How do you train to max pushups on an APFT?

2016-09-10T03:55:55-04:00

I am a tall lanky guy. 6'4 and 165 lbs. I have trained many hours at home doing pushups trying to max my score on the APFT. I have no issues with the sit-ups or two mile run, but the pushups I just cannot max. The most I have ever done on an APFT is 65. I feel like I get so close but just can never quite reach the max at 71 repetitions. Any advice?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 4:34 AM

2016-09-10T04:34:33-04:00

I have found 2 techniques that work well for me:

1) High volume sets - There is an app you can download, I believe its call "100 Pushups" or something to that effect. It has you do an initial test of how many pushups you can do with good form. Then it assigns you a week to start on. It has you do five sets of pushups with varying repetitions, with the last being basically going to failure. The key is when you get a few sessions down the reps start climbing eg. 17,18,20,18,17 and so on. This will get your body used to doing a lot of pushups in a short amount of time.

2)Dips and Pullups - Being good at these can help you on your pushups as well. The key for doing dips for the chest is to mount the bar and lean forward slightly. When you perform the exercise, go down until you feel a stretch in your chest then push yourself back up, this strengthens the chest and makes pushups a bit easier in my experience. As for pull ups, they are a great all around upper body exercise and can increase your overall strength which in turn should help your pushups.

Lastly, weight training couldn't hurt either. I do not do it myself, but more strength and muscle will always be a benefit.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 6:44 AM

2016-09-10T06:44:24-04:00

Well try to bench more often w more reps flat, incline, decline and do free weights as well.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 8:17 AM

2016-09-10T08:17:02-04:00

I don't have any recommendations for you, other than to warn you against getting frustrated and overtraining pushups. Did that, and while I didn't gain any reps, in a few months, I couldn't turn my head more than a few degrees to either side. At 6' 3" and 165 I feel your pain.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 9:51 AM

2016-09-10T09:51:13-04:00

I like to do 30:30s. 30 seconds of pushup 30 seconds rest. Do as many pushups as you can in those 30 seconds but the goal is 20 because if you do 20 for each 30 seconds in a 2 minute test you did 80 push ups. Even in the test I do 20, take a rest position for a few seconds and then resume pushups. Once you can hit 20 pushups in 4 sets of 30:30s then you add more sets to make it more challenging.

Response by ENS Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 2:19 PM

2016-09-10T14:19:05-04:00

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member can you do 20 proper push ups? Good. Now do 20 push ups every 3 minutes (set your watch go to off every 3 minutes). You will have done 400 push ups in an hour. I used to do this while shining my boots.

If you can do this without struggle, try doing 25 push ups next time. Once you can do that, do 30 every 3 minutes. You will see incredible results.

Response by SFC George Smith made Sep 10 at 2016 3:05 PM

2016-09-10T15:05:42-04:00

Do as many Correct Push ups as you can, To muscle Failure,
Then go up to 45 Degree angle and continue until you experience Muscle Failure and then to 60 degrees and repeat.
Do This twice a Day about 10 to 12 hours apart... for 5-6 Days a week ... Your body needs at least a 36 to 48 hours per week to recover and heal the over Stressed Muscles...
you might want to add something like Muscle Milk or Whey Protein shakes twice a day to assist in the Building of Lean Muscles...

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 4:26 PM

2016-09-10T16:26:37-04:00

Weight training. Wear a weighted vest or even an IBA or something like that and you'll see a drastic improvement.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 6:00 PM

2016-09-10T18:00:36-04:00

Work on plyometric push up, straight arm planks, and 21s.

With the plyos, throw yourself off the ground as far as possible (5 sets of 20). Adds explosive power and the easier it is to do one push up the more you can do.

Straight arm planks (5 sets 1min. Sets, add 10 seconds to your sets every week).

21s are 7 half pushups starting from up position 7 half pushups from the down position and 7 full pushups to be done as one set. Start with 3 sets and add sets as possible.

