I have just recently started exercising at home, have been doing this for 2-3 weeks, and my aim is to build my muscles so that I look better, clothes fit better etc. I have two questions:
Push-ups - I want to build chest, arm and shoulder muscles. I currently do 3 sets of 12 push-ups in a day, my limit in a row is probably around 20 reps and I read that you should do reps that are 60-70% of your max. How should I increase the difficulty in order to build muscle, i.e. different type of push-up or should I start inclining them?
Also, what is the optimum number of reps for building muscle, relative to how hard I am pushing myself.
Want to build biceps and back muscles etc. I’ve bought a pull-up bar and installed it between my door frame. I can’t really do a single proper pull-up, I don’t feel like I’m doing much of a workout when I use the bar. How can I build myself up to being able to do pull-ups, at home?
My stats:
age: 32,
height: 194 cm,
weight: 90kg,
sex: male,
current routine: 3 x sets of 12 push-ups per day,
training experience: little
I’m aware that one should workout the full body, but I want to make sure I am doing these exercises correctly and consistently before learning the next ones.
Firstly, you should probably work in rest days to your routine. Working out is just one part of the equation in building muscle. The other part is rest and recovery, which includes giving the muscles proper time to grow, and eating properly in order to fuel that growth and your workouts.
Push-ups can be done in different ways in order to make them harder. You might find them a bit easier with the hands placed a bit wider than shoulder width (try not to flare the elbows out and keep them to your side). You can move the hands closer together to make them slightly harder. You could try archer push-ups once you’re proficient and stronger. YouTube will have some videos on different push-ups and demonstrations. Adding weight on your back will also be a way of making them harder. There’s no real answer to the number of reps you should be doing; anywhere between 5-30 per set is going to build muscle if you’re close to failure by the end.
Pull-ups can be regressed to easier stages by only doing the lowering portion; jump up to the bar and lower yourself slowly, repeat for a few reps, rest a few minutes, and do a few more reps. This might take a few weeks but it’ll help build some strength. Also, hanging from the bar and learning to retract your shoulders, holding for time. Use both overhand grip and underhand grip (also neutral grip if the bar allows). Resistance bands slung around the bar and putting one foot in, so some of your body weight is taken out of the equation. Start with strong ones and then regress them into lighter ones until eventually you’re at body weight. Again, YouTube will have some vids on ways to regress pull-ups.
@Corey
Thanks, that’s a good idea for the pull-ups, I will try doing that, lowering myself down.
For the push-ups, I want something where I can gradually make it harder, say every 2 weeks. That’s why I was thinking about inclined push-ups because you just increase the angle. Is there any reason to not do this?
@Ashwin
You can also place a chair in the doorway and use your foot to provide just enough assist to pull up, then lower down slowly without using the chair.
Push-ups mainly can be made harder by doing more. Try to add reps each week and maybe a fourth set after a while.
@Jace
Thanks. Actually, I’m quite tall, so I could probably put a chair under the pull-up bar and just pull up from that height for X number of reps. Might be a good starting point.
@Ashwin
You can do both incline and decline for your chest, yeah. Incline are a bit easier as your torso is raised, decline are harder as your feet are raised. They’ll both work different parts of the chest, with decline working more upper chest.
@Corey
I meant decline, didn’t know what the terminology was, haha.
If I can do 12 reps fairly easily at a certain angle, should I just increase the angle each time I want to step up my routine? Would that be a good way to build muscle over time as opposed to just doing more reps of push-ups at the same angle?
@Corey
Curious if you could answer a question of mine related to pull-ups and negatives.
I just motivated myself to get back in shape. I’m doing circuit training to help get some cardio and strength in to a shorter workout. I want to primarily lose some weight. I’m fairly strong from work and I play rec hockey again once a week. I’ve never been able to do 10 pull-ups.
My goal is 10 pull-ups by the end of the year. I can do 0 at my weight. If I lose about 15 pounds I know I’m strong enough for 3 or 4.
Question is how soon to train for pull-up goal or how long should I just get stronger in general and lose a few lbs?
@Toby
If you don’t have any injuries, then I don’t see any reason not to start doing negatives or dead hangs in preparation for pull-ups. Strengthening your grip now while you’re heavier will serve you even better when you lose 10 lbs. Just be smart and listen to your body. If something hurts, stop and assess.
You could also try inverted rows. You can adjust the difficulty by how you position yourself, using your legs to remove some of your weight from the movement. Look for inverted rows tutorials on YouTube.
@Ollie
I was going to suggest the primer as well. They seem like they would get a lot of benefit from learning the basics, as most anyone would who was starting out.
Jalen said: @Ollie
I was going to suggest the primer as well. They seem like they would get a lot of benefit from learning the basics, as most anyone would who was starting out.
Yep, quality >> quantity, and I absolutely injured myself and/or undercut my own progress by rushing in before I knew the basics.
Ashwin said: @Ollie
Thanks. To be honest, I just want to optimise the actual exercises, then I will look at rest days and diet etc.
Honestly you’re only going to be able to optimize so much if you don’t understand the fundamentals of training. You can do perfect form for the exercises and then see no progress because you’re missing the recovery components (rest, diet, sleep) needed for your body to actually build muscle in response to the stimulus.
I know it’s a lot of reading, but honestly just reading over the info in the BWF Primer page and jumping to the routine at the bottom of the page could get you started with more effective training. It’s about quality over quantity, because it’s very common for beginners to try and rush progress by piling on volume (which just results in injuries most of the time).
@Ollie
Yeh, just gonna get one part down before I get on to the next parts. It’s how I learn, thanks.
To be honest, I prefer to start doing something than be turned off by being overwhelmed at all the things that people recommend me to do. As long as I’m working towards the goal and am not injuring myself. I read some of the page and I’ve been doing various sports for like 20 years of my life and taught myself skateboarding, so will probably be ok with monitoring my body in the initial stages.
Hoping someone can give some advice on the best strategy for building strength through push-ups and how to build it up from the standard push-up. Couldn’t see anything specifically recommending how to do that in the pages I read.
@Ashwin
The question was answered in the Primer Routine page:
> How should I increase the difficulty in order to build muscle, i.e. different type of push-up or should I start inclining them?
There is a link to push-up progressions in the routine at the bottom of the page. If you can do 3x12 floor push-ups, then you can go to decline push-ups, ring incline push-ups, or weighted push-ups to increase the difficulty.
The theory was because working out 6 days a week is, again, going to undercut your hypertrophy goals.
The info is there; it’s not my problem that you want someone to tl;dr it for you.
Mal said: @Ollie
OP asks for advice on something they know nothing about, then proceeds to dismiss the advice. Nothing more annoying than this lol.
Asking for advice on how to increase the workout challenge once I’m comfortable with a certain exercise. What would you suggest if I can do 12 x regular push-ups fairly easily? Would doing them at a decline help, and then increase the decline as I get to a comfortable point with it?