I am currently able to do ~70 pushups in two minutes. I would like to be able to do 100 or so in two minutes. Yes, I know that I need to do more pushups. But is there a more effective  training routine for increasing your max, than just doing pushups?

THanks

James

Add some weight to your back somehow.  Maybe a weight vest or something of the sort.  Then try work your way up to 70 in 2 minutes again.  Once you reach that point, you should be able to do more without the weights.

Are you lifting weights too?  What has worked for me is to finish my normal chest routine and then do a set of pushups to failure.  Dips have also helped.

Do pushups for two minutes.
repeat
repeat
repeat

Sounds boring but works.

Pull ups will help, as will lat pull downs, crunches, and reverse sit ups.  Essentially anything to tighten up your torso below your armpits.  Think about what gets tensed up as you're locked into a push up.  You spend a lot of energy keep your body straight as plywood.

You'll gain more energy to crank out your push ups if you lessen the amount of stress you apply towards the rest of your abdomen & lower back.  

Good luck.  Oh, and do more push ups.

Quoted: Do pushups for two minutes. repeat repeat repeat Sounds boring but works.

That is true


Here is a system I tried before my last APFT

Push Up Improvement

I thought it helped, but it is basically what rock71 said. I know a lot of guys that can bench  a lot of weight but can't do a lot of push ups.. Push ups are the only way to do more push ups.

The link above I will do every couple of months.. I score a 300 in the 17-21 range every time (I am 43)

Also when you are standing around doing nothing, or watching TV do push ups. I know of some guys that when watching TV will do push ups through the commercial breaks and once the show is back on take a break.

It takes work though...

Quoted: Also when you are standing around doing nothing, or watching TV do push ups. I know of some guys that when watching TV will do push ups through the commercial breaks and once the show is back on take a break. It takes work though...

Haha, now I know I'm not the only one who does this. As for adding weight, take a pack that will not shift while doing the workouts and add books or something to the nature. A weight vest would work just as well and could probably be found at Wally-World

(I have no expertise on this whatsoever)

I've heard that increasing the incline of your body increases the benefit of pushups.  So, if you put your feet on a stool rather than on the floor, it'll be a little bit harder and more rewarding.

Is that true?

The above post would make sense. I do so from my bed and find it to be a bit harder but then again, you could possibly be working different muscle groups.  

To me, it seems like to improve your pushups you have to do two things:

1.  Reduce the percentage of your 1RM for bench that equals 1 pushup

2.  Improve your muscular endurance, primarily for your chest/shoulders/tris, but possibly also for your core (abs/hip flexors, etc).

What gives out first when you are doing your pushups?  For me, the issue is how high a percentage of 1RM a pushup is, but I am 40 and focus primarily on endurance sports so I don't spend much time in the gym.  I consistently crank out 75 (max for my age) or so on the PRT.  We have 2 minutes, but it only takes me 1m15s to 1m30s to max out - not that I could do many more.

Quoted: (I have no expertise on this whatsoever) I've heard that increasing the incline of your body increases the benefit of pushups.  So, if you put your feet on a stool rather than on the floor, it'll be a little bit harder and more rewarding. Is that true?

Wouldn't that just shift the emphasis to the upper pecs and shoulders, just like doing an incline bench would.  Those muscles are smaller which would make the exercise harder.  If those areas are the limiting factor, it should improve performance, but I wouldn't neglect standard pushups either.

Quoted: Do pushups for two minutes. repeat repeat repeat Sounds boring but works.

+1

Just do them.

+1 on adding pullups, other than that I would also start doing dips as part of your chest workout.  Either way good luck.

One way I was able to bring my push ups up is to give up trying to pace my self during the PT test. Just do as many as you can as fast as you can. If you can do 60-70 in the first minute, you should come close to 100

Quoted: I am currently able to do ~70 pushups in two minutes. I would like to be able to do 100 or so in two minutes. Yes, I know that I need to do more pushups. But is there a more effective training routine for increasing your max, than just doing pushups? THanks James

When I was in the Army, I was able to do 100+ push-ups on the APFT. The main excercise I would use to prepare for it is bench press, I would rep the 135 to failure for a couple sets. Of course, I did other lifts so I couldn't neccessarily attribute it to the bench. My mainstays for upper body was bench press, dead-lift, dumbell rows, military press, and curls. I would add or drop other lifts from time to time.

