# Press-ups.



## Trevrev (20 Nov 2009)

If i have a couple of spare minutes i do press-ups.
When i get to work in the morning after my 7 mile commute, i do press-ups and crunches. I try to get 200 press-ups done before i start work. I do them in batches of 50.
I'm now obsessed with being able to do 100 press-ups in one hit. With the amount of excercise i do i thought this would be easy........Wrong !!!
I'm hitting a wall at 90......
Can anyone here do 100 in one hit ???


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## Inertia (20 Nov 2009)

Not sure if you have tried this http://hundredpushups.com/

I cracked but plan to go back to it


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## upsidedown (20 Nov 2009)

I can do one proper one, after that it's more like trying to stretch my nose to touch the floor, followed by shaking and grunting to get back up again.

Me trying a pull up is a sight to behold.


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## ChrisKH (20 Nov 2009)

My brother can. Ex-RAF regiment. He can do them sleeping.

Sorry, that's not what you wanted to hear. If you do enough of them, regularly enough, you will break that barrier. But like anything, the minute you relax your numbers and reduce the volume the ability to do them endlessly, ends quite quickly. I am told.


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## kfinlay (20 Nov 2009)

Trevrev said:


> Can anyone here do 100 in one hit ???



Yep 
I work out 4 times a week and it took time. I did hit a wall at about 80 but got thru it by resting for 30 secs then doing more. After a couple of weeks I was able to get keep going without the break. Stick with it mate


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## mad al (20 Nov 2009)

Hell I just couldn't do them


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## Dayvo (20 Nov 2009)

The thing with push-ups, like sit-ups and crunches, is not the quantity of them, but the quality.

Slow, controlled exercises are more beneficial to the body than quick, sloppy ones.

Just have a look at the macho gym user lifting far too much on the dumb bells and using his whole upper body, and bending and twisting his back, instead of letting the arm/shoulder do the work.

But, saying that, that is an impressive amount of push-ups!


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## Trevrev (20 Nov 2009)

Dayvo said:


> The thing with push-ups, like sit-ups and crunches, is not the quantity of them, but the quality.
> 
> Slow, controlled exercises are more beneficial to the body than quick, sloppy ones.
> 
> ...



You're right Dayvo......Slow and contolled is the way forward, hence the reason i do batches of 50.
But excercise is quite dull, and it's good to have a challenge once in a while. Thats why i'm aiming for 100.
Not sure what i'll do when i reach that target.....LOL.


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## palinurus (20 Nov 2009)

200!

I can do three. _And _I cheat.


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## darkstar (20 Nov 2009)

I've never really seen the point of doing 100 reps of anything, why not put some weight on your back?


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## jeltz (20 Nov 2009)

darkstar said:


> I've never really seen the point of doing 100 reps of anything, why not put some weight on your back?



What ate you hoping to achieve?

I've been in able to do 100 in one go plenty of times, not at the moment but its only a weeks or 2's practice to get back there. 

However its generally better to do fewer but to work a variety of different types of press ups and there are so many different types:-

Wide arm, hands close (tricep), press ups with a short pause on the halfway up and halfway down, slow controlled ones, explosive press up with a clap or complete feet and hands off the floor bounce, knuckle press ups, using press up bars (my favourite is them with feet on a chair), one leg off the ground, one arm (tripod) push ups, Hindu push ups. 

If you do loads and loads of reps of one style then you won't build the other muscles which interact with the ones you are building.


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## Crankarm (21 Nov 2009)

jeltz said:


> What ate you hoping to achieve?
> 
> I've been in able to do 100 in one go plenty of times, not at the moment but its only a weeks or 2's practice to get back there.
> 
> ...



Yeah, on your knuckles, one arm at a time on a concrete floor or on stone paving. Can you do 100 two arm press ups on your knuckles with a 20kg weight on your back and clapping your hands together between each?

The ones to do a lot of reps are 1) chin ups and 2) crunches - straight and twisting your trunk, right elbow to left side and left elbow to right side and 3) squat thrusts.

You must be pleasant company to work with all that smell of sweat .


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## Trevrev (21 Nov 2009)

jeltz said:


> What ate you hoping to achieve?



I'm hoping to achieve doing 100 press-ups. It's that simple !!


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## Trevrev (21 Nov 2009)

jeltz said:


> Wide arm, hands close (tricep), press ups with a short pause on the halfway up and halfway down, slow controlled ones, explosive press up with a clap or complete feet and hands off the floor bounce, knuckle press ups, using press up bars (my favourite is them with feet on a chair), one leg off the ground, one arm (tripod) push ups, Hindu push ups.



Do all that sort of stuff apart from the Hindu ones......Variety is the spice of life.


