A little while ago, I decided to do some push-ups. I did two sets of 15, no problem. A couple days later, 10 and 5. A few days after that, just 10. And not too long after that, I was down to just one set of 5.
This seems backwards to me. My muscles had definitely built up, so I would think it would be easier. But while the first set seemed like nothing, at the end when I was doing just 5, it was painful and a struggle.
This is not the first time this has happened. If I go a month or two of not doing push-ups, and the muscle is no longer there, I can do the two sets of 15 again. And when I think about it, it’s not limited to push-ups. About ten years ago, something similar happened when I took a weight training class: Whatever, machine I started out on, I could do a good number of reps and feel fine, but by the end of the semester, it was difficult to even do half of what I did at the start.
Is having more muscle making it harder to do push-ups?
Something definitely does not seem right here. Unless you were severely noodley armed before you started I don’t believe you would notice a significant increase in muscle mass after two weeks of doing <30 push-ups every other day. The only thing I can think of is that your muscles have not increased in mass, but are merely swollen and are not fully recovering between workouts, hence the decreased number of push-ups. Maybe try starting at two sets of five and working up over the course of a couple of weeks.
That sounds odd to me. Your muscles won’t have built up after a few days, as Baracus said. They may be tense and a little swollen, which you might be mistaking for increased muscle mass.
Sounds like you need to take longer breaks between workouts so that your muscles can recover fully. It works by damaging your muscles and then allowing them to repair themselves better than before (that’s a very basic way of putting it).
It’s different for each person. For some people, every day might be OK. For others, they may need to do it every other day. For others, even further apart. Sounds like you’re in the last group.
If you’re struggling to do 5 pushups, your muscles are definitely feeling poorly. You’re supposed to get better at it, not worse.
There’s also a significant mental aspect to all this. I never gotten into working out or any serious formal programs, but I have on my own gone through stretches of personal commitment to “getting into better shape.” So, periodically - I’m in one now - I do a series of exercises and stretches. And I’ve found that there are simply days that doing, say, 30 pushups is a struggle and I can’t figure out how I did it yesterday. And then, sometimes, for reasons I can’t really figure out, I get to 30 pushups and think, hell, I can do five or ten more, and I do it. I don’t believe that it’s anything more than the mysterious mental aspect of it all. I don’t gain strength and lose it from day to day. As for the OP, since muscles don’t lose and gain significant ability over a period of a day or so, I suspect the mysterious mental aspects. So, next time you’re struggling to complete your regimen, just say to yourself that since you did it yesterday, you can do it today - even if it seems harder to do. And then do it. You’ll be amazed.
C (an old guy)
…I’m an older guy and I always do 50 push-ups as a prelude to a weight program after I run for 90".
I think you need to pick a number that you can do and stick to it no matter what. Do that for a month or more before increasing by 20% and holding that. The amazing thing is that some people are just not suited to certain types of exercise and that includes strength moves. But you can build up to something. I admit that I have a love/hate relationship with push ups. I dread starting them and then bite the bullet and go at it without fail.
I remember one football lineman who was asked about his upper body workout. The interviewer wanted to know what he did in the weight room to have the strength to push off opposing players. The player said he did nothing in the weight room besides push-ups and more push-ups. Whether apocryphal or not the story stuck with me and I’m not giving up my push-ups. It’s so much fun to watch some kids do one (1) push-up and fade out.
I forgot to add, try doing push-ups only on alternate days. Maybe that recovery would help to get your numbers up. I like a daily routine, but alternate days work better for many folks.
Do you normally workout? If not, this is perfectly normal, that’s why so many people drop out of working out after a few weeks, it gets harder. You muscles need recovery time, it varies by person just how much, keep at it, you’ll get better, but keep at it for months not weeks.
I agree with everyone else here. You’re not giving your muscles time to recover. You’re not building muscle mass, your muscles are just still swollen. In other words, you’re injured. Give it four or five days between exercises to give your muscles time to recover. Yeah, that sounds like a long time, but beginners need that.
Your only other option is to do light exercise instead. By light, I mean maybe 10 reps of 40 lbs for 2 sets. Then call it a day.
While I agree with previous posters that it’s not uncommon to have performance fall over the first few weeks of a new exercise program, the situation you describe sounds extreme. IANADoctor, but is there a chance you have metabolic disorder?
Because exercise is important to health for most people, you should continue to work out (but maybe some cardio), and possibly talk to your doctor about this. There might be something up that your muscles aren’t recovering as quickly as would be expected.
If not going to doctor, limit the work outs to not more than twice a week until you see some improvement.
This sounds rather weird. In addition to the “time between sets/get more rest” theory above, this may also be a lack of stretching. You should always stretch before and after exercise to prevent your muscles from cramping and to maximize the healing factor mentioned above. I noticed a huge difference in the amount of pain I felt the next day with additional stretching after exercise.
Also, you might be experiencing a certain phenomenon (I forget the name at the moment) but it has to do with diminishing returns after exercise. Let’s say you can do X, and one day push yourself to X+10. For a few days/weeks after that, you might experience X-1 to X-10. After that period, you can then do X+12. However, it’s really rare to see it stay at minus for that long a period of time. Also, this tends to only occur with anaerobic exercise like weightlifting, not aerobic exercise like push-ups.
But, your case does seem unusual, and you might want to talk to a doctor about it. Being unable to do 5 push ups after doing 15 is very, very strange.
