Push ups for muscle gain/strength
 

When I do my push up regemin, I do 5 sets. Each set I do as many as possible til I collapse paying attention to form and breathing. The 4th set I spread my arms wider and the 5 set I make a triangle with my hands. I do this 3 times a week. So far, I feel the regular associated soreness, but I wonder, if this "workout" is doing anything at all? Can I devise a better pushup or at home workout (with minimal equipment)? For what you ask? To stay lean, maintain muscle tone, maybe gain a little mass (I know it sounds contradictory), overall health etc. It feels like my triceps get the most workout at the moment.

Push ups only isolate a few muscles in the upper body. If you're looking to do all the things you said you're looking to do, then you need to get ALL your muscles involved. There's plenty of at home exercises you can do without weights (and a plethora of sites on the internet talking about them) but if you want to gain muscle mass at all, you're going to need to add resistance to the equation through homemade weights, resistance bands, weights, etc.

Also, pushing yourself to collapse isn't the healthiest way to go about building muscle. You should rest (1-2 min) between each set at the least, and throw some before and after stretching in there. How many reps do you do each set?

It is doing something, but you should be working your whole body. Add some light weight (10 lb.) to your workout, and target the major muscle groups; Chest, back, squats work pretty much every major muscle in the legs, bicept, tricept, and abdominals. Work those out and you'll stay nice and healthy. Also, try going out for a jog for 10-15 minutes right after you workout.

Here's a mock-up weight training routine:
Dumbbell Flys- 2 sets, 8 repititions
Bent Over Row- 2 sets, 8 repititions
Shoulder Press- 2 sets, 8 repititions
Lunges- 2 sets, 10 repititions
Squats- 2 sets, 12 repitions
Bicept Curls- 2 sets, 8 repititions
Tricep Dips- 2 sets, 8 repititions

Abdominals: The abdominals are composed of 5 different muscles; transverse abdomis (underlying front muscle), upper abdominals, lower abdominals, obliques, and the lower back. You can excercise these daily.

Mock-up:
10 Crunches (keep you tounge on the roof or your mouth to keep your neck muscles properly aligned, and do NOT pull your head with your hands)
10 Leg Lifts
10 Bicycles
30 second Bridge Vacuum (Get into the pushup position, and rest on your elbows. Straighten your body, and "suck-in", trying to pull your belly button to your spine. Hold this for 30 seconds.)
10 back extensions

Do the weight training every other day with about 10-15 lb (start with 10). Then do some sort of cardio immedeately afterwards for at least 10-20 minutes. On the days you aren't weight training do 30 minutes- and hour of cardio. This regiment will keep you lean, and give you a very healthy cardiovascular system.

Thanks guys. TO clarify:

I do 5 sets - my reps are to the brink of collapse (til I can't do no more), then I rest in between of course. Oddly, I never count, I just try to push myself as hard as I can (it's like reverse weight lifting without a spotter - the ground is my spotter). I figure it's pretty intense (for a home workout). I do this M,W,F.

My goal is to firm up/ add a bit of mass or convert the fat what have you in the chest and arms, shoulders. I'm also trying to lose the gut.

I think I will pick up some dumbells and work from there. I will let you guys know in 6 weeks how things are.

Try the regiment I posted above. It will only take 30 minutes a day, and you won't be burnt all day. I cannot stress enough how important it is to work your entire body, and it will help you lose the gut alot more than working only the upper body.

Don't expect to lose that gut unless you combine your workout with a good diet.

You will probably want to add in some cardiovascular exercise to your current exercise regimen.
The 1-2-3 Guide to Losing Your 'Gut'

1) Diet: In a nutshell, you need to eat fewer calories, a low amount of fat, and vitamin-rich food. Quick stat: 1lb of fat is equal to 3500kcal (nutritional Calories). So, if your metabolism is 2000 Calories, a 500 Calorie cut each day will amount to a healthy 1lb fat loss each week.
2) Exercise: Aerobic AND anaerobic! Follow the regimen set up by Ch'i above, and add in some biking, running/jogging/walking, swimming.
3) Planning: Set goals for yourself, weigh yourself each day, keep a log of exercise and weight each day and stay positive.