If your arms get so smoked that you cant possibly do another pushup then do them off a bench, table or wall. As long as you finish your sets it doesn't matter if they are perfect. This will turn you into a pushup beast.

Response by SPC Alax Jones made Sep 10 at 2016 6:55 PM

2016-09-10T18:55:23-04:00

Planks will definitely help I would also have someone place extra weight on your back ie 10lbs starting and build from there.

Response by SPC Chelsea Fernandez made Sep 10 at 2016 6:57 PM

2016-09-10T18:57:18-04:00

p90x works wonders trust me

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2016 7:57 PM

2016-09-10T19:57:25-04:00

Work on adjusting your arm width and doing reps in various positions. You just might be able to crank out that few more with an adjustment of your arm position

Response by MSG Pat Colby made Sep 10 at 2016 11:19 PM

2016-09-10T23:19:27-04:00

I had the same issues. I'm 6'4" as well. IF I could get 90 points on the PU, I'd easily max the other 2 events. If I couldn't, well then I'd just take it easy and aim for 80 points in the SU and run..

Nothing you can do replicates push-ups. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Response by SPC Chris Owens made Sep 11 at 2016 7:45 AM

2016-09-11T07:45:00-04:00

'Do push ups with your kit on daily at home whenever you come inside then when you do the soft without your kit it will be easier to max

Response by SGT Kevin Keelty made Sep 11 at 2016 10:21 AM

2016-09-11T10:21:01-04:00

Keep pushing

Response by 1SG Al Brown made Sep 11 at 2016 3:52 PM

2016-09-11T15:52:40-04:00

Alright, here's how you do it. You can max it today. First, find an NCO that doesn't like you to show you what a "correct push-up standard" is with your body structure. This person will be more than happy to make you do it correctly. Now, using the correct technique, perform and count your push-ups backward from 72 to 1 as fast as you can go. Don't forget to breathe. Do this every night, starting 3 weeks before the test. It will be a piece of cake on game day. The brain loves to perform backward, but hates forward for some reason. Did it and taught it for years. Good luck!

Response by SGT Robert McEldowney made Sep 11 at 2016 9:08 PM

2016-09-11T21:08:26-04:00

I had the same problem as you I was 6'4" and 165 as well and the length of my arms was the only reason I felt I couldn't max on push-ups! Sit ups and running was no m problem!

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 11 at 2016 9:22 PM

2016-09-11T21:22:35-04:00

Honestly bro I have the same problem. Until a Platoon Sgt told me that I was going down too low. I'm used to just touching the floor w my chest but us being taller he urged me to just break the plane. Don't go all the way down. It'll save you about 5 push ups.

Response by SPC Shawn Steward made Sep 12 at 2016 9:24 PM

2016-09-12T21:24:54-04:00

If you can do wider arm pushups the travel will be less, making it easier to max. Unfortunately, this uses your muscles differently, but you might want to consider it.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 12 at 2016 9:34 PM

2016-09-12T21:34:24-04:00

Bench press and plank until you die... But seriously, total upper body strength is key to push-ups, not just focusing on arms, shoulders, and chest. Core is essential.

Response by SPC William Black made Sep 13 at 2016 3:19 PM

2016-09-13T15:19:35-04:00

If you are alloweddueing the test, (I was, as were all in my unit), keeping your hands flat on the deck, you can slide them to reposition them slightly further apart, creating an angle with them I will put more focus on your chestand less on your arms. I always started the first minute with a close placement, which works the arms more and minimal chest, then for the second minute/ last, I reposition at an angle and slightly further apart, which again puts more work on chest and less on arms.

As someone else mentioned below, do 20 and then go to a rest position for several seconds. Believe it or not, a lot of stress can impact poor performance. Have your overwatch tester annouce the time, realtime, to you.

I would do the following: (push-ups are done per second, 1pu in 1 second.)

Push 20 fast( but clean!) then rest 5, the. push 10, then rest 5, then push 5, and rest 5. (Or 10).
You now have 35 done and should be feeling warmed up, and have ten seconds left in your first minute, if you only rest for 5 on your last set.

