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?
The important thing is to find ways to progress from workout to workout. If you're capping out at 2 sets of 28, then switch it up. Break up your target total reps and do more sets with less reps (If you're aiming for 60 push-ups for the day, try doing 4 sets of 15 instead).
For muscle growth, general rule of thumb is that you wanna rest at least a day before your next workout targeting a major muscle group (in the case of pushups, it's chest/triceps). Same for strength programming.
However, given that you are still in the "noob gain" phase of strength fitness, you got a lot more room for progression no matter what your routine is, as long as you are consistently working out. Unless you're doing hundreds a day, push-ups with good form (important!) are also pretty easy on your body compared to other exercises and you should be able to get away with doing them as frequently as you want. You could do them 7 days a week and repeat.
My advice, find a beginner calisthenics programs and do your best to stick to that for a few months. That's gonna give you a solid foundation of strength, endurance, and mobility for when you eventually get the desire to branch out to other programming.
Credentials: Not a fitness expert by any means, but I have consistently been doing powerlifting workouts for over a decade and have gone through several programs, bodyweight programming included.
Splitting up reps sounds like a really good idea, feels kinda duh that I didn't think about it that way. Will try that asap. I've been trying to maintain good form, but it isn't as easy as said, especially since I keep drooping my head down, but I am slowly improving. I will also check out calisthenics programs. Thank you so much for your advice, very greatly appreciated. All of these replies have been incredibly helpful.
Best of luck comrade! Fitness is a journey, not a race.