I'm in IT, so generally when it comes to physical activity I'm pretty stagnant. Recently, I took it upon myself to start doing some running alongside a number of push ups and to slowly work my way up. But here's my problem: I've been reading that it's best to space out push ups so that your body gets some time to heal, since apparently it's valuable in order for the muscles to grow. So I've been doing them ever 2nd day, which has worked relatively okay so far. The first few weeks were grueling because I lacked a lot of the stamina to do them, and could only do about 5 at a time. Now I'm up to two sets of 25 push ups per day, but what worries me is this sensation that I'm plateauing. Once I reach 25, I have to stop, wait a few minutes, before I do the next 25, which is fine, but if I bother to push for a few more, let's say, 28 or 30 push ups per set, my arms literally give out.
The good thing is they don't feel sore, but it's like my arms just physically cannot go any further. Does anyone else have this problem? How did you get around it?
You are reaching the limits of what your muscles can accomplish. The only way to increase this limit, is to gain muscle mass. Also, if you're doing push ups, try to do pull ups to balance your physique. Push ups train mostly chest and triceps, if you only focus on that you'll create muscle imbalances in your body in the long term. A strong chest with a weak back will lead to poor posture, which in IT is quite a common problem.
Thank you, I'll keep all this in mind and also will figure out a start on pull ups. Deff don't want to cause a muscle imbalance, my posture is already horrible enough as it is.
If you're trying to work out from home, you can do a lot with a kettle bell or two. It won't fix the lack of pull ups but you can do rows and reverse flies to target your back. Plus kettle bell swings will target your whole posterior chain.