Hi steemians,
Today, I want to show you how to implement the same method I used to go from hardly being able to complete 60 reps of pushups to 150 within a month when I started up.
As you already know, pushup (or press-up) is an exercise commonly used to develop upper body strength. It employs the use of your triceps (back of your upper arm), deltoids (shoulder) and pectorals (chest) muscles as primary muscles while engaging your lower back, abdominals and legs as secondary muscles (not actively involved but contract to help maintain proper form) if properly executed. It's very effective for boosting upper body strength and core strength and it's biggest pro is that it can be done without the use of weights or machines, so it is well suited to daily maintenance routines.
A lot of people struggle with reps and I wasn't any different. When I joined the Athletics team, my coach asked me to do 200 pushups (not at once, I could divide to as much as 10 sets with 20 reps in each set), I couldn't get past 52, I didn't have the muscular endurance. But, within a month I got to 150+ (156 to be precise).
Now, I'm not saying this way is the ONLY way, but it helped me greatly, so I believe it will help you. Detailed below were the steps I followed;
I started by giving my self a realistic target that improves by 15 reps every 3days (even if it meant more sets). I knew my personal best was 52 and I needed to improve, so I set 60. If you are just starting, you should set 30 (10 reps with 3 sets). After doing this for 3 days to 5 days, you should add 15-25 reps to your target (divide it anyway you feel it can fit you, but minimum of 10 per set, this makes you increase your reps on a set or two).
By my second week, I had moved from 52-115 (obviously with a longer time period). I made sure I gave myself a target and stuck to it using this same format. Now I was doing other exercises to improve my upper body strength, which helped too, some included weights (like bench press) while some didn't.
EXTRA TIP ; If you struggle to complete a few reps of pushup (under 10) then I recommend you start with the kneeling pushups where you go down on all fours with your weight mostly on your arms with your legs crossed and you execute the same motion as a pushup. This will help with upper body strength enough to do pushups properly. You can use the same target. Then improve till you start normal pushups.
I believe that the use of a target and calculated increment in your reps will greatly help you reach your target in the time you set.
It will be great if you can start a monthly challenge today to see how far you can go by the end of this month.
By the way, is there anybody doing above 200 reps per set reading this?