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Bodyweight High Rep Pushups for Biceps?

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Physical Culture

Physical Culture

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I've been working on pushups for a while, with a goal of 100 in one set. YesterdayI did a PR set of 75. My previous best was 60. I've become accustomed to feeling it in my triceps, chest, and shoulders doing sets of 30-40 reps a few times a day, but after this set of 75, I felt it more in my biceps than anywhere else. I did 40 reps, then kept my hands and feet in the same place and rested in the plank position. I finished with sets of 5.

Today, my biceps are very sore. Has anyone experienced bicep stimulation with high rep pushups? I suppose that they were working to stabilize the elbow and shoulder joints, and as an agonist to the triceps. Any thoughts?
 
How wide was your hand placement? Wide grip bench press and wide "grip" pushups can place more load on the biceps. As you mentioned, I would suspect the biceps are mildly active since it is a compound movement. The large increase in volume, especially if you were working close to your rep max when you are tensing every ounce to squeeze out those reps may contribute as well.
 
I felt some bicep soreness, after my first crawling attempts (foreward, backward), like pushups I would not categorize this as pulling not in the least bicep work.
 
Good thoughts. My pushups were close-grip. My upper arm slides along my lats during each rep. I suppose the max effort spreads the work around, and the "pushup muscles" were already conditioned to this. I thought it was an interesting effect. The more do high rep pushups, the more they teach me. I think that there is definitely merit in high rep bodyweight training, even if it's not strictly strength work (in the StrongFirst sense).
 
I enjoy higher rep pushups. What are some things you have learned from them? What is your training like for your 100 pushup goal? 75 is impressive!
 
D-Rock said:
I enjoy higher rep pushups. What are some things you have learned from them? What is your training like for your 100 pushup goal? 75 is impressive!
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I started off training sets of 15, with elbows at about a 45 degree angle. My shoulders did not like it, so I brought my elbows close to the body. I've learned to push with the pecs and lats, almost like a bent press. At the bottom position, when my humerus is alongside the lat, I visualize not pushing the ground away, but pulling my elbows together by contracting my lats and pecs. It's like the upper arm "rolls" along the lat for the first half of the movement, then it's more a push with triceps, shoulders, and chest. It's hard to explain- the lats push the upper arm away to start the movement. Doing this, I've increased my reps and also learned to use the pushup as a full upper body movement.

I started with sets of 15, and a total of 50 a day. Over time, I increased my daily total to 100, in sets of 20. When 20 got easy, I did sets of 25, then 30. Most sets these days are 40 reps, which is the point when rep speed starts to degrade. The reps are high, but it's like grease the groove.

About once a week I'll push and see how far I can get. I go until my reps degrade, then stop and breathe several breaths in the top position. Sometimes I rock back and push my hips up to shift the load so I can rest, but all pushups are done in a solid plank.
 
Hello,

May be it would be better doing chin ups for biceps. Nevertheless, if you want to break your push ups records and work out your biceps you can do 5 or 6 sets of "max - 1" reps, with short rest between sets (no more than 25s). The width between your hand should be more or less your shoulder width.

Kind regards,

Pet
 
Upper body pushing motions involve triceps, while upper body pulling motions involve biceps. It's probably a result to resistance while going down, if I'm not mistaken.
Goodluck on your goal by the way ;)
 
if you use extra wide hands position it will stretch the biceps a bit, as biceps stab. the movement, but its not optimal for biceps development.
 
Physical Culture said:
the lats push the upper arm away to start the movement. Doing this, I've increased my reps and also learned to use the pushup as a full upper body movement
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I can definitely understand and feel this, although I have a hard time explaining biomechanically how the lats push. I can also engage the lats quite easily during pushups, but have trouble carrying it over to bench press. A theory is that laying against the bench in part inhibits that muscle group a little.

Do you feel your rep increase is due to using more muscle groups, or your program, or both?

Physical Culture said:
Most sets these days are 40 reps, which is the point when rep speed starts to degrade. The reps are high, but it's like grease the groove.
Click to expand...

How long did it take you to get to sets of 40? Are you doing multiple sets everyday throughout the day? I really like how you stop the set when rep speed/quality diminish. I was unsure of when to cut off higher rep GTG sets, but this is a logical stopping point for a set. I will have to try that.
 
D-Rock,
I think my progress has been due to both the technique and the programming. Part of it is the low-hanging fruit of a new movement, but part of it is also greater efficiency- moving the same load with more musculature requires less effort, and holds off localized fatigue.

It took about a month to work from sets of 15-20 to sets of 40. Sets are usually done throughout the day. I got the notion to stop sets when rep speed/form degrade from Geoff Neupert. The idea is to do as many quality reps as possible, rest, then do more quality reps.

I've also been experimenting with a variation of German Volume Training- 10 pushups on the minute for 10 minutes. For these, I go slower. I lower myself under control and pause at the bottom, so it's more of a grind. When I go for high reps, I drop to the hole and use the stretch reflex to bounce up quickly. Both variations have their benefits.
 
Thank you very much for your helpful insight! I have implemented the rep speed/deterioration cutoff, but I used it for heavy/low rep sets mostly. I would typically stop at mild fatigue when going for higher reps. Both phenomena happen close to the same time, but I feel form deterioration/speed decrease generally is a pretty discernible instant. Fatigue is somewhat of a blurred line that occurs across a continuum and discerning when to stop a set maybe isn't always clear.

I had been toying with the idea of every minute on the minute pushups and possibly bodyweight squats, somewhat of a bodyweight alactic+ aerobic protocol. Perhaps I can give this a go as well. Is true German Volume Training typically every minute on the minute?
 
D-Rock, I'm not sure about parameters for GVT, but I don't think so. The program usually applies to barbell lifts like squats.
 
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