The power of the push-up

After several of my friends asking me for advice on various aspects of fitness, I recently decided to enrol in a Personal Training course as a way to earn a little cash on the side from the advice I seem to be giving away for free. Once I did that, I started to experiment on one of my friends. This particular friend is incredibly cardio fit, but doesn't go to the gym. He presented me with the dilemma of wanting a bigger chest, without having to pay for a gym membership. This left me with a challenge. How do you get your cyclist cardio friend to have a 'big chest?'

The apparently not so obvious answer is to get him to do some push-ups! This really is a simple body weight exercise we all know and love, but is often set aside for bench presses and the like. The obvious benefit is that they require absolutely no equipment and can be done anywhere. But how many should I do? How often? What is the magic formula?

I guess everyone is different, but here's a good way to begin if you are looking for something easy to do at home to start off the journey for that chest:
1) See how many push-ups you can do without stopping- This might be one, it might be eight, it might be 47. Find out what your maximum is as a starting point.
2) Knock a few off that number- This will then become the number of reps you do per set. This number will vary depending on your maximum. I would say knock off a quarter to a fifth, but your body will soon tell you what it can handle
3) Do 4 sets of that number you worked out in step 2 per day- Well almost per day. Do two days on, one day off. Complete the number for each set then have a 1-2 minute break before the next set. This is assuming you are not doing chest sessions in the gym, though. If you are then that counts as two days worth of push-ups.
4) Listen to your body- If the number is too low, add a couple. If it is too high, knock another few off. As it gets easier, add one or two extra per set. Yes, you may be sore the next day (or two), your body will be tell you if it is too much. A little sore after working out is good, a lot may not be. If you have questions, talk to a qualified Personal Trainer or your doctor.

My poor friend now has to endure me occasionally poking his chest to see his progress, but the above has served him well. He has started to see his chest grow in size, all without walking into a gym. Also remember, results come over time. You may not see a change over night, but keep at it.

Obviously, any increase in muscle size is part the result of hard work, but also the work of good nutrition, but that is a whole other blog post...

Some basics on the form of a push-up can be found in the link below. I don't know this guy, he just seems to know how to do a push-up.
How to do a push-up