Do the same for your last minute.

As SGT Manuel said, core exercises will help tremendously as you are using your core to maintain the "proper" front leaning rest position.

Go at YOUR pace, which you should have already established well before test time. Have a battle buddy test you and work out your own rhythm and pace. Do this every other day, at least three times a week so it becomes muscle memory. Now then, just apply that rhythm and pace (yours) come test time. Profit max pts

Response by 1SG Bill Farmerie made Sep 13 at 2016 4:13 PM

2016-09-13T16:13:19-04:00

I always maxed my push ups, and still would have time left. Go to the gym and work on declined bench press (head lower than the body) and flat bench press. I took a fellow NCO to the gym while we were deployed to Bosnia, and worked on this. He was amazed how simple the push up event became.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2016 6:35 PM

2016-09-13T18:35:03-04:00

What you gotta do is widen your arms out so you don't have to travel as far and you are still meeting the standard.

Response by SGT Ryan Leach made Sep 13 at 2016 10:19 PM

2016-09-13T22:19:54-04:00

I was a fairly lanky guy as well and used to do different hand placement about every 20 or so. This would help work different muscles throughout the 2 minutes. I think as long as your hand doesn't move from the ground you are good.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Sep 13 at 2016 10:33 PM

2016-09-13T22:33:15-04:00

Beginning in January, I started maxing my push-ups and beyond that. There are several things I did. First, I stop doing push-ups unless its at work. Push-ups are a waste of time and they can be counter productive unless other cross training methods are used such as a chest machine or hitting up the free weights on a bench. Another thing I did was lowering my body fat from 22 or 23 to 7 percent. My numbers improved every where not just in push-ups. My eating habits are on point. I reduced my sugar and simple carbs and raised my complex carbs. So far I am consuming nearly 500g a day of complex carbs. I have become a beast at 39 years old. I went from doing 50 to 60 push-ups in 2 minutes to doing 90 push-ups. My sit-ups went from 70 to nearly 90 in two minutes. My run has even went into the 13s in 3700 feet above elevation. My weight training in the gym consist of working upper, lower and lower at least once a week. I do some sort of cardio training nearly every day and it might be running on one day, or biking or low impact cardio machine. I am running over 10 miles now. I take my health and fitness very seriously now.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 21 at 2016 9:31 AM

2016-09-21T09:31:56-04:00

What I do to help me max my pushups I do Diamond Pushups until I can no longer do it. Take a 30 second rest, do regular pushups until exhausted, take a 30 second rest, and the pushups where the arms are just outside of your shoulder with. Do this 2 times a day spacing it every other day. I increased my pushups by 10. Let me know if this helps you at all

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 1 at 2016 10:00 AM

2016-10-01T10:00:17-04:00

I use the Tabata method. I spent my deployments doing a lot of heavy weightlifting and found that I could benchpress well over my bodyweight; however I found that during the APFT, I would get extremely tight.

I've attached an article which explains a similar predicament. The article is written by a former Physical Education instructor at West Point. The author found a way to train for a bodybuilding competition and train for the APFT simultaneously.

Tabata is 8 sets of an exercise. I use it for sit-ups and push-ups. You do 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for 8 sets. I do this twice a week and consistently max push-ups and sit-ups.

Here is the link to the article: http://startingstrength.com/articles/army_weak_long.pdf

It's a good read. I have handed this out to countless Soldiers and have had success stories from those who applied it.

Best of luck.

army_weak_long.pdf

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Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 2 at 2016 3:31 PM

2016-10-02T15:31:16-04:00

I went from 55-60 average to hitting 80+ from doing dips. The whole muscle memory and just doing push-ups to improve never worked for me. Started out doing dips, then weighted dips and I saw a huge improvement between my pt tests

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 6 at 2016 5:48 AM

2016-10-06T05:48:38-04:00

What form do you use? 90° or tricep-ups? Try doing push-ups solely relying on your triceps. They are a more solid muscle and don't pain very easily. I easily bumped my push-ups at least by 20 by pulling my elbows in to my sides and using my triceps to lift my body weight. Give it a shot and good luck.