If I had to pick 4 strictly for the push-up test I would say...
*bench press(maybe incline bench)
*a tricep extensions using a 45 lbs plate and then without taking a break,
*military presses
*pushups of course

The name of the game is muscle failure. At the end of my workout, I would do regular push-ups until I couldn't and then do "woman" push-ups(knees on the ground) until I reached failure. Maybe there is more effective, but it worked for me.

Not sure how you define "do 100", but doing 100 straight isn't the same as how the Army tests. You can rest, provided you keep all hands and feet on the ground. You can "sag in the middle or flex your back", I think thats the exact wording. You can't support most of your weight with your legs either.

During the test, I would go to the max for my age. Then break and keep going til the time was up, I think my best was 107.  Generous grader. Usually I would do approx. 95-100, usually I would have several not count at the end. Another trick is moving your hands across the ground and do wide arm push-ups, towards the end of the test.

Quoted: Quoted: I am currently able to do ~70 pushups in two minutes. I would like to be able to do 100 or so in two minutes. Yes, I know that I need to do more pushups. But is there a more effective training routine for increasing your max, than just doing pushups? THanks James When I was in the Army, I was able to do 100+ push-ups on the APFT. The main excercise I would use to prepare for it is bench press, I would rep the 135 to failure for a couple sets. Of course, I did other lifts so I couldn't neccessarily attribute it to the bench. My mainstays for upper body was bench press, dead-lift, dumbell rows, military press, and curls. I would add or drop other lifts from time to time. If I had to pick 4 strictly for the push-up test I would say... *bench press(maybe incline bench) *a tricep extensions using a 45 lbs plate and then without taking a break, *military presses *pushups of course The name of the game is muscle failure. At the end of my workout, I would do regular push-ups until I couldn't and then do "woman" push-ups(knees on the ground) until I reached failure. Maybe there is more effective, but it worked for me. Not sure how you define "do 100", but doing 100 straight isn't the same as how the Army tests. You can rest, provided you keep all hands and feet on the ground. You can "sag in the middle or flex your back", I think thats the exact wording. You can't support most of your weight with your legs either. During the test, I would go to the max for my age. Then break and keep going til the time was up, I think my best was 107.  Generous grader. Usually I would do approx. 95-100, usually I would have several not count at the end. Another trick is moving your hands across the ground and do wide arm push-ups, towards the end of the test.

I would second the above. Lifting weights is great. For increasing Push-ups I would concentrate on lower weights with higher reps in quick sucecession to the point of failure each time. Repeating 3 - 4 times with limited breaks between each set to keep the heart rate up.

Look up "grease the groove"

When I started working really hard on pull ups, my max pushups also increased.  Same with when I worked on my abs/lower back.  

Learn to switch up muscle groups so that you are working a small set to fatigue then switch groups. Start with narrow hands and hit tri's then gradually work your way wider to get the large muscles involved. The larger muscles will produce lactic acid more readily so do them last. i used to habitually do 90-100 on the APFT.

Doing some thinking...another couple things I used to do...on the bench w/ 135 I would go until failure, move my hands outward and do a couple more reps, then do a close hand bench press too failure. Another one I liked was using a short olympic bar and doing close hand decline bench presses.

To really knock out push-ups to the standard fast, you can move your hands to just about even your shoulders. Imagine in the down push-up position 1/2 your hand inside the outer tip of each shoulder. You need a good amount of tricep strength, but you can really rack the numbers up with that method.  After a certain point I think your body structure has something to do with the amount of push-ups you can do in a timed period. If you're tall and lanky, it might be harder to do a push-up a second over a 2 minute period.

Quoted: Look up "grease the groove"

+1

A quick overview for GtG is to do a certain number of reps over an extended period of time at set intervals.  Ex: 50 reps, every hour on the hour, for 8 hours (typical work day).

One thing I used to do for pullups was I put 3 pullup bars throughout the house in doorways.  The garage door, basement opening door and bedroom door.  Whenever I walked under one, I did 5 reps.  By the end of the day I'd have more than a hundred reps total.  I had no problem knocking out between 40 and 50 reps of pullups after a few months.  GtG works.