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## jeltz (21 Nov 2009)

Crankarm said:


> Can you do 100 two arm press ups on your knuckles with a 20kg weight on your back and clapping your hands together between each?



No, not unless I loose 25kg in weight 1st!


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## jeltz (21 Nov 2009)

Trevrev said:


> I'm hoping to achieve doing 100 press-ups. It's that simple !!



Personal goals are a great motivator, so with determination you'll blast through it before long. The mind gives out before the body, be stubborn and don't stop.


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## Kirstie (28 Nov 2009)

I would love to be able to do one! That said I'm a demon with the crunches...


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## walker (30 Nov 2009)

Trevrev said:


> You're right Dayvo......Slow and contolled is the way forward, hence the reason i do batches of 50.
> But excercise is quite dull, and it's good to have a challenge once in a while. Thats why i'm aiming for 100.
> Not sure what i'll do when i reach that target.....LOL.



When I was PT training, one of the things we had to do was how many we could do in a minute, try that one next


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## Cahill (30 Nov 2009)

I do masses and masses of press ups at the gym and all varieties when I go to karate. The yoga/Hindu press ups are quite interesting. I find that most classes run at the gym always include them irrespective of the type of class. There are three female instructors in particular who knock press ups out like nobodys' business. Unbelievable but it does show what can be achieved with time and effort. I do loads of crunches and sit ups but don't feel as if I need them any more as I've done millions over the past 36 years. Since I semi retired aged 55 I'm never away from the gym, cycling doing martial arts or looking after the grand kids.


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## montage (30 Nov 2009)

Working on elbows in press ups with a very strict technique ( I dont let the back arch at all, ever) and lowered until the chest touches a sawn in half tennis ball.

Aiming to do 60 in 2 minutes for the Royal Marine's selection.
Need to do 16 overgrasp pullups (WOW HARD)
and 85 situps in 2 minutes


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## gaz (30 Nov 2009)

the problem with sit ups is your only lifting your own weight. at least doing various exercises with dumbbells you can increase the weight easily over time.


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## fwgx (3 Dec 2009)

I do about 20-40 pressups a day, but after a few years I still can't do more than 20 good ones at a time. They've just never gotten easier. I don't go to the gym though.


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## Trevrev (3 Dec 2009)

I hit 92 this morning......So near yet so far. Thing is, after a 5 min rest i can still easily bang out another 60-70 before hitting the wall.
My work mate seems to think, me, having just cycled 7 miles isn't helping my efforts.
My thoughts are, thats the best time to do them, while i'm still warmed up. 
It's getting closer !!!


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## Bill Gates (3 Dec 2009)

I got up to 110 press ups straight off a few years ago, but the form wasn't too good. Got bored so decided to keep the best form and go slowly and could only manage 50. Got bored again so now only do 20 but slowly with best form on the knuckles. No longer bored


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## Trevrev (3 Dec 2009)

You're right Bill, press-ups are boring, as is all exercise in my opinion.
But, added with crunches and my cycling ( Commuting only ), i'm looking fitter and leaner than i've ever looked in my 42 years.
Without spending Sh*t loads on gym membership, press-ups do wonders for top half.


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## Bill Gates (3 Dec 2009)

Trevrev said:


> You're right Bill, press-ups are boring, *as is all exercise in my opinion.*
> But, added with crunches and my cycling ( Commuting only ), i'm looking fitter and leaner than i've ever looked in my 42 years.
> Without spending Sh*t loads on gym membership, press-ups do wonders for top half.



When you get to a stage that you feel there is nothing further to gain from doing an extra 10 reps then you need to vary it so as to make it more difficult or be content with the number you've reached. It seems you've not yet reached that stage.

Take crunches. You start by doing 10 then 20 and so on. When you can do 500 then you vary it by lifting your feet off the floor with your legs still bent. Get to 500 then you put your legs straight up towards the ceiling. It now gets harder again. I can now do 1000 crunches with my legs straight up but I only bother with 500. A 1000 just takes too long around 12 minutes. Enough is enough.


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## montage (4 Dec 2009)

I wonder what is more advantageous..... doing sets of sit ups/press ups say in 20s, or just try to max out (until failure) every time?


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## Trevrev (4 Dec 2009)

I've always been one for " Do it slow, made 'em grow".
Very controlled.......Hitting a max of between 30 to 40 press-ups.
It's only since i've been trying to hit 100 that i've upped my speed, although still controlled, just faster.....And in doing that i've felt more pumped at the end of my reps. Also i've seen a difference in my Chest and Abs. I feel, where i've been doing the slow reps for so long my body has got used to that regardless of what type of press-up i did.
Either way i think changing the routine once in a while is much better way to excercise.


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