How many pushups can you do?
 

Not trying to be a tough guy, read an interesting article this morning. I have been playing some sports lately but my strength training has been lacking for about 6 months now.

I was able to knock out 42 and I am not going to lie, it was not easy, the last 3 were fire.


https://www.studyfinds.org/men-more-than-40-push-ups-heart-disease/

Less than you ;)

100 in 60 seconds.

A few years ago I was suffering though 50 at a time, but after the first 50 I was wasted, second and third set attempts were pathetic.

I could probably work my way back up to that number, but it would take several weeks.

Last summer a former US Coast Guard Pararescue told me that in training they would typically do about 25 at a time, planking between sets. Many sets throughout the day, ended up doing about 350 a day, every day. Best that you not think about it and just do it. :D

When I take to the trails in the woods, I sprint up all the hills and walk the rest. When I come upon a wood bridge over a creek I do 30 push-ups. There are about 10 bridges over three hours, so 300 in one day is not unusual for that once a week event. Top number was 400 in one day, was shooting for 500, just ran out of juice.

I do not do push-ups and weight lifting to failure as some recommend, I find it ruins the rest of the workout.

These days I'm more about keeping proper form and hitting different angles, I could care less about high numbers or high weights.

If you want to be strong - swim.

I look back on the routine and numbers on my chalk and marker board from just a couple of years ago back when I was swimming five days a week and I pale in comparison now. However I am not going for strength or even loss of fat, I am currently working on my form or muscle mass.

NOTE:
Be careful with those resistance bands, they can really get your heart rate going. I overdid it earlier in the week and had to drink some water and take a nap, my heart was doing double time and that isn't so good.

Those bands are great for getting more resistance out of doing push-ups though.

NOTE-2:

Please do not try any push-ups unless you have been doing them regularly.

You can rip up your rotator cuff or put your arm out of it's socket very easily if not warmed up and prepared.

If it's been a while try push-ups against a wall or kitchen counter and build some strength up over time.

The point of the article was if you can drop and punch out over 40 you have a very low chance of having heart problems in the future.

If you are hovering around 10 you might consider lifestyle changes or at the least consider it a wake up call.

I have not done push ups in probably a year or more, when I hit the 30 mark I was somewhat panicked I was not going to make it to 40. At 30 things were getting very interesting, by the 40 mark I was feeling fatigued knowing failure was very close.

So you kind of just float in the air parallel to the floor. :D

I just wonder how many guys will try this and end up in an ambulance.

If you haven't done it in a while this sound like a good way to commit suicide.

40 is a stretch goal right now.

I already have heart disease...had to wait 74 years for that honor, along with other stuff.

Nobody beats father time.

Very timely. I'm turning 60 later this year and out of shape, really do not exercise regularly at all. I do a few push-ups once in a while and plank but it's really minimal. I have too sedentary of a lifestyle and lower back/disc issues and it's taking its toll. At least 10 lbs. over weight, maybe more.

I'm committed to changing my diet to a Paleo or similar, as plant-based as I can hack and see what the results are. I really like to eat so it will be a challenge and take discipline. I also need to really exercise, I've been skating on my good genetics too long, meaning I do not have a tendency for obesity and people in my family tend to live to be very old.

I use to be able to do many push-ups and pull-ups, particularly pull-ups. not anymore.

Bad shoulders have prevented me from doing push ups or pull ups for years. And yet I was able to install around 5000 windows over a period of 15 years. To me strength is what you need to do what you need to do.

At the age of 18 or 19 I wondered how many pushups I could do at a single setting. I did 144. Haven't tried that since. Some years ago I took walks several times a week doing different exercises with my heavy hands weights. There was a series of ten, circular, flat, concrete structures following an underground pipeline along the route. I did ten pushups when I came to each one. That worked out pretty well in terms of exercise.

Don't fret, 8 years ago I was 20 lbs heavier and my waist 5"-6" wider than I am now. However, to get down to what I consider professional fighting weight I'm still 40 lbs too heavy.

That is ability, but you are right - if it gets you to what you need to do, then it's enough.

Our bodies are highly adaptive, one has to change it up and keep the body guessing about what you will throw next at it.

I can tell you about the fat woman that passed me on her bicycle while we were both going up a big long hill after me not riding for years was struggling. However it was enough to convince me that I wasn't going to go for ability alone.

At age 13 I did 120 pull-ups straight in a row, I only weighed 80 lbs at the time.

The story got around as some didn't believe it, so a few days later I did 130 with a crowd of about 35 boys watching.

I could do only about a dozen chin-ups, all my strength was in my back and legs from doing manual labor.

Jims5543, I matched your 42 push-ups this morning. However at 36 my legs were starting to tremble, at 38 my hips joined in, at 40 my whole lower body was in earthquake mode but I made it to 42. Oddly enough my torso, shoulders and arms didn't shake at all, so I think I have some lower body work ahead of me to do.

My accelerated heart-rate and heavy breathing lasted at least as long as it took to do the push-ups.

I really watched my form and did not rush the push-ups. Had I raced though them I'm sure I could have done more, but then what would be the point? It's just a number.

I've only recently put a small amount of push-ups back into my routine as I've been concentrating on free weights, resistant bands, cardio via elliptical trainer, and increasing grip strength by using my overhead pull up/chin up bar.

Push-ups are mostly in the summer when I'm sprinting though the woods or at the local park chasing a soccer ball.

I turned 62 today. I dropped with no warmup and started in. After 20, I thought "this is a joke!" At 30 i started to feel it. I made a slight pause at the top at 34, then 37, then 39. The last one i wished i had never started. But i got to 40.

So i fried up a lb. of bacon and sat down with a cube of butter to watch the golfing. (JK).

i need to get back to the gym. They have an amazing gym here in Kingston that seems to attract world class athletes and beautiful Jamaican women. The classes are definitely "in-your-face" "don't stop working hard!"

My current best is 50 in 2:10. 36 in the first minute with a 35 second break. Trying to get to 50 in a minute...

I had a tumor in my head removed in December and my lifting restrictions are at 20lbs- when I read this post I thought about seeing how many I could do and then remembered the pressure to my head might blow out the incision!

I'd need to drop 130 more to stand a chance...

A pro weighing more than 50 lbs would just kick my butt :)

I can do at least 100 and usually, stop at 100. I can do 1 handed pushups and used to do push ups with my friends son on my back when he was 4 or 5.

Interesting fact: When doing a push up on your feet you are lifting the equivalent of 85% of your weight. On your knees it is 75%

I think that study has a lot of weaknesses. First and most important: Men who can do 40 real pushup (I'm talking if I put my fist under your chest you touch it and go back up) are working out on a regular basis. Pushups are not the cause of them not having heart disease, being fit and regular exercise is.