Rich_2k3 Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 How far can push-ups get you? are they the best exercise for ur abs and how many do u need to do each day to make a difference? "When my enemy contracts I expand and when he expands I contract" - Bruce Lee
WolverineGuy Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Abs? You mean sit ups? Wolverine1st Dan - Kalkinodo"Shut up brain, or I'll stab you with a q-tip""There is no spoon."
Rich_2k3 Posted June 17, 2004 Author Posted June 17, 2004 ......I dont know why I said abs.....anyway I meant pecs, soz 4 that. "When my enemy contracts I expand and when he expands I contract" - Bruce Lee
TheDevilAside Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Push ups, like any other bodyweight exercise, will work on your muscle endurance, unless you're pretty weak to begin with. They might improve your speed. "If you're going through hell, keep going." - Sir Winston Churchill
Rich67 Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Pushups are highly underrated. You MUST do pushups to establish a good base for other weightlifting activities you may partake in. Pushups strengthen the smaller muscles of the chest, shoulders and upper back, which are generally not hit as hard during bench pressing, for example. Just doing pushups alone can provide you with a very good upper body routine, providing you vary the form from time to time ( wide arm pushups, close arm, incline pushups, weighted pushups, etc.). You will develop functional strength and flexibility, but won't put on too much mass. In order to get mass, you have to hit the weights and work on flat/incline/decline bench presses. But don't ever stop doing the pushups. They will help keep the injuries away and will keep you on track with lifting heavier weights. Mixed Martial Artist
Ironberg Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 I agree with Rich. "An enlightened man would offer a weary traveler a bed for the night, and invite him to share a civilized conversation over a bowl of... Cocoa Puffs."
Thuggish Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 pushups are only useful in building mass when youre about to start a weight lifting routine. once you get into it a bit, forget them and hit the weights. a broken arm throws no punches
CloudDragon Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 (edited) Push-ups can also work the upper legs and lower back as it takes many muscles to support the body in a straight line. I like to do them because you can easily track improvement in strength gain. Its either 50 pushups yes or 50 pushups no, pretty clear indicator of improvement! I do agree with Thuggish that for mass you need to lift, but for starting out and general conditioning pushups are hard to beat. Edited June 18, 2004 by CloudDragon A Black Belt is just a white belt that don't know when to quit!
CanuckMA Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Trust somebody recovering from back surgery, they also work the lower back some
WhiteBelt Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 That leg and lower back work is all isometric though. IMO push-ups are the same as the bench press, neither is of huge importance to MA or MMA. I would still lean towards the bench press though, because you can get endurance work and technical work at the same time with a punching bag, or sparring, or pad drills, or...
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