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?
There are different push up variations, try harder variations so you dont have to do 30 reps to reach failure. Push ups are for triceps and chest specifically so right now you are only developing these muscles, try different variations so you can get a better rounded routine.
Reaching failure (arms giving out in this case) is precisely what you want for muscle growth, the trick is reaching it on a moderate amount of reps (i.e. 8-12) for more optimal growth + time efficiency, thats why you have to try a harder variation or increase weight.
Thank you!