Question about the physical fitness test?

Recently I had a minor shoulder surgery in January. I was able to do nonthing until this April. When I started doing my sit-ups and running everything was surprisingly okay only a little bit worse than my old times. However when I did my pushups I decreased from doing 51 pushups all the way down to 30. In years past I have gone past 5 months with no pushups and it still never decrease that bad. And I was wondering if anyone can answer a few questions for me.

1.) While my recent pushup count (as of today) is 38 I'm worried that I possibly won't be able to make the 42 minimum. Do y'all know any workouts that can increase the amount of pushups I do quickly. Also is it NORMAL for people with shoulder surgery to have such a huge decrease in push-ups?

2.) If for some reason I don't meet the minimum pushups what does that mean when I go to ROTC and don't meet that minimum?
3.) I am currently doing sets of pushups almost everyday like this. Every third day max out on push ups, then (everyday or at least 4 days a week) do a set of 25-17-17-15-25* (at least do 25 but max out all the way on the last set, have a 60-90 second break then go on to next set) each week based on my strength I adjust the numbers. Is this a good way to increase my push up routine?

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Best way to improve push ups is to do push-ups, and then do MORE PUSH UPS! They're all muscle memory, just do as many as you can to total failure again and again. Same with pull ups and sit ups.

All right. Do you recommend taking supplements like whey protein and creatine to speed up the process

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Read Below, answer changed.

thelastpatriot1 said:

Recently I had a minor shoulder surgery in January. I was able to do nonthing until this April. When I started doing my sit-ups and running everything was surprisingly okay only a little bit worse than my old times. However when I did my pushups I decreased from doing 51 pushups all the way down to 30. In years past I have gone past 5 months with no pushups and it still never decrease that bad. And I was wondering if anyone can answer a few questions for me.

1.) While my recent pushup count (as of today) is 38 I'm worried that I possibly won't be able to make the 42 minimum. Do y'all know any workouts that can increase the amount of pushups I do quickly. Also is it NORMAL for people with shoulder surgery to have such a huge decrease in push-ups?

2.) If for some reason I don't meet the minimum pushups what does that mean when I go to ROTC and don't meet that minimum?
3.) I am currently doing sets of pushups almost everyday like this. Every third day max out on push ups, then (everyday or at least 4 days a week) do a set of 25-17-17-15-25* (at least do 25 but max out all the way on the last set, have a 60-90 second break then go on to next set) each week based on my strength I adjust the numbers. Is this a good way to increase my push up routine?

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Click to expand...

1). More Pushups is how you can increase your pushup count, set a goal of 250 a day in as little sets as possible spread out throughout the day, after 10 – 15 days of doing that, increase slightly and start to do more reps. Over 30 days of straight pushups every day(except 3 days prior to the APFT), I increased my pushup count from 51 all the way to 82 for my record APFT. You can also throw in some weight training if you feel up to it, curls/benches and anything that works your core can help you increase your reps substantially.
I am sure with the shoulder injury as well as the time off contributed to your decrease in reps, if you do not use your muscles they will go away and your body will become weaker over time. This is different for everyone of course but I would say just get back into very slowly to prevent any injuries and you will be up there passing your APFT in no time.

2).To be honest, if this is your first year or even second, and you are not a contracted cadet then it won’t mean much. A-lot of cadets do not pass their APFT the first time, and need more training to pass it throughout the year, you will get it on record and your Cadre will of course monitor your physical level till the next Pt test where they will see if it has increased or not, just make sure to show improvement and you will be okay. I do not think any program will give you a counseling for failing the first initial diagnostic APFT, but then again..Every Battalion is different.

3). I would honestly go with my above suggestion, lets set it out like this:
Monday: 250 Pushups in as little reps as possible, spread throughout the day.
Tuesday: 300 Pushups gradually throughout the day, not concentrating on reps but just obtaining the goal of 250(I.E: 30 sets of 10 pushups spread from the time you wake-up till when you go to bed)
Wed: Repeat Monday.
Thursday: Repeat Tuesday.
Friday: Repeat Monday.
Saturday: Repeat Tuesday.
Sunday: Repeat Monday.

