Increasing pushup and pullup max

[sparknote_s]

Hi, I have two questions I'm not sure about:

1) Hi, I'm wondering how I can do this. My pullup max was 18 last time I tried...probably a few lower than that currently. Pushups around 35 or 40. The catch is that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I will be doing a swimming workout. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays I will be running. Which days should I schedule my pushups and pullups on?

2) Also, the last time I worked my upper body consistently was about a year ago...since then I've done lots of running and biking...with swimming in the summer. Should it take me long to get back up to par with upper body strength?

Thanks.

EDIT: My main goal is strength relative to my body weight...not necessarily to gain size/mass.

 

[sabre81]

1- depending on your goals, you would want to go about this different ways. If you want strength / size, your going to need more than pushups and pullups. If your single primary goal is do as many as possible and get a bit stronger, then you could do what i did before i started working out seriously. i just did as many pushups/pullups as i could and repeated that everyday, or every other day. i was picking up a good 1 1/2 to 2 reps every week doing this. You not going to gain much size this way though.


2- not sure here, longest break i have taken from working out was a week and a half when i was sick. Maybe a good month for you to get back "up to par".

 

[sparknote_s]

What I am looking for is relative strength. Meaning, strength relative to my body weight. My goal is not to increase size/mass, but it would be welcome. I'm not looking into bulking up, just improving strength.

 

[bio-chem]

for pushups try doing them with your feet eleveated, like on a bed. do this like 3 or 4 times a week. the days you do it really shouldnt matter much because your running and swimming dont tax your pecs so much. do 3 or 4 sets to failure with feet elevated with 3 min rest in between. for your pullups do them on non swimming days. try adding weight when you do your pull-ups. like holding a 15-20 lb dumbell from a belt or between your legs when you do your pull ups. you probably wont gain much size from these,but they should help your endurance when you go back to doing your push ups and pull ups with just your body weight. good luck. oh yeah make sure your getting enough food and vitamins. if your body doesnt have enough of those to recover properly then your working against yourself.

 

[sabre81]

Well you can only get so strong moving your own bodyweight. Pullups are excellent but pushups are far from intense. I would say the best bet would be to get into a gym. If you cant or prefer not to, then your going to need to add some weight to your pushups & pullups eventually. Also, shoulders are extremely important for overall strength, so you should probably do some declined pushups. Shoulders come in handy for swimming Like i said though, a gym is your best bet.

 

[sparknote_s]

Well, just to clarify some...my goal after about 4 months would be:

20+ pullups with only my bodyweight.

100 pushups in 2 minutes.

Could I do both pushups and pullups on the same day as swim day? Then I would get tuesdays, thursdays, and the entire weekend for my upper body muscles to rest. Or would it be better to do like pullups on mon and fri, and wed is pushups.

Hmm...not real sure how to schedule this.

btw, I don't need to lose any fat or anything.

 

[bio-chem]

swimming is already going to be a back exercise for you. meaning your mucsles will already have been taxed, before you start your pullups. thats why i thought you should do them on your non swimming days. your goals are eaisilly attainable in a 4 month time period. you should be able to reach that in half the time at most.

 

[CowPimp]

It sounds like your goal is to increase muscular endruance, not strength. To be honest, I don't know the best way to increase muscular endurnace. However, you should be able to get away with doing pullups and pushups a lot more frequently than you would be hitting weights, as there won't be any microtrauma to skeletal muscle.

 

[sparknote_s]

The reason I didn't want to do the pushups and pullups on the non-swimming days would mean my back would be getting a workout every single day, except sunday. Don't they still need at least a day to rest? Or no because it's not as damaging as weight lifting?

**Would they have enough time to rest if I was doing swim one day, the next day pullups-pushups-run, swim next day, pullups next, etc. ? To increase muscular endurance, I guess.

 

[LAM]

if you are a competitive swimmer you should not be trying to increase strength during the season. you just don't have enough recovery time inbetween training sessions. increasing your strength would also have a negleable effect on your overall swimming performance

 

[sparknote_s]

I'm not training for competitive swimming, although I have been for the past 8 out of 10 years. The past two years have been on and off cross training.

I am now training for this 'adventure challenge' program, where you go through similar things a navy seal does...but this is only for 24 hours.

The physical test is what I want to do good on:

3 mile timed run
1 mile timed swim
sit ups in 2 minutes
pushups in 2 minutes
consecutive pullups

There is no 'standard' I'm trying to meet. I want to get the best possible in each area. I'm only worried about the pullups and pushups though. 3 days / week of swimming and 3 days / week of running is good enough for the swim and run, given my background in them.

With that in mind, any suggestions on my previous reply? -->

The reason I didn't want to do the pushups and pullups on the non-swimming days would mean my back would be getting a workout every single day, except sunday. Don't they still need at least a day to rest? Or no because it's not as damaging as weight lifting?

**Would they have enough time to rest if I was doing swim one day, the next day pullups-pushups-run, swim next day, pullups next, etc. ? To increase muscular endurance, I guess.

 

[Musclebeach]

Why not do the pulls after you swim? Your muscles will probably be fatigued from swimming, so you wont be able to get as many pulls, but you will still be getting stronger. You could do some sort of pullup pyramid (at least thats what I do to get my pullup number up).

I am doing some "military style" training for BCT (basic cadet training) at the air force academy this summer, and something is go for a run. Say 4 or 5 miles. And every 2 or 3 minutes I drop down and do as many pushups as I can. I feel that helps my muscular endurance quite a bit, Im currently at 115+ pushups in 2min, 78 in 1min. You could do this on your run days.

I dont know, just some suggestions. I hope some is useful to you.

-Jeff.

 

[sparknote_s]

Wow, 115 in 2 minutes is really good.

How is your workout scheduled? What days do you do what?

 

[Musclebeach]

Mon-upper body & pushup run
Tues-lower body
Wed-upper body & shorter run
Thurs-lower body
Fri-upper body & run
Sat-ropes (like olympic rings) & possible pushup run
Sun-normally nothing, unless Im feeling full of energy, which Im not today

Abs every night, granted its not super late.

I really dont do pushups on a regular basis, other then on my runs, I can just do a lot of pushups from lifting all the time.

Im thinking about getting a membership to the Y around here and swimming on leg days, since my school doesnt have a pool.

I hope that helps.

-Jeff.