When you want to exercise your arms, the first thing that comes to mind is push-ups. Push-ups are one of the simplest and most effective exercises among all kinds of exercises. Bodyweight exercises are one of the choices for most fitness people to do daily exercises. Around us, you may often hear many people say they start doing push-ups in bed in the morning. When we were in physical education class as children, push-ups were usually one of our first choices for exercise. This is as it should be: push-ups are a common upper-body exercise that can exercise multiple muscle groups.
Although this is a common exercise, it is still underestimated by most people. It is a simple, important bodyweight exercise that everyone can do. When we focus on studying the functions of the human body, push-ups are one of them. Push-ups can exercise the upper body's muscles, enhance stability, and be customized according to personal fitness.
When we start to do push-ups, you may feel that you need to increase your push-up strength and see how many push-ups you can do at a time. This desire begs the question, whether you want to use push-ups as an upper body exercise or try to incorporate more exercises into your daily routine, how many push-ups should you do every day? Is there a limit to the number of push-ups you need to do each day? Is it safe to do push-ups to the maximum?
Just like with daily exercise, the answer is not that simple (hint: our 100-day pushup challenge can help with that goal). So how many push-ups do we need to do to be beneficial? Here's a detailed look at how many push-ups you can do each day and how to incorporate push-ups into your daily routine.
How Many Pushups You Should Do in a Day
The answer will ultimately vary based on goals and experience. The number of push-ups you should do in a day depends on your fitness level, goals, and overall training plan.
1. Beginners
If you're new to exercise or push-ups:
Goal: Build strength and endurance gradually.
How many: Start with 3 sets of 5–10 push-ups.
Progression: Once you can comfortably perform 10 reps in each set, gradually increase the number of sets or reps.
2. Intermediate Level
For those with some experience with push-ups:
Goal: Increase strength and endurance.
How many: Aim for 3–4 sets of 15–25 push-ups, depending on your fitness level.
Progression: As you get stronger, aim for more reps per set or add additional sets.
3. Advanced/Experienced Athletes
For those who are comfortable doing higher reps and push-ups are part of your regular training:
Goal: Build muscle endurance, and upper body strength, and challenge your limits.
How many: 4–6 sets of 25–50 push-ups, or even higher reps, depending on your goals. Some advanced athletes may do 100+ push-ups in a day, broken up into sets.
Variation: You can also add variations (e.g., decline, diamond, or clap push-ups) to target different muscle groups.
4. General Fitness and Endurance
If your goal is general fitness or muscular endurance, aim for 3–5 sets with 12–30 push-ups per set.
Example: Doing 15–20 push-ups per set, 4 sets in total = 60–80 push-ups for the day.
5. Maximal Strength Training
If you aim to use push-ups for strength development (like if you're training to do more push-ups or building chest and triceps strength):
Focus on quality rather than quantity.
Goal: Do sets of push-ups that challenge your muscles (e.g., 5-10 reps per set with longer rest intervals).
The Benefits of Pushups for Your Workouts
Push-ups are one of the most effective and versatile exercises that offer a wide range of benefits for your workouts. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced athlete, push-ups can help you improve your overall fitness, build strength, and increase endurance.
Builds Upper Body Strength
Push-ups primarily target the upper body muscles, including the following:
Chest (Pectorals): The primary muscles worked during a push-up.
Shoulders (Deltoids): Stabilize and assist in the push-up movement.
Triceps: The muscles on the back of the arms are responsible for straightening the elbows.
Core Muscles: Push-ups engage the core to maintain stability, helping to strengthen the abdominals and lower back muscles.
This combination of muscles helps to improve overall upper body strength, which is essential for other exercises, sports, and everyday movements.
Improves Core Stability
Although push-ups are often considered an upper-body exercise, they also require significant core activation. To maintain proper body alignment during the movement, your abdominals, obliques, and lower back muscles must stay engaged. This makes push-ups an excellent exercise for strengthening the core and improving overall stability.
Enhances Muscle Endurance
Push-ups are an excellent exercise for building muscular endurance. By performing multiple sets of push-ups, you gradually increase the ability of your muscles to sustain prolonged activity without tiring. This endurance is important not only for other exercises but also for day-to-day activities that require strength and stamina.
Boosts Functional Strength
Push-ups mimic functional movements that are used in real-life situations, such as pushing objects, lifting, or supporting your body weight. By practicing push-ups regularly, you're training your body for real-world physical tasks, which can improve daily functional performance.
Increases Functional Strength
This is the type of strength that helps with tasks like lifting, pushing, and stabilizing your body. Push-ups also mimic common movements like pushing a heavy door, making them useful for improving your performance in everyday life and sports.
Burns Fat and Improves Cardiovascular Health
Although push-ups are primarily a strength exercise, they are also an excellent cardiovascular exercise when performed in high repetitions or as part of a circuit. The movement can raise your heart rate and improve your cardiovascular health over time. Additionally, push-ups are great for fat-burning when incorporated into a circuit with other exercises.
How to Do Pushups the Right Way
If you want to build strength and muscle with push-ups, proper form is important. Follow these steps to perform the perfect push-up.
* Your fingers should be spread out, and your palms should be flat on the floor. Your elbows should point outward at about a 45-degree angle to your torso.
* Align your body from head to heels in a straight line. Your feet should be about hip-width apart, and your legs should be straight.
* Keep your body in a straight line; don’t let your hips sag or your back arch.
* Lower yourself until your chest nearly touches the ground (aim for just an inch or so above it), with your elbows at about a 45-degree angle.
Is It Safe to Do Pushups Every Day?
From a technical and exercise perspective, it's safe to do pushups every day. But there are some things you need to be aware of if you want to do it safely and efficiently.
First, if you are a beginner, doing push-ups every day might be too much at first. It's important to allow your muscles to adapt to the movement. Starting with 2-3 times a week and gradually increasing the frequency can be more beneficial to avoid injury.
Push-ups primarily target your chest, shoulders, and triceps. These muscles need time to recover after being worked, typically 48 hours.
Doing push-ups every day can lead to overuse and insufficient recovery if your intensity is high or if you're doing a large volume of push-ups each day. To mitigate the risk of overtraining, you can vary the intensity (e.g., doing fewer push-ups or reducing the intensity some days) or change the type of push-up (e.g., incline push-ups or diamond push-ups) to target muscles differently.
In order to be able to do push-ups safely every day, posture is also very important. Performing push-ups with good form is crucial to avoid injury. Doing push-ups every day with poor form can lead to strain on your wrists, shoulders, or lower back. If you're not able to maintain good form due to fatigue, it's better to take a rest day to allow your muscles to recover.
Doing push-ups every day can be safe if done with proper form, intensity, and recovery in mind. For beginners, it’s advisable to start slow and give muscles time to adapt. For more experienced individuals, daily push-ups can be part of a regular training routine, but alternating intensity and allowing recovery time is essential. If you feel excessive soreness or fatigue, rest days are crucial to avoid injury and overtraining.