Do this for 10 – 15 days and than give your muscles a good 48 hour break, you can of course mix this in with your usual cardio/weight training to add onto it. This should increase your reps by a good number.

thelastpatriot1 said:

All right. Do you recommend taking supplements like whey protein and creatine to speed up the process

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Click to expand...

I personally like to take whey protein during my workout regiments, it will not help your pushups very much but it will lessen the soreness that comes with working out all the time. A good high protein diet will help your body enable itself for the next day, and to allow it to keep pushing on without your muscles being to sore.

I do not take creatine, and do not know anything about it.. I do not suggest it myself, due to the fact that it takes all of the water from your body, dehydrating yourself will lower your over-all progress and reps, but then again…Discuss with a trainer to see If they would suggest it, I am not a physical trainer of any type. I am a 3rd year AROTC Cadet with a 325 APFT Score(Pushups: 83, Situps: 93, Run: 12:20).

Keep working at it, within a month you should be passing easily. Good-luck!

Thanks odu this helped out a lot.

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ODU - curious to hear your opinion about PUs. From what I was told, I heard that you shouldn't do it every day - because it burns out your muscles and prevents them from building up. What do you think about that?

Thompson said:

ODU - curious to hear your opinion about PUs. From what I was told, I heard that you shouldn't do it every day - because it burns out your muscles and prevents them from building up. What do you think about that?

Click to expand...

There is a large debate on if you should do pushups every day or every other day, but in my opinion...Pushups are something you can do every day in different sets, doing 1 day to max out with reps, while the other day is to casually get to your goal over the whole day.

Your doing it for reps, not to see muscle progression, meaning that doing it every day with a 2 - 3 day break at the 10 - 15 day marker will help add onto your overall pushup count.

I have never had a problem with doing them every day.

Push ups, push ups, and push ups.

Find a buddy and do a push up burnout. We incorporate a "21 down" workout into our PT at the end for a burn out of push ups. You get down, do 21 push ups. Then you rest while your buddy knocks out 21. Then he rests while you do 20. Then so on until you reach 0. You can increase or decrease from 21 to match your ability level. If you can only knockout 38 push ups in one sitting, you may need to start at 15. If you cant finish all the push ups normally, go to your knees and practice form. Perfect form while on your knees is better than a bad push up off your knees.

If you're on a weight lifting program, incorporate push ups into it. While I'm lifting, I incorporate a "35 down" pushup workout into my weight sets. In between each set of weights, I do push ups during that rest time starting with 35. Then do another set of weights and then 34 pushups. And so on til I'm done. I think you'll find this to greatly improve your push up ability. It doesn't sound like you're doing a lot of push ups, but once you add it up it's 630 push ups on top of weight lifting. If you don't walk out of a gym and feel smoked after that, the problem isn't the workout.

Edit to add:
I don't take protein, simply because I don't really need/care for it but I have taken it before. Theres nothing wrong with taking protein supplements, but I would strongly suggest not taking creatine. Focus on building real muscle, not water weight. Not everyone that maxes the apft looks like a juice head and you don't have to look like the Govenator to be a successful ROTC cadet.

Well I've recently started on this 100 pushup work out program. While I modify it a little your supposed to slowly add 3-5 pushups a day. I started at 79 and now I'm around 105. Its suppose to be a quick 15, minute or less work out. I use it to accompany my 2-5 mile run a day (usually three) and also my own abdominal workouts. 639 is awfully a lot and I don't have the time except on week sends to do that many.

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SWIM....Laps, a lot of them, then use a kick board for your legs.

This will do wonders for your core, which will help both PU's and SU's, it will also improve your run time.

ODU said:

There is a large debate on if you should do pushups every day or every other day, but in my opinion...Pushups are something you can do every day in different sets, doing 1 day to max out with reps, while the other day is to casually get to your goal over the whole day.

Your doing it for reps, not to see muscle progression, meaning that doing it every day with a 2 - 3 day break at the 10 - 15 day marker will help add onto your overall pushup count.

I have never had a problem with doing them every day.

Click to expand...

Google "greasing the groove."

