Q&A for How to Build Muscle Doing Push Ups

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  • Question
    Can you build muscle with push ups?
    Monica Morris
    ACE Certified Personal Trainer
    Monica Morris is an ACE (American Council on Exercise) Certified Personal Trainer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over 15 years of fitness training experience, Monica started her own physical training practice and gained her ACE Certification in 2017. Her workouts emphasize proper warm-ups, cool-downs, and stretching techniques.
    ACE Certified Personal Trainer
    Expert Answer
    Yes. When you do push ups? You're challenging your body to lift its own body weight. If your goal is to build muscle, the best way to do it is to pair calisthenic exercises, like push ups, pull ups, and crunches, with weight training.
  • Question
    Can I do push ups every day to build muscle?
    Michele Dolan
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Expert Answer
    Doing push ups every day will build muscle to start, but then you will stop seeing gains once your body adapts.
  • Question
    Can push ups make a person shorter or can they stop the height and growth of the body?
    Michele Dolan
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Expert Answer
    No, doing push ups will not affect your height. The main change that doing push ups may cause is the building of muscle and strengthening of the body.
  • Question
    Will doing push ups strengthen my biceps?
    Michele Dolan
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Expert Answer
    Yes, the biceps are worked during push ups. Try the various hand positions, inclined push ups with the feet raised, and decline push ups with the hands on an elevated surface such as a chair or counter, to get at the biceps from different angles.
  • Question
    Can you get big by doing push ups?
    Michele Dolan
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Expert Answer
    You can get bigger if you haven't been doing push ups, but at some point, your body adapts and you will need to do different things to continue to gain size.
  • Question
    Can you gain muscle from push ups and pull ups?
    Michele Dolan
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Expert Answer
    Yes, lifting your own body weight is a great way to build muscle size and strength.
  • Question
    How many push ups a day should I do to gain muscle?
    Michele Dolan
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.
    Certified Fitness Trainer
    Expert Answer
    To gain muscle, you need to progressively do more and more push ups, so start with 10, then work up to 15. Then try 2 sets of 10-15. Do the push ups one day and rest a day or two before doing them again, for best results.
  • Question
    How long will it take to see definition in my chest muscles?
    Community Answer
    If you've done any chest exercise in the past but quit and you want to get back into it, you can see muscle definition within as little as two to three weeks after restarting. If you're new and have never done any muscle building exercises, then you still should see a change in muscle definition after a month and you will definitely see noticeable definition and gain (in size) after about two months. However, you need to know that it all depends on how hard you push your muscles. Doing 10 push-ups a day won't do much to your muscles. Muscles respond to demand - the more you demand from them (by working them) the more they will grow. Basically, it's adaptation.
  • Question
    What kind of diet do I need to be on?
    Community Answer
    Don't follow a strict diet, but eat lean meats, fruits and vegetables. Make sure to stay properly hydrated.
  • Question
    How many push ups should a teenager do to build muscle?
    Community Answer
    Usually the amount of the teenage pushups should be at least between 10 and 15, or until the muscles start to burn.
  • Question
    Will I start to see muscles after one to two weeks?
    Community Answer
    This depends on the person. You could have more hormones or you could have less hormones. And it also depends on how many push ups you do per day.
  • Question
    Can doing 100 reps of push-ups every day build chest muscle?
    Community Answer
    It can, if you find it is easy to manage that much. Otherwise, 50 to 70 push ups is enough to build a chest.
  • Question
    Will I gain muscles?
    Community Answer
    Any exercise that puts strain on the muscle will produce muscle gains/ strength. But you need to know that not all exercises are the same and it all depends on the intensity, gender and genes but every body will gain muscles/strength by exercising.
  • Question
    Will push ups help build up side and back muscles?
    Community Answer
    Yes! Push ups help with upper body strength in general: shoulders, chest, triceps and even biceps. Consistently doing push ups will definitely strengthen your back muscles.
  • Question
    What should I eat to get rid of fat and gain muscle?
    Community Answer
    Avoid excess carbs and stay away from junk food. Eat healthy, lean sources of protein, like turkey, to gain muscle.
  • Question
    Can push-ups build leg muscles?
    Community Answer
    Not really. The point of push-ups is to use your arms and core muscles. Your legs are still involved, but you won't gain stronger leg muscles just by doing push-ups.
  • Question
    Is it okay to do push ups every day?
    Community Answer
    Doing push ups everyday might be an overload for your body, and you might strain something as well. Doing push-ups every other day allows for your body to adapt to the routine and build muscle.
  • Question
    Should I do as many push-ups as I can at one time, or should I do push-ups in sets?
    Community Answer
    To build muscle, you should do at least 3 sets per day of 30 push-ups each. When you are working out at this intensity, you need large quantities of protein (80+ grams per day). You also need to drink 2 liters of water and consume about 500 Kcal over your metabolic rate (including 50 grams of carbs) per day to gain muscle and get more defined.
  • Question
    Can I get abs by doing 20 jumping jacks?
    Community Answer
    No. Doing 20 jumping jacks will not magically give you abs.
  • Question
    How many sets should I do per day?
    Community Answer
    It depends on the person, but typically 3-4 sets of 10 reps is good for beginners.
  • Question
    How many push ups should a teenager do?
    Community Answer
    Do as many as you comfortably can and then gradually increase the number as you progress.
  • Question
    Will I get to ripped
    Community Answer
    If you do your push ups consistently and make them more challenging as you work out, then you will develop muscle.
  • Question
    Will push ups help build ab muscles?
    Community Answer
    Yes, it will strengthen/engage your core, thus building abs.
  • Question
    Will doing a body workout at home from 10 to 11 p.m. increase my body strength and muscles or not?
    Community Answer
    Yes. The time of day or night is irrelevant.
  • Question
    Do push up's strengthen your major pecs muscle too?
    Community Answer
    Yes, they do.
  • Question
    My hands shake while doing pushups. Why?
    Community Answer
    They probably shake from the exertion of doing the pushup.
  • Question
    How many do I need to do in total to be toned?
    Community Answer
    The amount of push ups you need to do to be toned will depend on your genetics, age, diet and body type.
  • Question
    My shoulder is hurting me during push ups, how can I prevent this?
    Community Answer
    Bring your elbows closer to your body as doing this will load more weight onto the triceps and away from the shoulder without killing the exercise. You should probably invest some time making sure you work out all three parts of the shoulder to avoid injury in the future.
  • Question
    How many push ups should I do to gain muscles fast?
    HappySandals
    Community Answer
    Once you can do 10 - 15 push ups in a single set without breaking a proper sweat, then look around in books or online for more challenging push up variations, like Hindu push ups, clapping push ups or even one-armed push ups. If you can do 100 push ups in one set, you're doing too many.
  • Question
    How many should I do to gain results in one month?
    Community Answer
    It really depends on your body type and how often you do your push ups. But you should do at least 100 push up per week to gain results in a month.
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