The classic pushup is a tried-and-true bodyweight exercise that strengthens your upper body and enhances your stability. The saying “get down and give me 20” is well-known for a reason because the pushup is a superior benchmark of physical fitness. We’ve all seen pushups in plenty of military drills and high-intensity workout circuits.
There are different variations of pushups, and if you’re like me, you might wonder how many pushups should I do in a day? How many daily pushups will optimize my fitness? Interestingly,a survey conducted by fitness coaching blog Gymless reveals that 53.8% of adults in the United States can’t perform more than 10 consecutive pushups, with 17.4% reporting being able to perform between six and 10 in a row.
I find pushups are one of the best bodyweight moves to add to a push day or upper body workout. Most fitness professionals recommend conquering the pushup before moving on to bench pressing with resistance training. Let’s look at how many pushups you should be doing each day, how to do a proper pushup safely, how to avoid overdoing it, and more.
How to do a pushup
As with any exercise, when doing a pushup, you must use the proper technique. This will allow you to get the most out of the exercise and prevent injury.
How to perform pushups:
- Start on all fours with your hands about shoulder-distance apart.
- Extend your legs back behind you so your spine and legs form a straight line and your knees and hips are in the plank position.
- Lower yourself down until your chest touches the floor and your elbows are at a 90-degree angle.
- Push yourself back up to straighten your arms.
- Repeat for your desired number of reps.
What are the benefits of pushups?
Pushups provide a range of benefits, including:
- Working your triceps in your arms, pecs in your chest, and the deltoids in your shoulders. Muscles in your core and legs help stabilize you in the plank position.
- Strengthening your lower back and core.
- It’s a simple and versatile bodyweight exercise.
- There’s no need for a gym membership or equipment.
- Building upper body strength. A 2015 study revealed that people gained just as much strength performing banded pushups as others did with weighted chest presses.
- Building core stability.
- Improving your posture, endurance, and overall physical fitness.
- One 10-year study on male firefighters revealed that the number of pushups performed in 30 seconds is associated with good cardiovascular health.
What’s the average number of pushups for men?
Fitness experts say people are different, and the number of pushups you can complete in one go depends on several factors, such as your health and fitness level. If you have an athletic background and a more advanced level of physical fitness, you can probably aim for more.
The Mayo Clinic recently published a target number of pushup counts that men and women should strive for.
Here are the guidelines for men:
- 25 years old — 28
- 35 years old — 21
- 45 years old — 16
- 55 years old — 12
- 65 years old — 10
How many pushups should I do in a day?
How many pushups you should do in a day depends on several factors, such as your fitness level and goals.
Here are some general guidelines:
- Beginner – If you’re a beginner, aim for two or three sets of 10-15 pushups in one day and work your way up over time. You can spread those sets throughout the day to get them all in if necessary.
- Intermediate – If you’re at an intermediate fitness level, you can shoot for three sets of 20-25 pushups.
- Advanced – If you’re advanced, try three or four sets of 30 pushups or more!
If you’re doing pushups regularly, even if it isn’t every single day, you’ll still likely notice gains in your upper body strength.
Is it safe to do pushups every day?
As long as you have proper form and you aren’t overexerting yourself, technically, it’s safe to do pushups every day. However, most fitness professionals recommend including rest days and trying a variety of similar exercises and variations for the best results.
Fitness coach CC Matthews shared his thoughts on the matter along with helpful tips. He said doing the same exercise daily increases your risk of plateauing, where your body is no longer challenged, and you aren’t getting the same benefits anymore. That’s when you know it’s time to ramp up the challenge, try different exercises, and incorporate resistance training. Throw in some rows to target your back muscles along with pressing moves like an overhead press and pulling moves like pull-ups.
Doing a bunch of pushups every day without proper form could lead to an injury and shoulder or back pain. Most fitness professionals recommend doing them every other day if you’re shooting for high volume.
Tips to improve your pushup technique
These tips will help you improve your pushup technique:
- Keep your body straight in the plank position, and make sure your hands are shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core throughout the movement.
- Try to keep your elbows at a 45-degree angle when you’re lowering yourself down with control.
- Focus on perfecting technique rather than powering through the most reps.
- Engage your upper back by pinching or squeezing your shoulder blades together when you reach the lowest part of the movement.
- Build strength by gradually increasing your sets and reps.
- Try to keep your hips in line with your shoulders.
- Keep your hands firmly rooted on the ground for balance and stability.
Pro fitness trainer Clarence Hairston called the pushup an “all-purpose exercise” when he shared his tips with The Manual on how to do a perfect pushup every time.
Modifications
You can try different modifications to make pushups more or less difficult.
Decrease the difficulty: Try the modified version on your knees if you’re having difficulty or try the incline pushup and use an elevated surface.
Heighten the challenge: Wear a weighted vest or place a weight plate on your back. You can also increase the difficulty by practicing pushups with your hands or feet on a medicine ball. Try lifting one leg, using a narrower grip and changing your hand positioning, or just slowing down your repetitions to make this classic move harder. A close-grip pushup increases triceps engagement.
The best pushup variations
Here are some of the best pushup variations to try:
- Wall pushup
- Rolling pushup
- Incline pushup
- Wide grip pushup
- Close grip pushup
- Reverse grip pushup
- Decline pushup
- Pushup with single leg raise
- Uneven pushup on a medicine ball
- Renegade row pushup
- Weighted vest pushup
- Clap pushup
- The Mike Tyson pushup
You can incorporate pushups or pushup variations into your push day or your upper body training days.
FAQs
How many pushups should I do a day to see results?
If you’re a beginner, 10 pushups every day should generate results as long as you have proper form. If you have some experience, completing 15-30 pushups every day should boost your strength and endurance.
What will doing 100 pushups a day do?
For some reason, there’s an allure to doing 100 pushups daily, which is an impressive number to stay consistent with. Of course, doing 100 pushups daily would improve your upper body strength and endurance, but you need to be careful not to overexert yourself, and your muscles will need to rest.
