If you’re looking to build strength, muscle tone, and size, it’s best to do push-ups as part of a 30–90-minute workout. However, doing push-ups throughout the day helps to re-energize you, improve your mood, and provides heart health benefits. If your goal is getting stronger, do your push-ups as sets and reps all at once. If you want to stay active throughout the day, spread your push-up sets out.
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What are the Benefits of Doing Push-Ups in One Workout?
Doing push-ups as part of a concentrated workout challenges your muscles to their limits. By performing 3–5 sets of push-ups with 60–90 seconds of rest between them, you’ll increase your heart rate. You’ll also work the muscles in your chest, shoulders, arms, back, and core. This leads to increased muscle mass, strength, endurance, and definition.
- Increased cardiovascular fitness.
- Improved muscle strength and endurance.
- Build muscle size and tone.
Spreading push-ups throughout the day allows for extended rest between sets. This means your heart rate won’t get very high and remain there, limiting the improvement in cardiovascular health. Similarly, with long breaks between sets of push-ups, your muscles will recover, so you won’t get many mass and strength benefits.
What are the Benefits of Doing Push-Ups Throughout the Day?
The benefits of doing 10 push-ups every hour are no joke. Not only will you get a boost of energy and put yourself in a good mood, but you’ll also get some real health benefits as well. You’ll actually lower triglyceride levels with hourly push-ups workouts, which reduces your risk of heart disease.
- Improves mood.
- Provides an energy boost.
- Lowers triglyceride levels and improves heart health.
- Helps maintain your fitness level.
- Allows you to practice new push-up variations.
In addition to mood and health benefits, hourly workouts can help you maintain your fitness level if you’re not able to get to the gym that day. Additionally, you can use these brief workouts to try out challenging push-up variations, such as clap push-ups, that you can incorporate into a dedicated workout later.
How Long Should You Rest Between Sets of Push-Ups?
Rest for 60–90 seconds between sets of push-ups. This will allow your muscles to recover just enough to perform at peak capacity during the next set, while still providing an incredible, focused workout. Be sure to get the necessary rest days if doing several sets and reps of push-ups.
- 60–90 seconds of rest is ideal between push-up sets.
- Shorter rests (60 seconds) increase the cardio challenge of the workout.
- Longer rests (90 seconds) allows for more muscle recovery.
A shorter rest will create more of a cardio challenge, while longer rests ensure you’re ready for the next set. Remember, whether you’re doing 10 push-ups per set or 25, it’s key to challenge yourself while maintaining good push-up form.
Is it Better to Do Push-Ups in a Single Workout or Once Per Hour?
When deciding whether to do your push-ups as part of an intense workout or spreading them throughout the day in hourly workouts, keep the following in mind:
- Push-Up Workout: Provides more strength training benefits, such as increasing muscle endurance, size, and tone.
- Push-Ups Throughout the Day: Help to energize you and boost your mood, but does not contribute much to strength-building.
Push-ups are an amazing addition to any workout routine. However, you can use them as a mood-elevating and energizing tool that keeps you motivated throughout a long work day.
