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Bodyweight Progression From 5 Push-Ups To 50+

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rando247

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A couple of months ago I couldn't do any push-ups, but through a combination of losing weight and barbell bench press, I can now manage a max of 5 perfect reps. I am still losing weight, and I have about 30lbs more to go which should make the push-ups even a bit easier.

But my goal is to be able to perform 50+ push-ups in a single set. What does a good progression look like for me? Should I even consider GTG yet given I can only perform five reps? And how far, on average, can one expect GTG to take them? And when does something like resistance-band push-ups come into play?

If anyone has experience with attaining a similar goal and documented the process they went through, I think that would help me a lot. I'm very concerned about making sure I do enough to achieve my goal and I'm worried about wasting time training inefficiently. Thanks in advance.
 
rando247 said:
A couple of months ago I couldn't do any push-ups, but through a combination of losing weight and barbell bench press, I can now manage a max of 5 perfect reps. I am still losing weight, and I have about 30lbs more to go which should make the push-ups even a bit easier.

But my goal is to be able to perform 50+ push-ups in a single set. What does a good progression look like for me? Should I even consider GTG yet given I can only perform five reps? And how far, on average, can one expect GTG to take them? And when does something like resistance-band push-ups come into play?

If anyone has experience with attaining a similar goal and documented the process they went through, I think that would help me a lot. I'm very concerned about making sure I do enough to achieve my goal and I'm worried about wasting time training inefficiently. Thanks in advance.
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Im not able to do +50 myself but I would advice you to take a look at @mprevost Push-up program or perhaps Simplefit if you want the whole body package. I have done some Simplefit and really enjoy the short varied sessions. Another way to go could be Armor of War by Tom Furman, his program is geared more toward progressions.
 
I´m currently following a push up program by @mprevost. It basically consists on GTG pushups throughout the day for a total daily volume of 250% of RM, in different rep/sets schemes each day. So far its working well and I´m improving, but I havent reached 50 unbroken reps yet.

The only time I could do 50+ push ups was when I was 22. I didnt keep a log, but IIRC I was doing 4-5 sets of 20 push ups throughout the morning for 2 months. Pretty simple and effective.
 
Hello,

@rando247
This programme works
www.stewsmith.com

FREE Two Week Protocol for Pullups and Pushups (Increase 50-100%) (& Now Situps)

What is a FREE proven resource any PT Test Taker can use right now to crush fitness tests? Since the mid-1990's, I have on certain occasions recommended someone try the Pullup Push and the Pushup Push Protocols to help increase their pullups and pushups respectively. Depending on your current...
www.stewsmith.com
Basically, what Oscar said ?

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
GTG is a great method for increasing Pushups. Work at 50 % of your max. You could also do some elevated ONE ARM push-up to fast track your progression and work on higher reps in an elevated regular push-up also to begin getting use to that type of volume in one set. (Wall, counter top, desk, chair or box) slowly working closer to the ground for higher sets.
 
I really appreciate all of the responses. I came across that Stew Smith plan (4x your max GTG for 10 days and then re-test) and was planning on starting this today. But does anyone have any experience with how far this program can take you?

The reason I ask is that my bench press is very low, especially relative to my body weight. I'm currently benching 155lbs at 225lbs bodyweight. I still have about 30lbs to lose, but I'm not going to be magically benching 1.5x my bodyweight any time soon. I really like the information in the article posted by Sean M, but the author also has a very respectable bench. I'm just concerned on the one hand that my max strength may limit my potential to reach the 50+ range, but on the other hand I don't really have any uses for a big bench so I would rather start push-up specific training as soon as possible.

So what's a good approach for me - to use the Stew Smith plan in 14 day cycles until it no longer produces results? And then consider doing some kind of 5x5 push-up plan with resistance? Thanks in advance everyone!
 
Another option:

I used this program with pistol squats, and the programming works really well (the author worked up to 50 pistol squats, "twelve consecutive pistols with 32kg, ten pull-ups with a weight belt carrying 24kg, and twenty-something handstand push-ups" using this program):
www.strongfirst.com

How to Program Your Way to 50 Consecutive Pistol Squats | StrongFirst

Here is how I trained to achieve 50 consecutive pistol squats. But the truth is, you've already learned everything you need to know from Pavel.
www.strongfirst.com

Strongfirst definitely gives you a lot of proven options.
 
rando247 said:
I really appreciate all of the responses. I came across that Stew Smith plan (4x your max GTG for 10 days and then re-test) and was planning on starting this today. But does anyone have any experience with how far this program can take you?

