There is no shortage of YouTube vlogs documenting the weekly, month and year pushup challenges. In many cases, these fitness influencers show amazing results, but that's not the whole story.
Push-ups are an excellent strength exercise that will work your entire body. They even have some cardiovascular benefits. But doing push-ups every day can lead to overuse injuries, especially if you're not using the right technique.
To avoid ending up making an appointment with the physical therapist, vary your strength training exercises, giving your body enough time to strengthen and recover properly.
Increases total body strength
Push-ups have been around forever. Considering that it requires no equipment and develops full body strength, it is no wonder that this movement has stayed with us.
The main focus of the exercise is the muscles in your chest, arms and shoulders. But movement also requires central force . As you progress through exercise, your torso muscles work to keep your body stable and in line.
However, there is a limit to the amount of strength you can gain with a standard pushup. Eventually, you will come to a standstill. Your body can only gain so much strength by doing the same movement over and over again. So if you've only been doing push-ups every day for a while with no change in reps or variations, your progress has likely stalled.
That's where the progressions come in . By increasing your bending intensity, variation, or sets and total reps, you can introduce a new stimulus to your muscles. These strategies will cause further damage to the muscles, resulting in increased strength.
But even if you incorporate more challenging variations, doing an exercise routine every day is probably not the best idea. To increase your strength and muscle size, you must give your body time to recover.
Correct your posture
Although they are generally used to target the chest muscles, your core plays an important role in the proper form of flexion.
Although most people think of the torso and pecs, push-ups are also great for strengthening the arms, triceps, and core. Your abdominal muscles must be active to maintain proper shape during a pushup.
Strong abs can help improve your posture over time. Your core strength plays a role in your body's stability, balance, and posture. It can also help reduce low back pain.
Improve the health of your heart
Your ability to do push-ups can indicate more than just upper body strength. The researchers found that adult men who could do 40 or more consecutive push-ups had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years, compared to men who could complete fewer than 10 push-ups, according to a February 2019 study published in JAMA. Network Open.
Regular physical activity, including functional bodyweight exercises like push-ups, benefits the overall health of your heart. But the way you do and incorporate this strength exercise affects cardiovascular strengthening. Introduce them to a full-body workout with other exercises like mountaineers and squats for maximum benefits.
The key to cardiovascular exercise is to keep your heart rate high. It would be difficult to maintain a constant rate of push-ups while keeping your heart rate high without your muscles getting fatigued too quickly. As such, I would blend them into a full-body day, where you would be alternating between upper and lower body exercises.
Avoid possible injuries
As with all repetitive exercises, overuse is always a potential risk of injury, including daily push-ups. Overuse injuries to muscles or joints, such as tendinitis, generally occur due to repetitive movements.
Doing push-ups with little shape or excessive intensity can cause pain and injury. Exercising for too long or increasing your repetitions too quickly can also be a source of overuse. In other words, you don't want to go from 5 reps to 50 in just a few days.
Usually, flexion-related injuries occur on the shoulders, also known as shoulder impingement . Punctures generally feel like a pinch in the front of the shoulder and can occur due to poor shoulder stability during exercise.
Low back pain is another problem with push-ups. Usually, lower back pain occurs due to back strain or weak central force.
To avoid possible injury, alternate between upper body and lower body exercises each day. You will also want to avoid excessive repetitions and stop or pause when your technique begins to break down.
Practice the correct push-up technique and its modifications
If you wonder how many push-ups you should do in a day, the answer depends on your physical condition and health. When you start, keep the number of repetitions low or consider doing a good technique. They should look like this:
- Start on a high board with your hands directly below your shoulders, your body in a straight line from your head to your hips and heels.
- Bend your elbows at an angle of about 45 degrees from the ribs and begin to lower your body to the ground, squeezing your shoulder blades and keeping your head and neck aligned with your spine.
- Once your chest moves just above the ground, exhale and press your palms apart, separating your shoulder blades and stretching your arms.
While flexing, keep your core and glutes tight. Be aware of the angle at your elbow. Avoid bending your elbows at 90 degrees, as this can cause shoulder pain.
Once you can do some sets of 10 with confidence, you can progress and try more challenging variations. Lift your legs up on a chair or couch to place your body in a bent flex. This angle makes the movement more challenging for the upper body.