It's all up to you. You have a push up problem. You can continue to do 100 push ups a day or you can actually work to improve your ability. Improving your ability requires one to put in time. How bad do you want to get better? You can show up in the fall and do 38 push ups and while nothing negative will probably happen to you, I can guarantee you, you will not be looked upon as highly as your classmates who are PT studs. It's the first thing cadre have to evaluate everyone and you'll have to work to make up for it in other areas. 38 push ups is not good, and I'm guessing once you show up and get held to a real push up standard, you're probably doing about 25-28 real push ups. That's barely passing the female standard.

You're not busier than most ROTC cadets and somehow we find time to workout, with most working out twice a day (PT alone won't get you to a 300). 630 pushups does sound like a lot, but a 300+ APFT score sounds like a lot more than a failing score. Wake up earlier, fit in push ups while you're just standing around during the day. You have time.

I'm not trying to sound harsh, but I can tell you now, the last thing that will help you in ROTC is an excuse. When you become a cadet, nobody wants to hear an excuse. Your cadre and upperclassmen cadets can accept the fact that you're working hard and making progress, but saying you don't have time won't work. You can take the good advice given to you by people on this forum or you can do your own thing. It reflects on you, not us. Best of luck to you.

Actually its 38 good pushups not some bad ones that I see people do. 638 pushups a day is a little ridiculous and its not like I'm standing around all day either. 200-250 is more manageable. You can argue all day on how I will have time to do 600 pushups a day but I don't.
And when said a 100 pushup workout I meant a 100 without stopping.(supposedly it can get you almost to that level in 6 months but I usually do 6-10 extra card pushups) I just started that work out and I was just looking to get some other ideas on how other people workout. I am sorry if I appeared to be this cumbersome lazy person, that's not what I set out to be. I know what needs to be attained to get hardwork I just achieved my personal best of a 6:10 mile (last friday i also set my record for 14:30 mile and coming from a very slow 7:36 in April. that's a improvement. I Also have been going up in sit ups, I achieved 76 full ones. In those areas I saw quicker results. I. Pushups its a little slow I have only improved by eight pushups in 3 weeks. But anyway thank you for your input. I'm planning to do at least do 72 pushups in January and if I don't start seeing results in July then maybe I will haft to do 600 in a day.
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You don't have to do 600 push ups a day. But I can tell you that doing more only helps. I never said anyone was lazy, I don't know you so I can't comment on that, but by saying you don't have time won't work. If you want something bad enough, you will drop excuses and find time.

And good for you for doing good form push ups, but everyone does less push ups on their first apft than they expected. It happens, unless you have someone that knows the ROTC standard watching you.

Again....

Since you have had a shoulder injury and surgery, you need to get the shoulder and surrounding muscles back in shape.

Try and get to a pool 3 times a week and swim laps, use the crawl stroke and swim as many laps as you can. This will loosen up the muscles in your shoulder and allow them to grow while you work on your push ups. Think of this as therapy for your shoulder, with out a good mucle foundation you can do all the PU's you want and your shoulder will still prevent you from getting the results you want.

My son has been training for a school this summer, he has not been to a PT session for nearly 2 months, his focus has been in a pool, and the gym. He admittedly has not done a lot of push ups during the last 2 months, working on different things. He just had his recorded APFT and did 95 PU's. The swimming alone kept him in shape, he dropped a few lower then his max but still, 95 without doing very many for 2 months is not bad. Take it for what it's worth, but swimming is a great way to increase you APFT score.

Off topic, but Jcleppe - I'm sure my DS would like to have been able to substitute pool workouts for PT while training up. At his school, the Ranger team PT's together 5 mornings a week, and with Sandhurst at the end of April, he didn't feel like he should miss training with his Ranger team during the buildup. Consequently, all of his pool work has been on his own time after regular PT. who knows, maybe that will be beneficial, but he really feels like he's just now able to focus on cdqc training. Best of luck to your son!

All right. I will defitnly do the pool work outs. Thanks for the info

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Free weights help as well.

I haven't done a push-up (that wasn't for a APFT) in a looooong time and I max them usually +/- 2

All right thanks for the great ideas folks I'm defitnly going to put them in my work out plans. I used to be a competitive swimmer so swimming is fine for me. As soon as I graduate may 24th I'm moving to Huntsville and going to workout at their local y

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