You will not harm yourself by doing push-ups throughout the day. In fact, there are several benefits, including improved mood, a feeling of increased energy, and even increased heart health. However, it’s best to keep these distributed workouts brief. An intense push-up workout of several sets should only be done once per day.
Is it OK to Do Push-Ups Multiple Times a Day?
Adding several brief workouts into your day—whether you do push-ups or another exercise—is a great idea. The benefits of quick workouts are:
- Increased energy
- Mood improvement
- Lower triglyceride levels
- Maintaining your fitness level
- Learning new exercise variations
Because the benefits of 10 push-ups every hour are so worthwhile, you may be wondering if there are any drawbacks. The most important downside to these brief workouts is that they don’t do much to build strength or muscle tone. You’ll need to perform much more targeted workouts to increase your strength and mass.
How Often Should You Do Push-Ups to Build Muscle?
If you want to use push-ups as a muscle-building tool, do them in sets and reps. 3–5 sets of push-ups with 60–90 seconds of rest between sets is an ideal addition to your workout. Perform push-ups in this manner 2–3 times per-week to build muscle in your chest, arms, back, shoulders, and core.
- Do 3–5 sets of push-ups 2–3 times per week to build muscle.
- Perform your push-ups as part of a focused workout to build muscle—don’t spread them out throughout the day.
- Allow 2–3 rest days after doing an intense push-up workout before doing another tough push-up workout.
Although you may start out doing 10 push-ups per set or fewer, you’ll quickly advance if you make push-ups a regular part of your routine. Just make sure to rest for 2–3 days between intense push-ups workouts. During this time, work muscle groups that aren’t heavily recruited by push-ups or take a recovery day.
How Many Push-Ups a Day is Too Much?
The number of push-ups that will push a person to fatigue and injury depends on the individual. Someone with an advanced fitness level may do 10 push-ups every hour for 9 hours without breaking a sweat. On the other hand, 10 push-ups per set may be too much for a beginner. So, there is no magic number that is “too many” push-ups in one day.
- How many push-ups a person can safely do depends on their fitness level.
- Push-ups spread throughout the day are designed to boost your energy, not build muscle.
- Choose a manageable number of push-ups for mini-workouts, so you feel refreshed after, not exhausted.
When doing push-ups throughout the day, the key is to use these brief workouts to re-energize yourself and boost your mood. You won’t build muscle from mini-workouts, so there’s no need to push yourself to the point of exhaustion. If you’re spreading your push-up sets out into mini-workouts, choose a number of push-ups per-set that leaves you feeling invigorated.
