I'm struggling with Push ups...!

[HiFlyin21]

I have a physical fitness test for law enforcement coming up in December, and push ups are a very important part of this test. I have to do two sets of 20 push ups and 20 sit-ups. So i'll end up doing 40 total.

 

My question is how do you increase your push up max or count? Currently I can do the first set of 20 push ups ok. However, once I get to the second set of 20, I can do about 10, and then the last 10 takes forever as I take breaks to keep from going to muscle failure. This takes too much time!

 

It is a timed physical fitness test. I think it has to be done in 7 mins and 20 secs.

 

For those of you who may be familiar or are in law enforcement, it is called the POPAT (Police Officer Physical Ability Test). I need to pass it so that I can go to BLET (Basic Law Enforcement Training).

 

Thank you for any help you guys can provide!

 

I am a 23 year old female by the way.

[2sure]

My daughter , 16, last summer trained and took the test through a program for the hell of it. She didn't complete all of the push ups, and it was really hard. She came close only because she started lifting weights...the hard kind...I don't know what they are called..bench pressing! She can do them now. I can do 10.

[skydiveaddict]

My question is how do you increase your push up max or count? Currently I can do the first set of 20 push ups ok. However, once I get to the second set of 20, I can do about 10, and then the last 10 takes forever

 

Let me guess, those two sets of 20 push ups are from the kneeling position, right?

Unfortunately, you are the genetic victim of a lack of testosterone. Your ability to increase muscle strength is greatly diminished because of that; especially where upper body strength is concerned. There is little you can do about that.

[Avulare]

If you're not already, start going to the gym and lifting weights! In particular, using a machine bench press (or just regular bench pressing) will help you significantly increase your shoulder and triceps strength. The stronger the muscles are, the less they will have to work to complete a pushup, which means you'll be able to do more of them.

 

Before I started strength training a little over a month ago, I couldn't do a single proper pushup. Now I can do about 15 and find that I'm continually improving every time I increase the weight on the machine bench press. Since you can already do 30 pushups, you can probably start training pretty hard and it won't take long before you can do 40 within the required time period.

[somedude81]

Try this. Break the two sets of 20 into four sets of 10, with a small break in between them.

 

If you can't do the full four sets, that's OK, just write down how many you did. Just try again in the next couple days.

 

Eventually you'll see that the total number of pushup's you can do is increasing. Once you've manged the four sets of 10. Try the two sets of 20.

[Under The Radar]

I would recommend doing weighted pushups with a 10 to 20 pound vest on (like firefighters will train with). Since you can do 20 pushups on the first set, start with 5 sets of 5 repetitions with a weighted vest that barely lets you complete all 25 pushups.

 

Strength is specific and getting good at pushups will require doing that exact exercise. Although lifting weights will help (namely the bench press as others have mentioned) it will take time to develop that strength (the test is next month).

 

Make sure you are NOT doing pushups every day. You build strength when you heal/recover from exercise.

 

Maybe something like this:

 

Workout A: 5 sets of 5 reps with a weighted vest (warmup first)

When you can get all 5 sets of 5, in good form, add a pound or two and start over

 

Workout B: Bodyweight X 4 sets of 10

When you can do this for a total of 40 reps, add 1 rep to each set and start over. Keep repeating and don't rush the process.

 

Make sure Workout A and B are seperated from each other to ensure rest. If I had to recommend a machine to use it would be the row. The row machine is the opposite motion of the pushup and would ensure balance. This would help to keep your shoulders healthy and improve upper body strength.

 

I wouldn't try to max out until the actual test. The test is more a demonstration of pushup strength, not the best way to build it. Hope this helps.

[Emilia]

Let me guess, those two sets of 20 push ups are from the kneeling position, right?

Unfortunately, you are the genetic victim of a lack of testosterone. Your ability to increase muscle strength is greatly diminished because of that; especially where upper body strength is concerned. There is little you can do about that.

 

Why would you think for even a minute that useless comments like this are helpful? The OP might need to start from a weaker position but with smart training she can achieve what she wants - that's speaking from experience.

 

Workout A: 5 sets of 5 reps with a weighted vest (warmup first)

When you can get all 5 sets of 5, in good form, add a pound or two and start over

 

Workout B: Bodyweight X 4 sets of 10

When you can do this for a total of 40 reps, add 1 rep to each set and start over. Keep repeating and don't rush the process.

 

Make sure Workout A and B are seperated from each other to ensure rest. If I had to recommend a machine to use it would be the row. The row machine is the opposite motion of the pushup and would ensure balance. This would help to keep your shoulders healthy and improve upper body strength.

 

I wouldn't try to max out until the actual test. The test is more a demonstration of pushup strength, not the best way to build it. Hope this helps.

 

Sounds very good, I'm going to try this, was looking for a way of using pushups more efficiently, thank you.

 

Very good advice on using the row as well, balance is really important OP. I focus as much on my back and triceps as chest and biceps. Balance is very important and it greatly improves your upper body strength.

[SpiralOut]

If you want a pre-made fitness schedule the website 100 pushups has that. It's free. Basically you do a fitness test, then you follow the program of 5 sets of pushups (the number of reps are determined by your fitness level), then every few weeks you do another fitness test to see how many consecutive pushups you can do. I gave up partway through but it still helped me to go from 12 to like 28 consecutive pushups.

[Enema]

I wouldn't recommend bench press or heavy weights to increase your ability to do pushups.

 

2 sets of 20 reps is purely endurance training, not strength.

 

To get more muscular endurance, you just have to keep using them. Do a single set of 25-30 pushups once every hour or so during the day.

[Forever Learning]

I have done push-ups standing, facing a wall, with feet a distance from the wall. (say, 2 feet - 3 feet, or more, from the wall). This helps develop some upper body strength, especially when free weights and gym membership are not available. This might be a stepping stone to the actual push up.