Can I do pullups and pushups every day?
If you’re someone new to working out or just starting to get more into calisthenics/bodyweight training, then this is a question you may have. And quite honestly, it’s a great question.
The idea of doing any 1 workout every single day seems excessive right? At some point aren’t my muscles going to get tired? Am I going to continue to see progress this way? Am I more prone to injury?
These are all very valid questions. Let me see if I can clear this up for you.
Yes, you can do pull-ups and push-ups ALMOST every day… In MODERATION.
You CAN’T go hard every day and do 100’s of reps with added weight. IF (key word “if”) you want to do these every day to get better at them, that’s great! You just have to be smart about what approach you take to do so.
- Make sure you’re not going 100% every day. In fact, you should only go 100% if you plan on taking a rest day the day after. Otherwise, you should range anywhere between 25-75% effort.
- If you’re super sore, just take off. Doing them every day is great for muscle-memory but it’s not worth fighting through it. If anything you’re doing yourself a disservice. Because those muscle group fibers are already broken down, they need time to repair. You won’t increase strength by powering through. THIS is how you get injured.
- Switch up your variations. Maybe one day you do weighted while the next you just do bodyweight. Or one day you do high slow and controlled reps while the next you do low and explosive reps. Be sure to switch up your grips too to help target different parts of the muscle.
Realistically, you can’t do them every single day, BUT you definitely can do them 5-6 days a week. Whether you use them as a warm up or you lock in and really work on them with high intensity, there are ways to incorporate them daily. You’ll just have to listen to your body and do it intelligently to get the most out of them without being prone to injury.
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