Why am I unable to do more than 20 push-ups at a time?
I have been doing push-ups for sometime now, starting 6 or 7 years ago. I haven't been too regular, but about 3 quarters of the days in these years I used to be regular. My problem is I can't do more than 20 push-ups at a time even after 2 months of regular push ups. Does it take longer to achieve a good rate of push ups at a time?
To put things in perspective, I am 24, male, a few kilos less than 100kg (around 215 pounds) and can do a total of 80 push ups a day. I have lots of fat to lose, but definitely want to exercise to lose fat and gain muscles.
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Are doing a full pushup (Nose almost touching ground, back straight/hip down, arms fully extended when up)? I once found that doing them half assed actually plateued sooner, switching to full push ups helped (after, of course a sizable dip in no. I could do at first!)
Also, you may want to add more exercises. For bodyweight exercises, I found the site of Ross Enamait helpful: rosstraining.com/blog/
I'm using "the hundred push ups training program" I'm at the third week and I feel I'm already able to do a lot more than at the beginning.
The best thing to do is to work on your maximum strength - by doing so will mean that your economy per rep when trying for your press ups is less.
If you have access to a gym, incorporate a session or two a week to strength - this will be fewer repetitions (anywhere from 1-5) but with a weight that really makes you struggle. When a weight gets easier, increase the weight and continue. Look into the 5x5 or the 5-3-1 programs as they are simple yet very efective.
Then, when you hit your max reps press ups, you'll smash it!
Check out my blog for further tips: mmastrengthandconditioning.wordpress.com
What actually gives out after 20? Your wind? your triceps? Most likely, you've programmed yourself mentally to stop at 20 - push one more out and see what happens. The big question is, what are you driving towards - if you hit 30 or 50, then what? It sounds like you're a bit overweight - I would recommend putting a complete diet/workout plan together and setting up monthly measures (weight, exercise intensity, etc.) to measure your progress. Keep pushing yourself - you can always do one more.
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