How effective ARE push-ups?

if i do 5 sets of 10 once in the morning, and once at night, will i burn fat around my chest area? or will i just build muscle under the fat? i want to burn the fat in my chest area without having to run on the treadmill? im not saying my chest area is like gynocomastia big, but i have some extra fat in the chest area i would really liek to get rid of. thanks

try bench press, it will burn fat quick there. just dont go so heavy if you dont want it to turn to muscle.

Push ups can be quite effective in strengthening your chest and triceps. However, it is not possible to "target" fat loss.

Excerpt from article:

In order to lose fat from any area of the body, an "energy deficit" (i.e. the amount of calories burned exceeds the calorie intake) must occur. For example, if 2500 calories are burned daily and the caloric intake is 2000, the body will turn to stored calories (body fat) to provide for the calorie deficit. People often ask which areas of their body will lose fat first. This cannot be predicted. Specific exercises cannot increase fat loss in particular body areas. The body will lose fat from where it wants when it wants. The one proven method of fat loss is a combination of proper caloric intake, supplementation and exercise.


Link to article (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/peggy2.html)

push ups are good, but I would up the total number you do at a time to 100 and only do them every other day. you aren't giving your muscles enough time to recover.

whttrspunk :thumbsup:

well how the hell am i going to burn 2500 calories a day?!?!? id have to run for 5 hours straight? are you saying im helpless? i wanna lose 25 pounds by mid july. i feel very discouraged... :mad:

http://www.brasmyth.com/index.php3?SCREEN=item&sid=zDodFzKFiH75GKoP&item=2555&department=44

I'd say they're pretty effective.

I do a bench/push up combo for my chest, seems to be fairly effective, though I dont really have any fat to burn.

But if your interested:

5 sets of 10 reps at 120lbs

In between each set of bench, I do 25 push ups.

well how the hell am i going to burn 2500 calories a day?!?!? id have to run for 5 hours straight? are you saying im helpless? i wanna lose 25 pounds by mid july. i feel very discouraged... :mad:

You will burn 2500 calories a day sitting on your ass and occasionally getting up to piss. Your body burns calories no matter what you are doing. As said before, if you want to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you eat each day. 3500 calories=1lb of fat. So if you normally burn 2500 calories a day and you only consume 2000 then you will have burned 1/7lb of fat. Seriously though if you want to burn 2500 extra calories a day and survive to mid july I will be impressed. And you will be one skinny ass bastard.

You will burn 2500 calories a day sitting on your ass and occasionally getting up to piss. Your body burns calories no matter what you are doing. As said before, if you want to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you eat each day. 3500 calories=1lb of fat. So if you normally burn 2500 calories a day and you only consume 2000 then you will have burned 1/7lb of fat. Seriously though if you want to burn 2500 extra calories a day and survive to mid july I will be impressed. And you will be one skinny ass bastard.

ok thank you for clearing that up. is there a way to find out approximately how many calories burn a day?

How much do you weigh, how tall are you, how old are you?

i told you this in your thread yesterday in art class, but now im ateachers aide and im bored so i figured what the hell. :biggrin: im 16, i weigh 145 pounds and i am 5'7 1/2''

http://www.brasmyth.com/index.php3?SCREEN=item&sid=zDodFzKFiH75GKoP&item=2555&department=44

I'd say they're pretty effective.
LMAO :rofl:

:thumbsup:

ha, laugh it up you fatass bastards, wait a minute :mad: :loser:

you wanna lose 25 lbs in less than 3 months? tough stuff...

anyways, pushups will help your strengh up to a point... seeing as to you are only doing 5 sets of 10 you are probably still, well in a harsh way, weak.... so pushups should help you more than me... if you aren't struggling at the last few pushups then you need to increase the ammount your doing... you should do as many as u possibly can do, then set that as your new set, just rest a little longer inbetween sets...

if you dont have the right motivation then you wont get anywhere no matter what you do... what i mean is if you dont hurt the next day, then you just wasted your time

the truth...

working out is boring, espectially if you do it by yourself... even if you do work out with someone, you should have a serious atitude about what you are doing.... how old are you? if you are in highschool, i would personally join a sport... im wrestled this year... i didnt really lose weight because i was 5" 5' 112 lbs but a lot of my other (heavier) teamates lost over 30 lbs.... something to consider

there was this one guy i knew he did 1500 push-ups a day, yeah thats alot, he did 500 in the morning after he ate, 500 mid-day and 500 before he went to bed, and talk about some big broad shoulders and triceps and huge arms

I do Push-ups about 4-5 times a week, 3 sets of 40 each time. I mix it up between Diamond push-ups and changing the width of my hands to work different areas, But I also Hit the gym 4-5 days a week to lift weights and do some Cardio. I Bench press and then do a set up push-ups, I believe KustomAce said he does that as well.. I find it to be very effective.. to kick it up a notch once you get used to doing your push-ups, you can have a friend place a plate on your upper back, start with 10lb, then you can increase up to what is comfortable for you.. Your diet is another important part of the equation, you need to eliminate shit food from your diet, eat a more balanced assortment of proteins (chicken,fish, etc...), carbs (for energy), fruits, and Vegetables. Make sure you are drinking allot of water... If you are serious about losing the 25 or so pounds you might want to consult a personal trainer at your local gym, they can set up a workout plan and they usually have dieticians on hand to help you get on the right track, If you are unexperienced you should discuss your goals with a trainer, they can set up a safe workout based on your abilities to prevent injury, You Do Not want to use equipment if you don't understand how to operate it the correct way.. :2cents: Good luck!
-Jimmy

bench press works a single group of muscles and if losing weight is your main concern then i'd say go for a whole body routine; splits over a week.

