Hello,
I am in the U.S. Army reserves. I am presently trying to increase the amount and the time it takes me to do push-ups. I was wondering if anyone had any advice, as I was thinking of starting the use of free weights to fix my problem. I was never able to improve my output 'just' by doing push-ups alone, never! The Army says I must do 'at least' 36 push-ups in 2 minutes time. 75 push-ups in 2 minutes is what the Army considers to be the best score for the PT test. Any information will be greatly appreciatde. -Wayne.

Granted, I never had a problem with doing pushups, but when I was in the military, I would do 300-400 pushups a day. Half in the morning and half at night. I would break it down some like this though

I broke it down into 5 sets of 30 in the morning, and then another 5 sets at night. At first, you may not get them all in the later sets, but you build up to it.

Then I would change it to make it more challenging. I'd do 5 sets of 40, again once in the morning and once at night.

After a while I was doing 5 sets of 100 throughout the day. I can still bust out 100 pushups if I need to, and I've been out of the military for over 2 years.

I would definately get into a solid weight training routine though. It can do nothing but help. Train your whole body though, not just upper body...or arms...etc.

I agree with the above. Volume is very important when trying to increase your max reps in pushups. Spread the volume out over several sets throughout the day, and your numbers will come up.

Another question for you. All I really just want to be able to do is 'enough' push-ups to pass the PT test. i don't have the time to work on bulk. I would like to but I just can't at this time. I figure to concentrate on speed to get enough of them out as to get the test over with. What would you say about what I've heard of called 'Winestral-Veca'. I know the suggestion of any type of 'inhancement' is considered taboo. As you know, the Army doesn't concern itself with blood tests unless it has a reason to, so I don't think I would have to worry about them finding out. besides, I'm not a professional ball player where it says I can use any 'help', right? I just need to get myself in a position to pass the rest of the PT and get it over with. I am running the 2 miles with a passing time of 17:06. All I need to work on is the push-ups and the sit-ups. As I said, I just want to do enough to get a passing score on all 3things, for now. Thanks.-Wayne.