One set max on pushups and pullups

[mdv6]

I'd like to get my one-set max in pushups and pullups to 50 and 20, respectively (I'm currently at 30 and 10). My current routine is to do 4 sets to failure for each exercise 3 times per week. I find that I lose about half my numbers from my first to second sets (i.e., I'll do 10 pullups my first set, then 5 the second).

Am I better off trying to keep the reps per set the same? For example, would I be better off doing, say, 4 sets of 6, and then moving up once I can do 6 on all four sets? Or, is there a benefit of going to failure? Does it make any difference?

I'd love to hear anyone's success story (e.g., where they started, what they did to improve) of getting up to high numbers in either of these exercises.

[Kristen]

I got from 30 to 50 pushups by doing about 100-200 pushups almost every day for a few weeks. Some days I did it in max sets, some days I did it in small sets. You don't have to do them all at once either, you can break it up throughout the day. And of course, take days off. This is a pretty simple approach--if you want to do a lot of pushups, just do a lot of pushups.

Then I went to boot camp, and now my max is around 70. The principle there was the same--just do a TON of pushups (and far worse exercises). sometimes I went to failure, and sometimes just did a lot in small sets throughout the day. Also, isometric exercises seemed to help. I spent a lot of time in "the thinking position" which is just the up part of a pushup, straight arm plank, forward leaning rest, whatever you want to call it. Holding the pushup at both the top and bottom made me a lot stronger.

I don't recommend going to boot camp just to do more pushups, but exercising like you're in boot camp would get your numbers up fast. Hit it really, really hard, even every day if you want, for a few weeks and see what happens.