HBP A2 - Pushups

Hey there, 

As I said in this post, I'm struggling to progress through pushups and ground rows. Alessandro asked me to post a video to check my form, here it is for pushups: 

20 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Hey there, 

As I said in this post, I'm struggling to progress through pushups and ground rows. Alessandro asked me to post a video to check my form, here it is for pushups: 

 

Hi Miquel, the form seems good. how many days a week are you training for the pushup?

3 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Hi Miquel, the form seems good. how many days a week are you training for the pushup?

Thanks. Three days. I have the hunch that I might not be eating enough calories.

18 minutes ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Thanks. Three days. I have the hunch that I might not be eating enough calories.

Well first of all i think that if you are not followinf a maintainance diet (at least) you have no chances to improve because neural /structural/merabolic adaptation never occurs if you cannot recover. 

second point...are you training to failure ?

14 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Well first of all i think that if you are not followinf a maintainance diet (at least) you have no chances to improve because neural /structural/merabolic adaptation never occurs if you cannot recover. 

second point...are you training to failure ?

Diet wise I mostly follow the Thrive recommendations but yeah, I should still probably eat more.

No I wouldn't say I train to failure. I don't seek to fail at the last rep but to complete all of them with good form and at the same pace that they do in the follow-along video.

5 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Diet wise I mostly follow the Thrive recommendations but yeah, I should still probably eat more.

No I wouldn't say I train to failure. I don't seek to fail at the last rep but to complete all of them with good form and at the same pace that they do in the follow-along video.

OK probably i would swithc to 2 days a week, eat more and if you are not doing some additioanl exercises you can consider basic triceps strenght.

On 5/5/2023 at 6:25 PM, Alessandro Mainente said:

OK probably i would swithc to 2 days a week, eat more and if you are not doing some additioanl exercises you can consider basic triceps strenght.

Hi Alessandro, just wanted to follow up on this. I managed to progress to 4x12 keeping good form but I've been stuck there since February. The progress has been very slow.

In February I had to rest 30 extra seconds in between sets to get to set 4 rep 7-9 without breaking pace. Now I don't take extra rest and I get to the end of set 4 but having to slow down around set 4 rep 7 too.

I've been training upper body twice a week since the beginning of the year and I do the Thrive diet. 

What could I be doing wrong? Pretty much the same thing is happening with ground rows.

1 hour ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Hi Alessandro, just wanted to follow up on this. I managed to progress to 4x12 keeping good form but I've been stuck there since February. The progress has been very slow.

In February I had to rest 30 extra seconds in between sets to get to set 4 rep 7-9 without breaking pace. Now I don't take extra rest and I get to the end of set 4 but having to slow down around set 4 rep 7 too.

I've been training upper body twice a week since the beginning of the year and I do the Thrive diet. 

What could I be doing wrong? Pretty much the same thing is happening with ground rows.

have you tried with a bit more of caloric intake?

10 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

have you tried with a bit more of caloric intake?

I increased it since january but you might be right, I might have to eat more.

I eat a big breakfast, big lunch and big dinner; always finishing with a full stomach. I also often have a snack between lunch and dinner.

I'll try to eat a bigger evening snack and perhaps add a morning snack. Do you think that's a good plan? 

2 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

I increased it since january but you might be right, I might have to eat more.

I eat a big breakfast, big lunch and big dinner; always finishing with a full stomach. I also often have a snack between lunch and dinner.

I'll try to eat a bigger evening snack and perhaps add a morning snack. Do you think that's a good plan? 

WHAT MAKES DIFFERENCE is the caloric surplus, if you are not gaining a bit of weight the intake is not in surplus.

On 8/7/2024 at 1:02 PM, Alessandro Mainente said:

WHAT MAKES DIFFERENCE is the caloric surplus, if you are not gaining a bit of weight the intake is not in surplus.

Hi @Alessandro Mainente

This is the last set of 4x12, testing for mastery. How does it look? 

20 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Hi @Alessandro Mainente

This is the last set of 4x12, testing for mastery. How does it look? 

 

 

 

Hi Miquel , some corrections are needeed...:

1. do not bounce at the bottom...
2. recover the protraction at the top
3. i suspect one problem...please fil the last set from the front.

On 4/22/2025 at 7:06 AM, Alessandro Mainente said:

Hi Miquel , some corrections are needeed...:

1. do not bounce at the bottom...
2. recover the protraction at the top
3. i suspect one problem...please fil the last set from the front.

Here's another attempt. I focused on not bouncing and recovering the protraction. Then I did an extra set to record the front view, I might have bounced a bit there.

How does it look? It seems that my left elbow flares a bit more than the right... Thanks in advance.

18 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Here's another attempt. I focused on not bouncing and recovering the protraction. Then I did an extra set to record the front view, I might have bounced a bit there.

 

How does it look? It seems that my left elbow flares a bit more than the right... Thanks in advance.

 

Exactly and in general they flares out. My suggestion it is ti increase a bit ghe distance veterane tue hands. And focus on holding the elbows always above the end. This usually reflects week shoulders.

2 minutes ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Exactly and in general they flares out. My suggestion it is ti increase a bit ghe distance veterane tue hands. And focus on holding the elbows always above the end. This usually reflects week shoulders.

Got it, so more distance between the hands to keep the elbows directly above them. Thanks!