The reason I ask is that my bench press is very low, especially relative to my body weight. I'm currently benching 155lbs at 225lbs bodyweight. I still have about 30lbs to lose, but I'm not going to be magically benching 1.5x my bodyweight any time soon. I really like the information in the article posted by Sean M, but the author also has a very respectable bench. I'm just concerned on the one hand that my max strength may limit my potential to reach the 50+ range, but on the other hand I don't really have any uses for a big bench so I would rather start push-up specific training as soon as possible.

So what's a good approach for me - to use the Stew Smith plan in 14 day cycles until it no longer produces results? And then consider doing some kind of 5x5 push-up plan with resistance? Thanks in advance everyone!
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It seems to me that the best approach is to have patience. Losing 30 pounds can take 6 months, unless you want to lose a lot of muscle with it. Going from 5 push ups to 50 can take a long while too, you'll be multiplying your capacity by 10! And and same with bench. You could do a linear progression that would take you to 200#, and those take 3-6 months as well. Maybe closer to 6 months if losing weight. And you shouldn't do a heavy barbell program at the same time as maxing your push ups four times per day.

Pick one goal, the bench or the push ups, and go after it for 3-6 months, or until you stall. Then switch to the other goal, if you still want to by then.

About that push up program: maxing 4 times per day 10 consecutive days? It sounds a bit extreme to me. I don't know the trainer and maybe it is a good program, but I'm doing 75% of my max for 3 sets, 3 days a week, and making good progress.
 
Oscar said:
It seems to me that the best approach is to have patience. Losing 30 pounds can take 6 months, unless you want to lose a lot of muscle with it. Going from 5 push ups to 50 can take a long while too, you'll be multiplying your capacity by 10! And and same with bench. You could do a linear progression that would take you to 200#, and those take 3-6 months as well. Maybe closer to 6 months if losing weight. And you shouldn't do a heavy barbell program at the same time as maxing your push ups four times per day.

Pick one goal, the bench or the push ups, and go after it for 3-6 months, or until you stall. Then switch to the other goal, if you still want to by then.

About that push up program: maxing 4 times per day 10 consecutive days? It sounds a bit extreme to me. I don't know the trainer and maybe it is a good program, but I'm doing 75% of my max for 3 sets, 3 days a week, and making good progress.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply Oscar. I agree that my goals require sufficient time to accomplish them, and I do happen to have around 8 months to do so. I respectfully disagree, however, with your advice to simply pick one goal and use it until I stall. I think that is oversimplifying why I am here.

I already know what I want to accomplish: 50+ push-ups in a single set (hopefully eventually upwards of 80). I'm simply looking for input from those who have studied and accomplished this goal as to whether or not push-ups alone (such as GtG) will suffice to reach this goal or if a stronger maximal-strength base is required. We all know how much bad information is floating around out there about strength training, and given how important this goal is to me I feel a need to research and understand how I should train to accomplish it in time.
 
Hello,

This protocol is very "PST-oriented". Of course, you'll gain some strength, especially at the beginning. But reaching 50 in a row is more an endurance feat than anything else (even if this is a very good feat of course !)

Thus, it will not immediately transfer to great bench press numbers. Nonetheless, it will reinforce joints and tendons so you'll be able to build strength with harder moves without pain in this respect.

To increase bench press thanks to bodyweight, I'd takcle harder push up variation (feet elevated, one arm, one arm one leg, weighted, etc...)

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
rando247 said:
Thank you for the reply Oscar. I agree that my goals require sufficient time to accomplish them, and I do happen to have around 8 months to do so. I respectfully disagree, however, with your advice to simply pick one goal and use it until I stall. I think that is oversimplifying why I am here.

I already know what I want to accomplish: 50+ push-ups in a single set (hopefully eventually upwards of 80). I'm simply looking for input from those who have studied and accomplished this goal as to whether or not push-ups alone (such as GtG) will suffice to reach this goal or if a stronger maximal-strength base is required. We all know how much bad information is floating around out there about strength training, and given how important this goal is to me I feel a need to research and understand how I should train to accomplish it in time.
Click to expand...
I see what you mean, you want to use the bench press as an assistance lift to improve push ups, not do a bench specific program.

I don't know of any program with that goal. Maybe you will need a trainer to write it for you as it is pretty specific.

An idea you could try is to bench once per week, heavy, 3x5 or 5x5. The following day, rest. The other 5 days, follow a GTG push up program as the many mentioned above. You can follow a linear progression for bench, and the specific guidelines for the GTG program. Having a day off after bench is important for recovery.
 
Hello,

I think the kind of transfer @Oscar talks about will work. I even think it can work with good results.

