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I just started training, but because I don't have the time to go to a gym, I decided to do push-ups instead.
However, I've read that push-ups won't increase muscle mass.
I have the following routine:
Total: 240 each day
For the last 100, I also add some weight by using a schoolbag filled with books.
I was wondering, does this really not increase muscle mass?
What you've read is false. You may not end up with a bodybuilder's body, but push ups is a fundamental exercise everybody does, whether going to a gym or not.
It definitely helps you gain muscle mass as long as you keep challenging yourself and altering your workout to target different areas of your chest as well as to prevent your body from adapting to the routine.
You can find some great push ups variations here.
TIP: A nicely shaped, muscular chest is considered the one that is full and symmetrical, so be sure to target a lot the upper chest with decline push ups. Regular push ups don't target it as effectively, since the targeting angle is different.
Warning: Your routine has to be fundamentally changed in order to see yourself gain muscle mass. Currently, by doing 140 push ups everyday (I counted 240 from the sets you provided) all you achieve is to overtrain your mid-chest section consecutively without allowing your body to repair your muscle tissue.
Advice: What you should be doing instead, is follow a gym-like routine and train as if you were actually going to gym. That means that you should be training 2 days per week with at least a 48-hour rest period in-between to allow proper muscle tissue repair and recovery. You should also, use 3-4 different variations of push ups in order to target all different angles and thus train all the muscles of your chest.
Routine:
Before anything else, read this article on overtraining and refrain from the kind of routine you have in the future to avoid both the physical and psychological ramifications that will otherwise occur.
**Failure means until you can no longer complete another repetition.
The key to gaining muscles is progressive overload. Take a look at the link below, Christopher Bibbs explains the importance of progressive overload when designing a program.
YES and NO!
The problem with push-ups is that at some point you will need to add more resistance to provide more challenge and your body has to adapt to. Doing more push ups will not provide more muscle! Getting bigger (more muscle mass) it is important 1. to have a good diet, 2. a challenging routine (with slowly increasing the weight or choosing a more difficult exercise for each body part - where for calisthenics your limit is your body weight and 3. REST, for your body to repair and build more muscle tissue.
Best example are martial artists, who do tons of push ups, also different variations ... for the reason to stay in a certain weight class for competition.
Push-ups are a very good basic exercise, not only for beginners, I would also recommend it as a finisher after an intense pectoral weight training, to tax even the last part of the pecs, that may have not been challenged by the weights :-).
And as a side-note, if you have never done strength training at all, of course you will build muscle, as your body wants to adapt to the new demands put on the body... but then you will stagnate at some point.