You can't achieve sufficient intensity with body weight push ups to stimulate muscle growth. That's a conclusion I've come to reading stuff other people, whom I believe, wrote.

Hindu pushups, hindu squats, back bridge. That's all you need to do :) I'm totally convinced these 3 exercises cover everything. Maybe add jump roping a few hundred-1000 reps a night if you want the fat to melt off.

Do about 2 times as many squats as pushups and hold the back bridge for a minute or so. I've played high school and college sports, weight lifted, ran, and I've never felt/looked as great as I do now. I have more power and endurance too. I saw an ad for these videos called Combat Conditioning. Do a google for Matt Furey he makes them. Don't order from him though unless you want to spend outrageous prices, just get them on ebay for 1/5 the price.

This shows basically shows how to do it. The real key is breathing opposite of how you would traditionally in weights.http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler19.htm
If you can ignore the over hyped sales pitch, he does show you how to do some really quality exercises.

I do 200 hindu squats/1000 reps jump rope 1 night, next night 120 hindu pushups/1000 jump ropes, next night 5 min bridging/1000 jump ropes. I highly reccommend it for a simple, fast workout that gets you in great shape.

Anyway that's my reccomendation if you enjoy pushups and non-weight stuff like I do.

Myth. You have to do more reps, but you can definetly stimulate muscle growth.

You guys are the bomb - thanks to all of you who posted. I do keep a calendar at the moment so I can "see" my progress. My intake is good right now (thanks Carno for the tip). My diet is good, I am now trying to work on the other side of the equation - exercise etc.

I will post back here in six weeks to givew a progress report. Thanks again for the help.

Just wondering as an addition to this topic, wasn't it former NFL player Hershel Walker who claimed to have never lifted weights?

I thought I heard somewhere he did situps and pushups in the THOUSANDS per day along with running and rope jumping etc to stay in shape.

Yeah, you can be in very good shape without lifting weights. The main reason most athletes do it is because it is the fastest way to gain strength

Hey, you know those cool Navy Seals? Apparently, they train completely without weights. Just google it and you should find a program of sorts that is similar or maybe the real thing... of course, once you read it, you'll soon learn that to follow it, you need to be one or both of the following:

1) Genetically blessed.
2) Insane.

Looks like it works though.

Pushups
Dips
Crunch
Chinups
Wide grip pullups

= strength gain and fitness
(no free weights needed)
2miles a day fast walking or running

Another addition to this thread, look what I found

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/238426/the_home_gym/

Pushups are a good start, but should be used maybe as a supplement to other work-outs. Maybe do push-ups right before you go to bed or something and then work-out in the morning. That seems to work best for me

Spreading out your wieght-lifting workout is counter productive. The best results , cardiovascularly & muscle endurance wise, are gained through a single session comprised of 4-12 different excercises.
Even with cardio, its best to do them within a certain time of one another.

Thats your problem. You have to progressivly build both number and difficulty from the start to then end of your workout, and you also must have workouts that are designed to aid in your recovery in bewteen hard ones. Has no one taught you that rest is as essential. You don't just rest in between sets, but in between hard workouts with much easier ones. It sounds to me like you push yourself too hard, and in turn your muscle doe's not have a chance to rebuild itself bigger and stronger, and give you the mass your looking for. Too much of a good thing is as bad as to little, so back off some, and you will see the results you want. Moderation in all things.

In addition to Kensei's point; You'll notice the weight training excercise I posted earlier is designed so that the opposite muscle group is worked while the first is resting. Working a different group, which is still constituent to the other muscle, is benifitial and will allow you to workout more in the time given. If you're short on time, find an excercise that works multiple muscle groups at the same time. When it comes to strength, and balance, it is important that your body be familiar with utilizing multiple muscles in harmony of one another.

Do push ups and pull ups. People avoid pull ups, but they're a shockingly great exercise. Pair them with the push ups and you may be surprised at how well you can do.

Armstrong Pull Up Program