{"id":173543,"date":"2025-06-10T17:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173543\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T17:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:55:10","slug":"how-many-pushups-it-takes-to-build-muscle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173543\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Pushups It Takes to Build Muscle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pushup (or press-up, or push-up, take your pick) is the do-everything, no-kit exercise for the upper body \u2013 and maybe one of the best overall exercises you can do, period. <\/p>\n

After all, it requires no equipment, so it can be performed anywhere. The pushup hammers your chest, shoulders, triceps, and (if you do it right) the core and glutes, too, making it a powerful, total-body exercise. And it\u2019s an excellent indicator of muscular endurance and absolute strength (how strong you are for your body size), which is why it\u2019s a key element in almost all fitness tests. <\/p>\n

If your motivations are more immediately results-focused, however, you might be looking to the bodyweight staple to build muscle. Some people wrongly assume that adding size without using weights is a fool’s errand \u2013 it’s not, as we’ve covered before<\/a>. But you still might be skeptical, so it’s a valid question: How many pushups do you actually need to perform to start seeing noticeable results? <\/p>\n

The Ideal Number of Pushups for Building Muscle<\/p>\n

Every body is different, but for most guys, being able to complete 25 to 30 consecutive pushups with good form is the sweet spot for packing on lean mass, says Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.<\/a> ‘But they definitely need to be done at tempo, going all the way down [chest to within an inch or two of the floor], holding for a second, going all the way up, and locking out for a second [during each rep],’ he adds.<\/p>\n

Once you can bang out three sets of 25 to 30 reps with good form (more on that shortly), you can think about loading weight by wearing a vest or having a partner put a plate on your back instead of ratcheting up the number of reps you do. ‘When I see somebody piling up 40, 50, 60 reps of pushups, it’s not because they’re proficient or building a ton of muscle,’ says Samuel. ‘It’s because they’re cheapening a portion of the rep and not getting the max muscle-building stimulus.’<\/p>\n

That stimulus, over time, will be how you build muscle. Samuel isn’t saying just one set will immediately result in muscle growth; sustained effort to continuously challenge your muscles will be what you want to achieve. <\/p>\n

How to Do Pushups the Right Way<\/p>\n

The number of pushup reps you do won’t be effective for building muscle if your form is sloppy. Here, Samuel walks through the right way to do pushup reps for maximal return. <\/p>\n