Pushups are great. We do a ton of them in our training so you should be pretty outstanding at them right?
Well why do they still seem so hard?
Maybe you are doing harder variations.
Maybe you are doing more reps than you were.
Maybe you got sick and feel weaker.
Maybe your diet has been not the greatest and so you’ve gone backwards too.
The trick with any strength exercise is to perform enough stimulus that you make the muscle grow. I’m pretty sure you’ve got that covered.
But the other side of growth lies in the recovery.
Are you eating the right foods to allow your body to recover?
Are you stressed and using your energy for other things?
Are you getting enough sleep?
These are the 3 main issues.
Food for Strength
You need a foundation for your body to build upon, and that foundation should be made of lots of carbohydrates from vegetables and some fruit.
On top of that you’re gonna need some protein from good quality sources. Eggs, lean meats, fish and good quality protein powder are the best choices.
You’re gonna need plenty of water too, cos if you don’t get enough the body will not function properly.
Starchy carbohydrates are also important, but you don’t always need that much.
For those people looking primarily to burn fat, limiting your starch to 3 times a week after your heaviest strength training days is optimal.
Some people, especially men, will do much better on 1-2 serves of starch every day plus adding some after your heaviest strength sessions.
For those who are already lean whose primary objective is to build muscle and get stronger, your starch intake will be much higher, possibly around 3-6 serves per day. Once again, you should have higher starch days in line with your heavy training and lower starch days on lower intensity days.
Having days with higher starch and some lower starch helps the body to use all the energy available and not to store so much as fat.
Sometimes certain foods can also stop the abs from working properly. I know this firsthand and have seen it with many people suffering from digestive issues.
If you eat the right foods and fix the digestive problems, the abs will work properly and your pushups will be better!
How much of everything do you need?
A good starting point for most people is 20% protein, 30% fat and 50% carbohydrate. This is purely a starting point.
From there it’s up to you to fine tune what your body needs based on energy, weight fluctuations, training and activity level and your personal goals.
If percentages are all too hard, refer back to the Precision Nutrition Calorie Control pictures.
(Click the pics for more info)
Stress Management for Strength
Stress will screw everything up.
When you are stressed your brain often doesn’t shut off and that stops you from relaxing and in turn releases stress hormones to deal with the chaos. It aint good.
The stress also disrupts sleeping too.
And we have so much more stress these days because we take on so much more and we often don’t take enough time to rest between big projects (me included).
So take a look at your life and see what you can do to minimise your commitments and in turn it will help minimize your stress. Living a simple life is great and can be just as fulfilling as a busy one.
And if you stress is down, your strength will be up.
Sleep for Strength
When you sleep, your body uses that time to repair everything.
If you miss out on sleep you miss out on the repair that’s needed.
The body goes through physical repair from around 1030pm – 230am and mental repair from around 230am – 630am. The numbers aren’t exact but the time is a must.
8 Hours is great and more is even better so a sleep in on the weekend or even an afternoon nap can be beneficial if you are missing out on enough.
So if you want to get strong on a regular basis, prioritize your sleep!
So the secret to better pushups is eating well, managing your stress and getting ample sleep.
Guess that’s your homework then.
If you want regular coaching to keep you doing your pushups with multiple variations and constant challenges of doing more or harder versions, join us.
