Can't increase pushup reps. Increase in chinups, core strength. Pushups stuck at 20

[Jc1119]

I've struggled with chest exercises my whole life. I'm 6 foot and weigh about 170 so I've got long thin arms. My usual routine goes

Mon- legs
Tues-chest and bi
Wed-shoulders
Thurs-rest
Fri-back and tri
Sat-arms and shoulders
Sun-rest

Shoulders( including rotators) are always the weak link in any chest movement so I gave them priority. In addition, I alternate between weights and pushups on each chest day. I started with what I called 300's. Basically 15 sets of 20 pushups. Now I'm up to 500's , 20 sets of 25 or 25 sets of 20. Took about a year to get to do 500's but my bench press has increased dramatically by using pushups twice a month.

You might try giving yourself about a minute or so before moving to your next set of pushups so you can regain strength. And always, and I really mean always consume about 30g protein and up to 100 grams of carbs within 20 minutes of any workout. Most important meal of the day next to breakfast.

Some folks just have certain movements that they are not strong with..... mine was and always will be chest because of my build, but I can still make progress even if it's painfully slow. Negatives and drop sets are good ways to trick your chest into growth and stamina as well.

Stick to it and eventually you'll see progress. Good luck!

 

[SumoNinja]

yea, that sounds like a good plan right there. but if you have or can get a curl bar, you can add another simple workout to the pushup routine so that you're just not doing only pushups

if you have a curl bar or curl bar with weights i can suggest a workout routine that will help

 

[knifegill]

Thanks, jc1119. You're saying that you can do twenty pushups, wait a minute and then pull out another twenty?

Okay...combining that with the previous plan would look like this:

I come home and put meat in the pan. When it's almost done, I do my sets of pushups or chinups, whatever the numbers are, waiting a full minute between sets instead of my usual half-minute. Then I eat the meat. Then, a little later, I eat something carby like a carrot or two to replenish my glycogen reserves.

Next day, repeat but with the alternate exercise (chinups?).

Is a curl bar the usual large set of joined weights I see people use for deadlifts and such? I have some free-weights but only up to 16 pounds.

Seem workable?

 

[SumoNinja]

jc1119, i'm not trying to be or claim to be a fitness expert or anything, but i would recommend you combine chest with tri and not chest with bi.

i would swap the tri and bi on the tues and fri workouts

 

[Jc1119]

I do combine those two occasionally but for us who really struggle with chest movements it sometimes helps to work triceps with back because they are opposing muscle groups and they are fresh when you get to them. Alot of times after 3 or 4 chest exercises my tris are really spent so by moving them behind a pulling movement I can get the most out if them. I do alternate though between the two.

Here's another trick I learned from a football strength training coach. Work your weakest bodypart immediately after a leg movement such as leg presses or squats and see what happens. You will be able to lift more weight for more reps. Why? Leg movements release the greatest amount of testosterone into your system so you take advantage of that and your weakness can quickly become a strength. I made major gains in shoulder and tri movements by simply racking the bar in the squat rack and immediately dropping and doing shoulder width(prison style) pushups. First time you try it you'll really be surprised.

 

[knifegill]

Well, waiting longer between sets appears to be useless. I just cranked out my three sets for the day waiting a full minute between. 20, 8, then 5. And then anger. Salmon's on the stove half-done, apples coming a little later for carbs. Tomorrow, chin-ups.

 

[Jc1119]

Thanks, jc1119. You're saying that you can do twenty pushups, wait a minute and then pull out another twenty?

Okay...combining that with the previous plan would look like this:

I come home and put meat in the pan. When it's almost done, I do my sets of pushups or chinups, whatever the numbers are, waiting a full minute between sets instead of my usual half-minute. Then I eat the meat. Then, a little later, I eat something carby like a carrot or two to replenish my glycogen reserves.

Next day, repeat but with the alternate exercise (chinups?).

Is a curl bar the usual large set of joined weights I see people use for deadlifts and such? I have some free-weights but only up to 16 pounds.

Seem workable?

Yeah. If I'm really struggling with a muscle group I'll make a shake and drink it during my workout. The extra fuel gets put to good use for sure.

For pushups, I'll now do 20 rest a minute then do another 20 but I'll repeat the sequence 25 times. Takes about 45 minutes to complete. And i did not get there overnite. Took about a solid year to be able to do the sequence.

 

[SumoNinja]

try to increase your sets by decreasing our reps, it may help

do 10, rest, 10, rest, 5, rest, 5 or something like that

 

[Jc1119]

Well, waiting longer between sets appears to be useless. I just cranked out my three sets for the day waiting a full minute between. 20, 8, then 5. And then anger. Salmon's on the stove half-done, apples coming a little later for carbs. Tomorrow, chin-ups.

Try it for a few weeks and see if your numbers don't improve. Unfortunately progress with strength training and weight lifting can be painfully slow. I try to measure my progress over months sometimes instead of weeks.

 

[knifegill]

I will try both decreasing the number of reps and being patient. So I'll stop at 15 instead of going all the way to 20. Seems counter-intuitive but, like I said, I'll try anything at this point.

You make a good point in that resting the full minute might not make an obvious immediate difference. Perhaps the re-oxygenation and restocking of ATP make for better exertion and, having utilized the longer time period, the muscles may redesign themselves over time to be more efficient. Or something.