push ups (can) work more groups but doesn't work them as much as a bench press can but there is only so much resistance in a push up, even if you do all variations.

like others have said, you're probably better off doing a mix of both and definitely more than what you're doing now.
here's a little tip, ask guys who do martial arts if they have a quick 10 minute routine.
most guys who take part in competitions tend to have a quick total body work-out for pre-fight.
the more hard-core fighters will have a good weight program under their belt as well.

finally, judging by the number of push ups you're currently doing, i wouldn't recommend jumping straight into doing bench presses or even butterflys because you might not have the rotator cuff for it. as jimmy said, best to go to a gym and have at least one good session with a fitness instructor to see what you can/can't do and what the best next step is.

When doing push ups, I often prop my feet up on the back of the couch and do pushups on the floor,
it adds more resistance and I can do fewer,

you should also try to have maybe two foot stools or something to place your hands on so that you can work the full range of motion.
AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT DOING THEM FAST.
i say, the slower the better.....

Well I say go to the gym and lift something heavier than you are :D

Exactly! high reps don't build muscle!!!

Do you think if you lift a pencil 10000 times a day you will get big arms?

look at marathon runners, do they have big legs?

Do you think if you lift a pencil 10000 times a day you will get big arms?


Thats how Arnie did it!
http://bodybuildbid.com/articles/mrolympia/imgs/schwarz/arn_main.jpg

lmao

I do b/w 3 and 4 sets of 25 push ups every other day or so.

Exactly! high reps don't build muscle!!!

Do you think if you lift a pencil 10000 times a day you will get big arms?

look at marathon runners, do they have big legs?
That is probably because a Pencil weighs all of 1 gram, 10,000 times? that's similar to lifting a 10 Kg weight once.



High Reps are good if endurance is your thing, though.

Exactly! high reps don't build muscle!!!

Do you think if you lift a pencil 10000 times a day you will get big arms?

look at marathon runners, do they have big legs?

No, but they can kick you swiftly in the balls millions of times. :lol2:

Push=ups aren't bad. You won't lose weight, but your arms and chest will get toned. A good workout for skinny people like me. I use to have trouble doing 10-15 pushups when I entered highschool, now I can do 3 sets of 30 before it starts getting tough. :smile:

if u wanna lose weight, do legs. leg muscles are the biggest in the body which means they will use the most energy. that means they will make u lose more weight faster. btw, if u weigh 145 and u want to lose 25 lbs, what do u wanna look like...a chick?

I am about the same dimensions as you, 148lb, 16years old and 5'7. I bench 160, so for my size not weak, because I work out in school and it is summer I do 30 push ups about 3 sets per day to tone the muscles, and do chest press at home for strengh (~190lb 7-8 reps and 170lb warm up 10-15 reps). Those are all for the chest, besides that also do pull ups, a lot of ab exercises, play bball at my hood and walk around a lot. Keeps me in shape.

Push ups if done properly can help with your posture and overall health and overall appearance.

Process

1) Lie chest down with your hands at shoulder level, palms flat on the floor and a little more than shoulder width apart, feet together.

2) Have your chin touching the floor.

3) Straighten your arms as you push your body up off the floor. Keep the back straight.

4) Breath out as the arms begin to get straight.

5) Then lower the body to the floor. Bending the arms and keeping the body straight.

6) Lower the body till your chest touch the floor.

7) Pause and start again to do a second, third and so on.

Doing a push up with the proper form there are different muscle groups that you will be working on. The muscle group that gets the most benefit are the arms. There aremany men who do nothingbut push up and have huge arms. The best thing to do to increase your arm size is by elevating your body higher up. The easiest way to do this is by using the steps. You can place your feet on the second steps from the bottom. By doing the push up in this form you are add more pressure to your arms thus they will get bigger. As you get more experience you can use other items to increase the leverage.

The chest is another part of the body that benefits. The way that this can be done is by doing the push up with your arms place wide apart. This will help increase pressure to the chest area thus making a wide and big chest.

With practice you will be able to do many different varations to work different parts of your arms, chest and back.

As with any excerise pratice make perfect. Don't try to do a lot at first and talk with a doctor first before starting any excerise program.

But if you’re determined to get to the point where you can do a guy’s pushup, more power to you. Guy’s pushups do firm you up slightly faster, but only if you don’t compromise form.

To make the transition to a guys pushup do one straight legged pushup, then two bent-knee pushups alternating back and forth for a total of 15 – 18 total pushups. Then next time, go for two straight-legged to every one bent-knee. Eventually, you will be able to do all straight-legged pushups.

and then soon after ull be able to do 20 1 handed strait leg pushups