# working out/exercise **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732 "2003-01-30T22:09:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bliebet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@bliebet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bliebet)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/1 "2003-01-30T22:09:45Z")
is it ok to do push-ups every day? pull-ups every day? crunches every day? i know you should lift weights EVERY OTHER day, but is it ok to do these own-weight resistance exercises every day? ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/2 "2003-01-30T23:15:04Z")
It didn’t seem to hurt me, at all, back when I used to do it every day. ---
**Author:** ![Fuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/3 "2003-01-30T23:20:19Z")
if the load is not too much and you don’t reach failure, you can do it everyday. what are your goals? doing push-ups will not get you anywhere, except help you do more push-ups… (but, yes, they are better than nothing.) ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/4 "2003-02-01T17:38:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fuel \* > \*\*doing push-ups will not get you anywhere, except help you do more push-ups… \*\* Not so. Properly executed push-ups will strengthen the core ab and back muscles, as well as the shoulder, chest and arm muscles. And, if you vary the style of push-up (hands close in, then farther out, etc.) you can work different sets of muscles in the upper body. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/5 "2003-02-01T18:04:56Z")
It depends on your definition of ‘okay’, the extent of the exercise, and also on what you’re trying to achieve. If you don’t take the muscles involved to fatigue/failure point, then it’s ‘okay’ to do these exercises every day, in the sense that you’re probably not going to do yourself any harm and you will be toning the muscle groups involved. If you do take the muscles to fatigue/failure point, then it’s very counter-productive to be doing the exercises every day. I’m not a gym-crazed exercise addict, but I am someone who went through years of not knowing the correct way to get fit, lose weight and exercise well. The book that made all the difference is “Body for Life” by Bill Phillips (I’ve no commercial interest). It’s the first book that really explained the whole picture to me, about systematic and purposeful exercise linked to good dietary advice, in plain and simple terms that I could understand. I’ve adapted the BFL system to my own needs, and I can say the results have been outstanding. In the BFL system, the exercise plan goes like this: Week 1 1. Upper body workout 2. Cardio-vascular exercise via a special 20 minute aerobic programme explained in detail in the book 3. Lower body workout 4. Cardio-vascular exercise 5. Upper body workout 6. Cardio-vascular exercise Week 2 As above but swap ‘upper body’ and ‘lower body’ around Then it’s just rinse and repeat. So, to get to the point, each muscle group gets worked twice in 5 days at max., with at least 3 clear days in between. It’s a great book for other reasons, by the way. Very good on motivation and attitude, and clears up a lot of the misinformation and old myths that surround the essentially simple process of getting fit. ---
**Author:** ![MadScientistMatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@MadScientistMatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadScientistMatt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/6 "2003-02-01T18:37:55Z")
The usual rule of thumb with weight lifting is to give muscle groups a few days off between working out. The exercises you describe fall into the same category, so if you are doing a large number of reps it is probably best to do them every other day or so. On the other hand, if you aren’t doing a very large number of them (I’m guessing around 50+ push ups without a break, or 100+ crunches, but it would depend on different fitness levels), and are doing them as part of warm ups for other exercise, you’re not likely to hurt yourself doing them daily. Luckily, it is easy to tell if you are doing them too often - if your arms and abs are sore from yesterday’s workout, it’s best to skip them today. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/7 "2003-02-01T21:42:59Z")
No matter which execrcise schedule you choose, perform your repititions SLOWLY. Don’t mean to shout, but this is a fundamental thing that many people seem to overlook. When you see people bouncing barbells off their chests or arching their backs to swing up dumbells while doing curls, they are risking injury while accomplishing nothing. When you do a movement slowly, you work the muscle through the entire range of motion. This will give the muscle a great pump and lead to much better shape and definition. Same thing applies during push-ups, pull-ups, squats, etc. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/8 "2003-02-01T22:59:33Z")
[http://www.drmirkin.com/fitness/9066.html](http://www.drmirkin.com/fitness/9066.html) > [@](#): > > If you want to be able to do 100 pushups, don’t try to do as many pushups as possible every day. If you try to do as many pushups as possible, you will tear your muscles. All training is done by stressing and recovering, and interval sets. So you go harder on one day, feel sore on the next and go easy until your muscles feel fresh again. > > On one day, do three pushups, rest and repeat sets of three until your muscle start to feel sore or stiff. If your muscles are sore on the next day, take the day off. If they are fresh, do sets of three again until your muscles feel sore. You will find that you will improve the most by doing many sets of three on one day and taking the next day or days off until your muscles feel fresh again. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/9 "2003-02-01T23:17:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davebear \* > \*\*Not so. Properly executed push-ups will strengthen the core ab and back muscles, as well as the shoulder, chest and arm muscles. And, if you vary the style of push-up (hands close in, then farther out, etc.) you can work different sets of muscles in the upper body. \*\* Very little though. If you do farm work, or heavy labor intensive work you would get much stronger from that and pushups would be of no use. Unless you gain weight, your strength will plateau and you will get no stronger. You are only lifting around 25% of your bodyweight when you do a conventional push up and unless you gain weight there is no need for your body to get stronger. There will be a short burst of strength and the only other gains is to do more pushups. As for the OP: In the Marines we did hundreds of sit ups, pull ups and push ups every day. (Basic training) With proper rest and plenty of food this amount of activity can be sustained. Bodyweight exercises generally don’t work the muscles enough that they need excessive amounts of resting time. I would say that you are ok to do them every day. (I would take off 1 day a week at least though) ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-out-exercise/151732/10 "2003-02-02T16:23:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*Very little though. \*\* Not if he’s determined. Are you familiar with the story of Charles Atlas? > [@](#): > > \*\*If you do farm work, or heavy labor intensive work you would get much stronger from that and pushups would be of no use. \*\* This is a specious argument. He didn’t ask about changing his whole life-style. And, conversely, if he did exercises for eight or ten hours a day, a few hours of farm labor wouldn’t gain him anything, either. > [@](#): > > \*\* Unless you gain weight, your strength will plateau and you will get no stronger. You are only lifting around 25% of your bodyweight when you do a conventional push up and unless you gain weight there is no need for your body to get stronger. > There will be a short burst of strength and the only other gains is to do more pushups. \*\* Yes. As with **any** exercise program, you need to increase either the resistance/weight _ **or** _ the number of repetitions to see continuing gains. And, there are ways of increasing the resistance in push-ups; doing them one-armed, putting his feet up on a chair, doing handstand push-ups, etc.