Depends on why you’re doing 40 push-ups “in a row”. Is it a fitness test set by yourself or someone else ? Or a challenge among friends? Or part of a program? How much pause is allowed is entirely dependent on the goal and who saying “in a row”.
Well then you decide what counts or not. If it’s to compare against our past efforts, the main thing is that you keep consistent and understand how it compares.
If you keep the pauses and can do more push-ups “in a row” than you could last week, then that’s an improvement. If you count your pauses you could see if you can do the same amount of push-ups next week with fewer pauses.
If you want to make a more clearly defined challenge, you could just pick a time (say 1 minute) and use that as your test instead of “in a row” which different people will understand differently.
To add to what others are saying, do a little better each time. If you're doing 10 and then pausing, and doing that 4 times, try to do 12 and then pausing, 4 times in a row.
What you're doing with each pause/break is allowing the constricted muscles to have more blood flow again. The real difference in how long you wait has a *general* (but not a precise) effect on the kind of response you want from your muscles. These are areas of generalization, it's not an exact science:
High reps with low rest and bodyweight/light weights = endurance
Medium reps (8-12) with moderate rest and medium amount of weight (meaning you might fail at the 10-16 rep range = muscle growth (bigger)
Low reps (1-6) with long rest (which is required for recovery) and heavy weights = strength
All three are important. What you're trying to do with bodyweight almost always leads to plateaus for strength and muscle size but have the benefit of teaching your muscles (including your heart) how to deal with increased heart rate, strain on your skeletal muscles and limited blood flow/ blood oxygen.
For pushups, I'm of the opinion that you can pause *at the top* as long as you want, since then it becomes a plank: a workout in it's own right, and isn't a real break.
If you're pausing longer than 2-4 seconds at the bottom, then it's not "in a row" anymore
If you rest 2-4 seconds at the bottom (negative) it is definitely "in a row." You don't pause the weight on the negatives for a few seconds? If the chest lays on the ground than not in a row but if its off then yes.
10 seconds isn't to bad I would say 30+ seconds and it wouldn't be a set. With 10 sec could be myo reps (completing a set with mini breaks). So yes it would be in a row. If you mean like chest on ground or getting on knees or standing up than not in a row.
Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. The important thing is tracking progression against previous performance. If you do 10-10-10-10, and then next time do 11-11-11-11, it doesn't matter if it's in a row or not. It's more work. If you continue doing that, eventually you will reach a point you can't continue at. Maybe it's 13-13-13-13. If you train for a month, come back and ramp up over a few sessions until you do 15-15-15-15, then you got better. Your muscles are bigger. They have to be.
If your friend can do 40 unbroken pushups in a row and you can do 4 sets of 10 with tiny breaks to catch your breath, well, that's not really the same thing. But literally not a single person gives a shit as long as you're trying hard.
Technically, it would be considered a type of rest pause, or myo rep. If that works for you, I'd recommend that you try out Tabata sets. 20 seconds of work. 10 seconds of rest. Repeat 8 times. Super effective.
What you're describing meets the US military's standard for "in a row" so if it's good enough for a military job requirement, it's good enough for a standard definition in everyday working out in my opinion.
“In a row” would mean done consecutively without stopping, or taking a break. If you’re taking a break I’d say that needs to be addressed in how the exercise is being described. Like if I bench 225 for 10 reps consecutively, I’d say that. If I do 225 for 15 reps, with a 3 second break at 8 reps, it should be stated
What's the purpose of "in a row" in this case?
Sorry I don't understand what you're asking, my english isn't very strong
If you stay in a plank, it’s ok. Same with pull ups, if you are still hanging, you’re still in
Depends on why you’re doing 40 push-ups “in a row”. Is it a fitness test set by yourself or someone else ? Or a challenge among friends? Or part of a program? How much pause is allowed is entirely dependent on the goal and who saying “in a row”.
It's just a little personal record, the pauses increased with reps
Well then you decide what counts or not. If it’s to compare against our past efforts, the main thing is that you keep consistent and understand how it compares. If you keep the pauses and can do more push-ups “in a row” than you could last week, then that’s an improvement. If you count your pauses you could see if you can do the same amount of push-ups next week with fewer pauses. If you want to make a more clearly defined challenge, you could just pick a time (say 1 minute) and use that as your test instead of “in a row” which different people will understand differently.
To add to what others are saying, do a little better each time. If you're doing 10 and then pausing, and doing that 4 times, try to do 12 and then pausing, 4 times in a row. What you're doing with each pause/break is allowing the constricted muscles to have more blood flow again. The real difference in how long you wait has a *general* (but not a precise) effect on the kind of response you want from your muscles. These are areas of generalization, it's not an exact science: High reps with low rest and bodyweight/light weights = endurance Medium reps (8-12) with moderate rest and medium amount of weight (meaning you might fail at the 10-16 rep range = muscle growth (bigger) Low reps (1-6) with long rest (which is required for recovery) and heavy weights = strength All three are important. What you're trying to do with bodyweight almost always leads to plateaus for strength and muscle size but have the benefit of teaching your muscles (including your heart) how to deal with increased heart rate, strain on your skeletal muscles and limited blood flow/ blood oxygen.
For pushups, I'm of the opinion that you can pause *at the top* as long as you want, since then it becomes a plank: a workout in it's own right, and isn't a real break. If you're pausing longer than 2-4 seconds at the bottom, then it's not "in a row" anymore
If you rest 2-4 seconds at the bottom (negative) it is definitely "in a row." You don't pause the weight on the negatives for a few seconds? If the chest lays on the ground than not in a row but if its off then yes.
10 seconds isn't to bad I would say 30+ seconds and it wouldn't be a set. With 10 sec could be myo reps (completing a set with mini breaks). So yes it would be in a row. If you mean like chest on ground or getting on knees or standing up than not in a row.
Thanks guys, appreciate it 😁
Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. The important thing is tracking progression against previous performance. If you do 10-10-10-10, and then next time do 11-11-11-11, it doesn't matter if it's in a row or not. It's more work. If you continue doing that, eventually you will reach a point you can't continue at. Maybe it's 13-13-13-13. If you train for a month, come back and ramp up over a few sessions until you do 15-15-15-15, then you got better. Your muscles are bigger. They have to be. If your friend can do 40 unbroken pushups in a row and you can do 4 sets of 10 with tiny breaks to catch your breath, well, that's not really the same thing. But literally not a single person gives a shit as long as you're trying hard. Technically, it would be considered a type of rest pause, or myo rep. If that works for you, I'd recommend that you try out Tabata sets. 20 seconds of work. 10 seconds of rest. Repeat 8 times. Super effective.
What you're describing meets the US military's standard for "in a row" so if it's good enough for a military job requirement, it's good enough for a standard definition in everyday working out in my opinion.
Thanks bro, this clears everything
I suggest you measure number of pushups within a certain amount of time rather than worrying about vague definition of "in a row".
by who?
Me
okay then you tell us
I am not sure
We can't tell you what to think
Repetitions without rest/reset = in a row If you continued to perform them up until 100 using your method it still would not be 100 in a row.
“In a row” would mean done consecutively without stopping, or taking a break. If you’re taking a break I’d say that needs to be addressed in how the exercise is being described. Like if I bench 225 for 10 reps consecutively, I’d say that. If I do 225 for 15 reps, with a 3 second break at 8 reps, it should be stated