Overdo?

[JosHetEi]

Hi I just started MA and I was wondering when I do some training (i.e push-ups, squats,...) I like to do them throughout the day like in the morning I feel like doing some push-ups 'till I drop, then 2 hours later I feel like doing some more. I was wondering, can't I overdo it somehow? Cuz I don't want to sprain something cuz I really love MA and I don't want to miss any lessons cuz I hurt myself. Is it harmfull to do my excercises throughout the day?

[SamuraiGuy]

Oh , Pavel would love you, There is a whole system called "greasing the groove" or something like that... people on this board know much more about it then me, Ive never tried it, apparently its supposed to work... maybe if one of the people who knows about it.. *cough Koto Ryu cough* ... could explain it to you a bit more.

Apparently it works really well, dont know if youll sprain your wrist from doing pushups though, never heard of that.

[Broadsword2004]

Don't keep doing pushups to failure, multiple times throughout the day, everyday.

Just do like 20 here, 20 there, etc....maybe 12 times throughout the day. 20 x 12 is 240 (I think), so you'd have done 240 pushups that day. If you have a16-hour day, you could do 20 every hour and thus that's 20 x 16 (320 pushups).

If you do pushups to max throughout the day, every day, your muscles wil wear down too much and won't be able to recover.

[JosHetEi]

Lol i'm already exhausted when I do 20 so i'll try to do 12 every hour thanx

[Broadsword2004]

If you get exhausted at 20, do more like 7-10 moreso; don't go over half your max.

[JosHetEi]

Cool it tried to find my maximum and it's higher than 40 (then I just quitted cuz I didn't want to do to failure) it seems my conditioning and training in WingTzun has payed of

[HtTKar]

I dont think your at a point yet where your going to hurt yourself by doing pushups as much as you like. When you get to a point where you can just keep doing them like 100 at a time, you can I guess wear down your rotator cup. If you are worried that you may be doing to many, start doing one-armed pushups. You will get more benefits out of each pushup, and you can never do enough to hurt yourself.

[JosHetEi]

Yeah i'll try to do one-armed push-ups. I also would like to know what's the difference between knuckle-pushups and regular ones.

[JosHetEi]

phew those one-armed push-ups are hard! When I put my arm behind my back I can hardly keep my balance! Let alone do a push-up!

[Broadsword2004]

Yeah i'll try to do one-armed push-ups. I also would like to know what's the difference between knuckle-pushups and regular ones.

Just as the name implies, knuckle-pushups are pushups done on your knuckles.

[Zacharias]

Perhaps he meant what the difference is as far as benifits?

Is it better to do knuckle pushups over regular pushups or vice versa?

[HtTKar]

Run down

JosHetEi,
When you do a pushup your hands should be directly below your shoulders. When you go down, your elbows should stay tucked directly at your side. Go down to where your arm makes a 90 degree angle. (Fist height between your chest and the ground)
Also, I always put one foot on top of the other. If you do a lot of pushups, switch feet halfway through.

The wider your arms are out, the more you work your arms and back. The more narrow your stance the more you work your chest.

If your arms are narrow and lower down than your shoulders you work your lower chest muscles.

If your arms are narrow and above your shoulders you work your upper pecks.

Wide-armed pushups are done with your arms streched out by your side, fingers facing away from your body.

To do one-armed pushups you will need to make a very wide stance with your legs.

Mountian climber pushups are done against a wall. You lean back against a wall and push off with your elbows.

Zen pushups are done with your hands making a triangle between your forefingers and your thumbs. Arms are put out in front of you as far out as you can reach. You have to use your whole body to do this pushup. This works your lower back. This is the type of pushup we have to do if we drop a weapon.

Finger pushups on your forefinger and thumb.

Forearm pushups. Starting position is like a regular pushup though your elbows and forarms are completely touching the ground. You lift yourself off the ground by straightening your arms out completely.

If you know what clapping pushups are, I do a varaition on my knuckles. Basically everytime I come up, I push myself off the ground, clap, and then land back on my knuckles again. Good workout. You can also alter regular clapping pushups by clapping behind your back. (A guy on this forum taught me that and I've been doing it ever since)

Two types of knuckle pushups.
2 knuckle. Forefinger and Middle, Arms like regular pushups. This is a knuckle strengthening exercise for straight forward punches.

3 knuckle pushups. middle, ring, and pinky. Thumbs point towards each other. Arms are a little wider and higher than normal. This developes your knuckles for crosses, uppercuts, or whirling punches.


To keep pushups interesting, I play a game called prison pushups.
basically you take a deck of cards.
Blacks are pushups
Reds are crunches.
Jokers are burpees.

anything lower than a 5 and you do the most difficult exercise possible in that group.

an Ace is a 1 minute break. Once you get all 4 aces, game is over.

Usually you have to play 2-4 hands for a really good workout.

Theres tons more, when I think of them I'll add them. This should keep you busy for a while.

[Broadsword2004]

Handstand pushups, Hindu pushups, layer pushups, planche pushups (straight-legged, straddle, tuck), etc...

[JosHetEi]

Wow thanks for the replies guys! I'll try that card game push-up thingy it sounds like a break during this exam period