5x15 Push ups - Breaking Through The Plateau

I have been on 5x15 push ups for about 6 weeks now.  Seems like I have hit a pretty good plateau.  Any advice on how to break through these?  I know this is not uncommon. I have currently been trying to increase my rest between sets and then slowly decreasing the rest, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better.  Right now I feel stuck at 45 seconds between each set.  Thoughts?  

Zach

it's a great question. I have plateaud on push ups and ground rows too. 

i tried regressing a step, essentially a de-load, but that didn't help really. 

Everything else I'm making small incremental steps but those two have really been a challenge.

Do an extra set or do 1 or 2 sets the days you are not working Upper Body. 

What helped on pushups for me was Pavel's Grease the Groove method.  I would do pushups a few times a day, whenever I thought of it with perfect form and stopping well before failure.  For me, it was usually 10.  I'm using it for ground rows right now, just doing three every time I walk past the rings.  I wish it was helping more with ground rows though.  I'm surprised how much of a problem it is for me.  I can do 12 strict dead hang pull ups but struggle to get the 3 sets of six ground rows.  

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/20/get-stronger-by-greasing-the-groove/

1 hour ago, Christopher Jackson said:

What helped on pushups for me was Pavel's Grease the Groove method.  I would do pushups a few times a day, whenever I thought of it with perfect form and stopping well before failure.  For me, it was usually 10.  I'm using it for ground rows right now, just doing three every time I walk past the rings.  I wish it was helping more with ground rows though.  I'm surprised how much of a problem it is for me.  I can do 12 strict dead hang pull ups but struggle to get the 3 sets of six ground rows.  

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/20/get-stronger-by-greasing-the-groove/

I do not agree, the ground rows increase the work over the first elbow flexor which is brachioradialis. begin the mastery by doing it every single time we pass near the rings it is the first step to over train these muscles especially if we are weak here. beginners DO NOT NEED this type of approach.

That's good to know.  Thank you.  

10 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

I do not agree, the ground rows increase the work over the first elbow flexor which is brachioradialis. begin the mastery by doing it every single time we pass near the rings it is the first step to over train these muscles especially if we are weak here. beginners DO NOT NEED this type of approach.

What would you suggest to break through the  plateau @Alessandro Mainente ?

Have you already given this a read?

For beginner the first solution it is to add another set at the end of the last one with the goal of doing more work compared to the previous session. working on the other parameters like tempo, rom, drop set must be evaluated only if the "increased-volume" does not give any result. but generally this is the most valuable solution!

I don't want to take it off topic but I was wondering how long do you have to be at a certain point to of reached a plateau?  I have probably been on a couple of elements coming up to 6 weeks.  I don't really think I have reached a plateau because I am still refining technique and tempo within in each step.  Also since I do F7 bumping up a step on one element usually makes everything that little bit harder.  At what point do you have to think about busting through a plateau?

plateau means zero improvement a setsxreps schema where technique does not improve and strength effort does not improve. once you tend to use the same schema for 2 consecutive training session you should begin to consider the amount of perceived effort in a 0-10 scale of values, evaluating the effort of set over set and the effort of all the sets together.

I've also been stuck but for months not weeks and on the 12x4. I'm usually taking longer breaks to have a better chance at finishing the set and not failing mid set. Is this a bad practice? Should I be jumping into the set even though I will fail it? Does this generally improve or speed up  muscle strength development?Should I be going back one step to 9x5 and finish sets without extended breaks? 

Hi Bilal

You may consider adding 1-2 sets of push-ups in your warmup on days where you don't train Upper Body. 

Hi Bilal, 

I would not recommend taking longer breaks. The fact that you are failing suggests that you have a lack of work capacity for this particular movement at this particular reps scheme. If you have already progressed past the 5x9 rep scheme then it is not necessary to return to it.

Alessandro's previous suggestion of adding an extra work set at the end is a good way to try and bust through a plateau by increasing your volume and workload capacity.

Hi @Bilal KABBANI,

Pauline has a good point. What is your training schedule? (this will definitely be factor)
Darin is correct, taking long breaks is not a good idea and will not help you break your plateau.

Thanks guys. Here's my schedule:

Monday: upper body

Wednesday: core, lower body

Thursday: upper body

Saturday: core, handstand 

Any feedback or suggestions are welcome. I'm now doubting that I was able to do the 5x9 without the extended breaks so maybe I should go back to it. Not sure what was meant by adding a set since I'm usually barely able to finish the last set of 12 with extended break and imperfect form.

Push ups and the rope climb are 2 exercises that I'm progressing very slowly with if at all. I'm 192cm (6"6') so not sure if this has anything to do with it. 

Thanks for the info @Bilal KABBANI, best is to return back to 5x9 or even lower and do it without resting. I also agree with Pauline on adding a bit of your pushups on a non-upperbody day. (on your saturday) Progressing slowly is completely normal. You need to keep in mind that the only rest period is your integrated mobility. I hope this helps.

Have any of you tried the "rest pause" method?

I have started to implement it in all of my training sets, whether it be hollow body rocks, pushups or row rings. The hard stuff basically. It does seem to be helping in breaking plateaus for me.

I use the rest pause method when I've just moved to a new step and my ability isn't quite there yet. For instance, on RCPE1, when I moved to 4 x 9 I could only do 9, 9, 9, 6. So I did a rest pause and before finishing the final set at 9 reps. Wasn't too long before I didn't need the rest pause at all.

What is rest pause?

Here's an "official" definition: http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-tips/rest-pause-training-greater-strength-and-muscle.

But that's not exactly how I've used it--I don't use it between every rep, when I feel like I've hit my maximum. So I guess I wasn't *truly* doing rest pause. 

On 2/28/2017 at 8:25 AM, Julia Quigley said:

Here's an "official" definition: http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-tips/rest-pause-training-greater-strength-and-muscle.

But that's not exactly how I've used it--I don't use it between every rep, when I feel like I've hit my maximum. So I guess I wasn't *truly* doing rest pause. 

I don´t take it between each rep, and that is not the way I learned it either.

Say you are doing 5x15 pushups. If you are failing on the last set or even second set to last, and say you do 15, 15, 15,13, 10 for example. Where you fail, just take a 5-15 second rest and then keep pushing until you finish the set.That way you still do the 5x15 with a very minimal rest time when needed.

I have been using it and it seems to be working.

Marcus, that's how I learned it and have been using it too. It helps bridge the gap when I've finished one step but I'm not quite ready for the next one.

I'm not totally clear on the idea of adding an extra set at the end of a workload to break through plateaus.

I have started doing this on pushups (I am doing 5x11 now), but it doesn't seem to be helping to break through the plateau. Would it be better to drop the reps and do even more sets? For example 7 sets of 9 reps?

Hi Patrick,

Can you please clarify what you are calling a plateau, how long have you been working this step of the progression?

Strength increases don't happen week to week sometimes it takes time for your body to adapt.