Question of push ups/general bodyweight exercises.

[GHJS]

Hate to sorta re-rail (is that even a word?) the thread but just how good an exercise are push-ups? Just your standard push-up?

Your muscles need 24-48 hour to rebuild what is broken down.

Is that true for someone who is taking a protein supplement? Because its my understanding that the extra protein allows for faster muscle recovery allowing you to train more, and get stronger that way?

we like to derail threads over stuff that's cool to us but of little real use to anyone haha. Go us I guess.

Just because its not useful to me (yet) doesn't mean it ain't interesting

[Guest Carjack]

Muscles don't need 48 hours to rebuild.

Push ups don't hit diminishing returns until around 50 perfect reps in one set, if even at that. Sure, those high rep sets aren't giving much more strength than 20 reps, but it's a good workout for your midsection and serratus.

[gugi9000]

so that's why my serratus are starting to show - I was wondering what did that.

If you can do 4 sets of 20 push-ups, you should up the ante. I agree. I can't.

[Relosa]

This is definitely a lot of information I need to digest. And I think once I get into more weight lifting I'm going to have to a lot of reading to make sure I'm doing it right, or at least not being a dummy about it.

[ETFnerd]

I wanted to ask a few questions:

1. Are push ups are mainly an exercise for arm, chest or core development? I realize that you can do variations to emphasize different body parts such as bringing the hands forward to emphasize the core, pull them apart wider to emphasize the chest and minimize the arms. As a martial artist we did the two-knuckle push ups to condition our fists, and in finger push ups for finger strength. Is the advantaged just that they are versitile?

2. So when doing a perfect form push up, what muscles are we concentrating on developing? I suppose there is diversity in practice, and may not be a strict isolation type exercise, but what are you focused on developing?

3. Are planches and other static core exercises as good as those that develop your core through a range of motion?

[BrendanTownsend]

I do suggest http://hundredpushups.com if you're not sure where to go with your program. Three days per week. Sets and repetitions based on an initial test.

They also have links to similar programs for pull ups and squats.

[gugi9000]

1. I'd say chest and core.

2. pecs and serratus

3. I don't know. I think planks are great for core, but so are slow hanging knee to elbow - I guess that might even be the progression to use.

[King_mob]

Muscles don't need 48 hours to rebuild.

Your right, but we are getting confused here. 24 to 48 hours post exercise there is an elevated level of protein metabolism (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11255140, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10940342 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9578384) which with adequate nutrition equates to an increase in protein synthesis and, if greater than the level of protein degradation, so too the building of muscle tissue (hypertrophy).

The thing is though recovery is not purely based on the appreciable or measurable changes in muscle mass.

Tudor Bompa (Periodization: theory and methodology of training, 2009) defines chronic fatigue as the culmination of acute fatigue, both physical and psychological. So while acute fatigue can be overcome easily day to day, it's the culmination which can eventually have a negative effect on adaptation.

So when we say recovery, the concept we also are really talking about includes (heavily) the recovery of your neuromuscular systems and energy systems.

EDIT: I kinda did a bad and ignored people talking about the original topic again, shall we just move the recovery topic to another thread? Cut down on visual noise.

2nd EDIT: I should point out i'm 100% amatuer when it comes to research in exercise physiology. If anyone actually does professionally or academically study this type of thing please chime in and correct me.

3rd EDIT: I love edits.

[aj_rock]

Everyone is saying 24-48. The right answer, as far as I know, is actually smack dab in the middle, 36 hours. That being said, some muscle groups are capable of faster recovery than others, depending on size, work done in previous workout, and nutrient flow to that area (e.g. legs can train far more often than say, your forearms). Let it be known that a lot of professional athletes do work the same muscle groups on consecutive days; just make sure you don't go hard twice in a rox. One easy, one hard, or similar. For more advanced people, training frequency definitely requires tweaking.

ETF: Yes, push-ups really are that versatile. The main focus is for sure in the pec/tricep area, but core is a very, very close second. Form affects the amount of core involvement a lot more than pecs though; if you don't keep the core tight, and let your hips and lower back sink, then not only is your core dis-engaged, but you probably look quite ridiculous as well. Planks are definitely just as good at developing your core, as your core is used predominantly in static holds anyway. Squats build your core more than enough though; as an example, they don't take your core through any range of motion at all.

Ok, original question: it depends on your training level. If you're relatively untrained and still getting into the exercise habit, by all means wake yourself up with a couple sets. It's also great for muscle maintanence once you've reached strength goals. Once you're more advanced, however, you would ideally specialize your routines, as the basic stuff just won't cut it any more.

[Guest Carjack]

Are push ups are mainly an exercise for arm, chest or core development? I realize that you can do variations to emphasize different body parts such as bringing the hands forward to emphasize the core, pull them apart wider to emphasize the chest and minimize the arms. As a martial artist we did the two-knuckle push ups to condition our fists, and in finger push ups for finger strength. Is the advantaged just that they are versitile?

The strict push up works chest, "core" and triceps pretty evenly.

If you bring your hands to closer grips, say, directly under your shoulders, the emphasis is put on your triceps and the pectorals get little work. A wider grip puts more emphasis on chest. It's like pull up grips and arms vs back.

When doing push ups, you should lock in and flare your lats so they get some work out of it too.

If you want to do planking exercises for your abs and obliques, try mixing up a lot of push up variations and/or resting in the push up position:

Or do break dancing in between sets:

(e.g. legs can train far more often than say, your forearms).

Good. Forearms can be trained every day.

Training a small muscle group every day should be easy because the strain on your nervous system is negligible. Big compound lifts like the deadlift cause more general fatigue.

[ETFnerd]

Thanks for all the replies!