Using GTG, I practice on a daily basis OA PU / OAOL PU. So, like the bench press, this is some kind of "hard press variation". It transfers well to strength-endurance. Indeed, it easily maintains 100 push ups in a row without specific training.

Kb military press may also work very well. I remember a podcast and an article where E. Frohardt mentioned that doing RoP, he drastically improved his bench and maintains his strength-endurance for push ups

Most of the time, the stronger you are, the easier it is to get endurance. However, the reverse is not that true.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Karen Smith said:
GTG is a great method for increasing Pushups. Work at 50 % of your max. You could also do some elevated ONE ARM push-up to fast track your progression and work on higher reps in an elevated regular push-up also to begin getting use to that type of volume in one set. (Wall, counter top, desk, chair or box) slowly working closer to the ground for higher sets.
Click to expand...

1580742978881.png

Learning the OAPU may have more carryover (to Push-ups) than the Bench Press, and is more accessible. By spending time working on this you learn to create tension. You can think of your OAPU work as strength work, and your GTG as your sport practice. Essentially you want to develop a solid base of strength so your body knows it can handle itself. Then the high-rep stuff becomes more of a software issue, when you're now learning how to use the least amount of tension necessary to perform each lift (dominanta) and maximize your reps.

I have used the GTG-only method to work with three guys who could do maybe 5-10 half-repped Push-ups to I believe 50-80 unbroken, and upwards of 300-500 if the front leaning rest was allowed. It took around 6 months, and they were doing other stuff as well, but definitely hitting GTG 5 days a week.
 
I am also working toward the 50+ perfect push-ups goal. My MaxRP = 35 now. I am following Jody P's scheme (mentioned earlier), including GTG, where on a daily basis I do 18-20 reps (50+% of MaxRP) per set, as much as I can throughout the day. I'm tracking my progress in an Excel spreadsheet I devised.
 
Might I suggest that you set some smaller, intermediate goals. Going from 5 to 50 is a huge leap. You may decide during the journey that 50 reps isn't as important as you thought once you're in the 20-30 rep range. Also, I believe that different approaches may be necessary to go from 5 to 20 versus going from 30 to 50.

So my advice is set a very reachable next goal of 10 reps. A nice round number and I have no doubt that you can achieve it. Just about any program will get you there as long as you work the program.

Maybe next, try to go from 10 to 20. This is quite a big jump for some, and now you start to go from strength to strength endurance. Again, there are plenty of GTG type programs to get you there, several are listed above.

I think for many, once you're over 20 consecutive reps it can be hard to add a lot more. I said for many, not for all. Just like any movement, some seem to do better with pushups than others. At 57 years old I used the Pushup Power Phase 1 program to go from 22 to 29 reps. I was more than happy with those results and didn't continue to try to improve. I really enjoy dips, both BW and loaded, and decline pushups (feet up on bench or higher) and like to rotate these movements with standard pushups.

Don't get me wrong, 50 pushups is an awesome goal. But sometimes if you make a goal so far out there, the journey can get a little onerous. By setting some smaller, easier to achieve goals, you get to taste success more often, which may help maintain your enthusiasm. And who knows, once you hit 20 or hit 30 reps, maybe another goal will pop into your head, like hitting 10 pullups or 30 BW squats.
 
rando247 said:
But does anyone have any experience with how far this program can take you?
Click to expand...
Stew's program is designed for peaking for a PFT with short notice. Don't use that program long term.

In the military we did GTG push-ups in sets of 40 all the time and I got my 2min pushups up to 80-90 that way.

My best 2 min pushups were 110-130 and I was mostly doing incline dumbbell presses with 3x 8-12 and when I could get 12 on all sets would go to the next heavier dumbbell. At the time, I was doing a body part split with 20 min easy cardio after the lifting and was also at my lowest body fat percent too.

Training for aesthetics can still produce great performance. It's not vain to train like a body builder.
 
Hello,

Below an interesting progression, even though I think this is hard:


Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I've done Pavel's program in the past - "Drop and Give me 100". It was a routine published in Muscle Media way back when, and there were two 2 week plans. A normal and an aggressive routine. I did both back to back for a total of 4 weeks. I went from 15 pushups to 78 by the end of it. I had developed a mild tendinitis at the end as well.

It's a routine that I used since on rare occasions to maintain 50 pushups in a single set. I now limit the routine to two weeks and I've also reduced the percentage per set to match my recovery. Keeping notes of your own progress is important when you want to recycle these tid bits of gold...

Here is a forum post discussing it:

Old Forum - "Drop & Give me a 100" Results

Ladies and Gentleman, My pushup numbers went from 35 to 58 (a 65.71% increase) in just two weeks. Thanks Pavel.
www.strongfirst.com
 
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