidding,but I always noticed I've never seen him do any real heavy or intense chest training,he swears on a stack of bibles that that's the secret.He does sets of a 100 all through out the day but not every day,tries to get 500 a day in,and this guy's chest is great,have you guy's ever heard this?Or is this just something I didn't know?

 

[WalkingBeast]

Look at many prisoners who are thick. Dips and push-ups all day, so there may be something to it. My definition of true overtraining is much different then the norm though. I still like benching though, so Ill probabally stick to that.

 

[JKurz1]

actually, the exact opposite...........my cousin was in the army for 4 years where all he did was pushups...dude could do 1,000 at a drop of a hat..........said when he got back, he was never so weak in the chest in his entire life.........tendons may be strong, but muscle growth is impaired........

 

[eat big]

everyone is different, when my bench goes up so do my pushups

 

[Allon]

I personally feel that pushups are great for the chest. I don't do them that much because I am focusing on bench right now but I try to get them in once in 2 weeks.
I have found they effect my chest more than bench do personally...

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

I feel my chest better doing pushups than bench, but bench builds the strength and size.

I used to do about 200 pushups every other day and although my chest looked good, it certainly wasn't big or strong really.

If you eat enough and really work the pushups hard than I'm sure you can build size with them.

Vary your grip width, and try different variations of pushups. There are some brutal ones if you look for them.

 

[coldblue1955]

i try to do around 60 to 100 push-ups at least 2 or 3 times per week. I should do more tho.

 

[Lee]

pushups make my chest balloon. but a guy i used to work with was in the army and could do twice as many as me and was tiny. its all different.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

planche pushups baby!!! all chest and shoulders and bis. i think its more genetics, but i do get a killer pump in the chest from pushups, especially diamonds

 

[shaun]

did 52000 press ups last year, all I got was tendonitis in both elbows. bench
press is the daddy.

 

[VascularitY]

actually, the exact opposite...........my cousin was in the army for 4 years where all he did was pushups...dude could do 1,000 at a drop of a hat..........said when he got back, he was never so weak in the chest in his entire life.........tendons may be strong, but muscle growth is impaired........

Do u think the loss of muscle growth was because doing that many pushups effected him the same way doing 1000 reps on a barbell curl would effect bicep size? Basically becoming a cardio workout rather than a muscle builder. Perhaps if there was some way for him to do weighted pushups and keeping the reps much lower then muscle size would increase?

 

[anthrax]

did 52000 press ups last year, all I got was tendonitis in both elbows. bench
press is the daddy.

I always stop at 50,000

BTW I also have shoulders problems with weighted pull-ups

 

[Tom Treutlein]

I always wondered this. Someone should test it out.

 

[TRUEsoldier]

WELL...
I have been in the army for 6 years, I worked out in the school gym every once in awhile before Ijoined, then when I joined, stuck to only push ups for a good couple years, (and alot, I love PT)

IMO push ups did nothing for my chest size or strength. Once I finally started going to the gym again, I was so weak on the bench it sucked!!! But on the other hand, once I started lifting in the gym (full body; chest, tris, bi's, shoulders, back, legs) my push ups exploded!! I went from able to do about 70 in 2 mins (straight; for the pt test) to about 120 in 2 mins, and ran out of time before ran out of strength!
again IMO push ups worked my tri's way more than my chest, giving them good strength and deffinition, but nothing really for my chest development...I personally only do push ups for tri's, and I stick with a closer hand position, and keep contraction on them at all times...

But who knows

peace

 

[ProtienFiend]

maybe the old fellow was on HRT?

 

[Synpax]

I try to do 50+ each morning or right before bed. Proper form is hard to get - elbows in. Also, I use a device that helps me dip even lower while keeping my shoulders in the right place.

Lumberg sold it to me. It's one of those things you can use to do pullups by hanging it in a doorway and then putting it on the ground. It lets you dip your chest below your hands and lets you have a natural grip on the sides. I'll see if I can find a picture.

Pushups will not build muscle so much as build muscle endurance. It's a CNS thing, not a hypotrophy thing.

 

[RussianRocket]

Hypothetically, if you add resistance to your back (during a pushup) in the same manner as while doing a bench press, could this develop your pecs in the same way?

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Yes, of course. Weight added will definitely end in growth so long as eating is in order.