Response by SPC Lee Wilson made Oct 7 at 2016 5:36 AM

2016-10-07T05:36:55-04:00

Way back in the eighties...I'm a tall lanky too, it's the travel time to break the plane that gets us. Try using a wide arm position, it shortens the distance significantly.

Response by SPC Terence Fuyumuro made Oct 10 at 2016 10:06 PM

2016-10-10T22:06:10-04:00

I would hit the weights in the evening for strength and do some diamond push ups to help strengthen your triceps, do your push-ups in sets you can only get stronger, it got to a point where I was hitting 75 for one minute and 114 for two minutes

Response by SGT Nathan Miles made Oct 13 at 2016 8:55 PM

2016-10-13T20:55:57-04:00

Unfortunately us tall lanky guys have long arms and it takes us longer to complete one push up than say someone with short arms so speed as well as conditioning is something you need to work on. I would suggest resistance training with your push ups but do them as fast and as efficiently as you can.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 19 at 2016 4:32 PM

2016-10-19T16:32:08-04:00

It's your own body! Push it up!!

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 19 at 2016 9:16 PM

2016-10-19T21:16:49-04:00

Do push ups early in the morning and late at night.

Response by SPC Raw Trim made Dec 1 at 2016 2:40 PM

2016-12-01T14:40:17-05:00

I was told by my drill to do 20 rest for a sec then 20 more rest and then 20 more rest and then in the final secs knock out what you can

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 9 at 2017 1:35 PM

2017-01-09T13:35:19-05:00

Eat meat, work out at the gym doing youre entire body, do pull ups, swimming

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Jan 10 at 2018 9:24 AM

2018-01-10T09:24:53-05:00

Quite a bit of decent training advice. I'm going to suggest something very simple that worked for me, although I am short and stocky. Try bringing your elbows in and doing pushups Ranger Style. It made all the difference for me. YMMV, but it's a simple fix that simply isolates different muscles.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 10 at 2018 11:28 AM

2018-01-10T11:28:14-05:00

100 push-ups every day for the two weeks prior to the test. Start with sets of 10 and work your way to sets of 40-50. Do this and I 100% guarantee success.

Response by SGT Mark Halmrast made Jan 10 at 2018 9:33 PM

2018-01-10T21:33:14-05:00

First, strip the PT belt. The Army...that is awful.
I'd rip that thing off first and foremost.
What's next, Depends? You know, just in case.
What a disgrace (not you, the Army. C'mon, leadership. Really??)

As for your question, keep pushing. Your lankiness works against you (W=F*D, that is, Work = Force x Distance; since your palms and shoulders are farther from your elbows than shorter guys, you need to generate more Work). Do lots of push ups. Keep working.

And ditch the PT belt. It communicates weakness and makes you feel incapable.
Rip it off and then knock out the max.
Airborne!

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 24 at 2018 4:35 PM

2018-03-24T16:35:43-04:00

I do 75 pushups every night. Start with smaller sets to complete your nightly 75. Focus on form! If it does not count, don't count it! Once you reach 75 without stopping continue nightly sets to maintain, or work to a new goal! I am also 6'4 and 175 lbs.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Mar 25 at 2018 12:00 PM

2018-03-25T12:00:55-04:00

work the arms, curls, push ups etc.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 4 at 2019 10:44 PM

2019-11-04T22:44:01-05:00

Funny coming from a PFC but I went from 45 push-ups to 80. Weight room Chest Monday and Thursday. In these workouts hit All three types of bench (incline, decline, regular) with a set of 120 using the bar or 5lbs on each side doing intervals of 20 of close grip, regular grip, wide grip until you hit 120. Then hit 3 x 3 with heavier weight 70-80% of your max. Then end the workout with a pyramid of 20 push-ups