Dirk
Level 1 Valued Member
Hi,
I started doing pushups in December and had to start with 3 normal pushups and then changed over to knee pushups. I progressed really fast at first, but now seem to require rest days more and more often.
My basics:
Male weighing 140kgs (mostly fat) and 44 years old
I used to do some weight lifting 25 odd years ago and tried again beginning of 2015, but couldn't get squats or deadlifts right with lots of pain in my knees and lower back - so I gave up.
December I decided to do the 100 pushup challenge with the idea of trying weights again after I achieve that.
Starting with 3 normal pushups and some knee pushups in middle of December, I quickly got to 20 pushups in a single set by end of January, but I'd have to rest for 3 days between workouts. I get impatient and would far prefer doing pushups every day, so I tried the Grease The Groove (GTG) method by doing 4 sets of 10 pushups spread throughout the day and increasing that by 1 pushup per set every day. The idea with the GTG method is that you don't fatigue your muscles, but I keep on getting more and more tired / sore (both my chest and my abs) or after 2-3 days I'd have to rest. Got up to 13 reps on the 4 sets, but couldn't do 3 x 14 the next day. Rested for 2 days and tried 15, but couldn't do the full second set. Rested again and did 16 yesterday (just one set) and 17 today (also just one set) and again I can feel my chest getting more and more fatigued... from just a single set per day !!!
Am I just too old to expect the gains I was hoping for? I know I could do 20 in a single set in January, so didn't expect 16 and 17 per set to cumulatively fatigue me like this.
Maybe my diet? I am also trying this intermittent fasting by only eating between 11am and 7pm every day. Not losing weight from it, so I'm not starving myself, but I'm also not getting any protein in anywhere close to the time I do the pushups (now 7am for the single set). Didn't think diet would be too important on a single-set workout.
Any advice would be appreciated. I don't mind if it takes a long time to get to do 100 pushups considering how out of shape I am, but I do want to see some progress I guess.
I started doing pushups in December and had to start with 3 normal pushups and then changed over to knee pushups. I progressed really fast at first, but now seem to require rest days more and more often.
My basics:
Male weighing 140kgs (mostly fat) and 44 years old
I used to do some weight lifting 25 odd years ago and tried again beginning of 2015, but couldn't get squats or deadlifts right with lots of pain in my knees and lower back - so I gave up.
December I decided to do the 100 pushup challenge with the idea of trying weights again after I achieve that.
Starting with 3 normal pushups and some knee pushups in middle of December, I quickly got to 20 pushups in a single set by end of January, but I'd have to rest for 3 days between workouts. I get impatient and would far prefer doing pushups every day, so I tried the Grease The Groove (GTG) method by doing 4 sets of 10 pushups spread throughout the day and increasing that by 1 pushup per set every day. The idea with the GTG method is that you don't fatigue your muscles, but I keep on getting more and more tired / sore (both my chest and my abs) or after 2-3 days I'd have to rest. Got up to 13 reps on the 4 sets, but couldn't do 3 x 14 the next day. Rested for 2 days and tried 15, but couldn't do the full second set. Rested again and did 16 yesterday (just one set) and 17 today (also just one set) and again I can feel my chest getting more and more fatigued... from just a single set per day !!!
Am I just too old to expect the gains I was hoping for? I know I could do 20 in a single set in January, so didn't expect 16 and 17 per set to cumulatively fatigue me like this.
Maybe my diet? I am also trying this intermittent fasting by only eating between 11am and 7pm every day. Not losing weight from it, so I'm not starving myself, but I'm also not getting any protein in anywhere close to the time I do the pushups (now 7am for the single set). Didn't think diet would be too important on a single-set workout.
Any advice would be appreciated. I don't mind if it takes a long time to get to do 100 pushups considering how out of shape I am, but I do want to see some progress I guess.