Do you need to rest if you do push ups?

[DoubleZ711]

I know that if you lift weights you should take a day off from working with that muscle again so that it can grow, but does that count for pushups too? I would appreciate it if only an expert would answer I dont want people who are just taking a guess to reply. Thanks

[Trick]

This has been beaten to death already. If you're talking about normal push-ups, then it's fine, as long as you don't push yourself to extremes everyday, and assuming you're in decent shape already.

[JasonB]

This has been beaten to death already. If you're talking about normal push-ups, then it's fine, as long as you don't push yourself to extremes everyday, and assuming you're in decent shape already.

What's the point in doing an exercise if you aren't pushing yourself to the extremes? If anything, isn't that going to be counter-productive?

[Trick]

no, pushing yourself to failure everyday is counter-productive. It doesn't matter just because they're push-ups. Resistance is resistance. Tear the muscles too much, and they need rest. Personally, I go hard enough, but don't kill myself on them, and just go up by one every day.

[JasonB]

What I meant was that shouldn't you always go as hard as you can, and therefore NOT train everyday (as you should treat it like any other exercise). I don't see how not pushing your body past it's threshold can have any positive effects on your body.

Surely, if you're increasing your push-ups by 1 a day, you ARE pushing yourself? As, being as someones body can't possibly gain enough strength in a day to do an extra rep, at some point you are going to reach your max...say, for arguments sake, 100. Then the next day, you do 101...thats past your bodies threshold. Then the next day, 102...again, you're passing your limits. Is this not training to the extreme everyday? Something you just advised against? Or are you trying to say that you're body can gain the strength each day to maybe do 2 extra push-ups, and you don't take it to that? If so, crack on fella, in a few years you'll maybe break some world records

[Bucktown Beast]

Body weight exercises done intelligently CAN be done every day, however at least one day off in between is best. Giving your body that rest is a smart principle for any routine. You maximize your return when resting and you help prevent a plateau for your muscles.

So yes, rest in between.

[Trick]

What I meant was that shouldn't you always go as hard as you can, and therefore NOT train everyday (as you should treat it like any other exercise). I don't see how not pushing your body past it's threshold can have any positive effects on your body.

Surely, if you're increasing your push-ups by 1 a day, you ARE pushing yourself? As, being as someones body can't possibly gain enough strength in a day to do an extra rep, at some point you are going to reach your max...say, for arguments sake, 100. Then the next day, you do 101...thats past your bodies threshold. Then the next day, 102...again, you're passing your limits. Is this not training to the extreme everyday? Something you just advised against? Or are you trying to say that you're body can gain the strength each day to maybe do 2 extra push-ups, and you don't take it to that? If so, crack on fella, in a few years you'll maybe break some world records

I see what you mean. I do kinda push myself, but I also go in cycles kinda, I do go up, but then for say a month I stop doin' pushups. I've never gone over 75. And no, you don't need to push yourself to failure to acheive results. Any boxer who pushes until fail in pushups is wasting his time and energy. I treat my push ups and situps like my cardio, every day, for conditioning sake, but they're not the core of my workout... that would be boxing.

[JasonB]

Right, but doing those 75 puts a stress on your arms. This means that say you do this, for the next 3-4 days your not going to be training your arms at their peak condition, so whatever arm work you do in your boxing training isn't going to be as good as it could be.

CV and weights (which push-ups and situps essentially are) are completely different. The heart is the only organ in the body which gets it's energy from fat, which is why CV is so effective for conditioning. The same DOESN'T apply for pushups. Sure, you're heartrate may rise while doing them, but not enough to prompt any conditioning as such. Instead what you're doing is constantly leaving your arms in need of repair, utilizing some of you're bodies energy resources which could be used for much greater effect elsewhere.

Personally I'd say this push-up routine is a bad idea, and you'd probably benefit more doing them with say a 3 day break, and using a weight jacket to add more resistance.

Oh, and sorry if these posts seem like they are intended to be a dig at you, they're truely not, just stating my opinion though I guess I could have done so in a better way

[MichealK]

You should give yourself a break, but its always better to push yourself to the limits and you wont regreat it later

[Hitman932]

i kill my chest and shoulders on monday

take tuesday off

come back on wednesday and do my legs...

when i do my biceps triceps on thursday they have been rested for 2 days completely

i take friday off

saturday i do my back and abs