Will doing just push ups help build muscle in the arms?
How many should I do each day?

Sure, it will help build muscle.

But if you also want to lose fat you'll have to do cardio as well.

JustErin said:

I hardly have any fat...I'm underweight.

It will build muscle in your arms yes. It will also build muscle in your chest, specifically your pecs.

If you want more arm definition and muscle also try bicep curls & tricep extensions.

peacenlovealways said:

Ok.

peacenlovealways said:

I'm in the same boat...I'm trying to put on some weight...
but no matter how much I eat..I don't gain a pound. I'm a very active person.

nyse said:

I've been the same weight for over 8 years...which is very sad.

nyse said:

JustErin said:

I used to do cardio though.

I work 10-11 hour days 4 days a week, on my feet moving constantly and I run 5 miles EVERY day but sunday and i still have to watch what i eatjust to stay at my current weight! Sigh... Oh to be in my 20's again!!

hokie said:

Hello Hokie and thanks!
[Edited 9/14/09 13:58pm]

tinaz said:

I remember last time I was depressed and wasn't eating much pounds were falling off so fast it scared me.

peacenlovealways said:

You're welcome.

If you want bigger muscles, no matter what you're trying to increase, incorporate heavy squats into your routine. Squats increases the testosterone load in your body and thus makes it easier to grow muscle in other areas.



If you're just trying to gain weight in general, just make small changes in lifestyle. For example, when sucking dick, swallow. Don't waste calories you could otherwise ingest.

Imago said:

Never done anything close to that.....

Imago said:

peacenlovealways said:

Jump rope.... start out jumping for 30 seconds.

hokie said:

ouch...

JustErin said:

oh fuck mee sometimes this site takes so long to load i forgot what the fuck i was gonna say

Trying to put on some weight and muscle here too. I'm swimming 2 or 3 times a week, lifting weights 2 or 3 times a week, skipping rope, doing crunches, and occasionally ride an exercise bike. I know I won't put on any real mass, but I'll be able to get a little more definition. That's all I want, plus to lose a little belly flab.

I can't do pushups to save my life.

Last week I started going to the gym with a friend at 5:30AM.
I can't tell you what exercises we do because the whole time I'm half asleep.


I've belonged to my gym for 2 years now, but I'm just as out-of-shape as I was back then. I'm hoping that he'll push & motivate me enough to keep working out so that maybe I'll grow some arms and lose my f*cking GUT!

Yeah, they'll help your chest (pecs), shoulders (delts) and the triceps muscle in your arm. They won't do anything for your biceps, though. However, your arm is 66% tricep and 34% bicep, so you'll get bigger arms if you just do push-ups.

Push-ups are a fantastic exercise.

Cuddles said:

connorhawke said:

exactly what just happened to me!!!!

Heavy weights, fewer reps, loads of protein, sit on your ass

Cuddles said:

thought it was just me

CalhounSq said:

Unfortunately, yes. This is the correct answer if the aim is to get visible muscles. However, from the perspective of someone whose health has gone down the drain earlier this year and is trying to improve the situation: I've just chosen to lift dumbbells 2-4 times a day, because repeated exercise actually does help me making feel better and seems to effectiveely control a diabetes in its early stages that I think I have. I doubt the "fewer repetitions" -routines make anyone that much healthier though, it's just done in order to build up extrafluous muscular mass.

Push ups are okay, but they tend to get really irritating to do once you're getting tired. I feel like puking my innards on the floor after a while. They're not that easy to do if, for example, you have problems with your blood pressure or just in general tend to get dizzy when doing muscle exercise in such a position (well, your head won't be kept up during those, so that's what causes it). It probably doesn't help too much just to do a couple of push ups per day either, you'll need to build up endurance first in order to be able to do enough of them in the first place.

I used to work with this handicapped boy - he was 19 years old - who did each day about 70 sit ups and 70 push ups by just keeping his lower body on a bed whilst having his hands on the floor and pressing himself up and down that way. As a consequence, he had managed to develop a body that I think would be pretty much optimal (for a male).
[Edited 9/15/09 1:26am]

What's amazing to me is how precise certain exercises are as far as the muscles they hit. I didn't think I could keep doing my regular dumbbell routine if I was also swimming 2 or 3 times a week. However, it seems bicep curls, tricep curls, shoulder press and push-ups don't hinder my swimming 1km of breast stroke or front crawl the next day at all. Which is nice because it keeps me active without seeing me over-train. I'm doing crunches and some cardio to work on my stomach, but the truth is just giving up drinking beer would do more for my gut than any exercise could.

Just the dumbbell stuff seems to work surprising well for me - even if it has something of a bad rep in general - and yes, you can do all kinds of other things and still have energy to do that. I'm definitely sticking with it, because I can actually feel whatever condition I'd associate with my blood circulation improving during that routine. The whole point seems to be that it indeed does last a little bit longer than just lifting up heavier weights a few times, which is just over in a minute. I won't look like a bodybuilder as a result, but my arms are pretty much the way I'd want them to look even now (that's after three months).

Exercise does not really help losing weight too effectively. Take it from someone who once lost 35 kilos in just four months - which would beat up most records at weightwatchers and the like. I just thought to myself, "How could I get rid of all of this fat as quickly as possible? Under what conditions have people gone through such things?", and then I came up with the answer, "concentration camps!". So yeah, that's the "diet" I went for and it worked like a motherfucker indeed.

CalhounSq said:

Oh, and eat plenty of this...