How to Build Muscle with Push Ups?

Can we build muscle with a bodyweight exercise like push-up? Are the weights and machines the only way to build muscle mass? 

There are many different opinions about this question, calisthenics fans swear that bodyweight exercises are very effective at muscle building while gym rats claim that without a barbell, dumbbell, and weights it is very hard to gain even two pounds of muscle mass.

Push-ups are probably the oldest exercise that people ever performed and the primary muscles that they work are the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Training these muscle groups is great for developing upper body strength and they also develop your core strength and help with balance which is very necessary for many athletes.

But are push-ups effective for muscle building?

Many bodyweight exercises like pull ups/chin ups, dips and also push-ups are one of the best exercises if you are looking to gain muscle mass. The problem is that you need to give your muscles a reason to grow so by only doing basic push-ups every day you won't make a lot of progress. It will probably give you good results in the first couple of weeks but then when you master this exercises and become able to perform 50 or more push-ups they won't build muscle anymore. 

If you want to continue gaining muscle mass with push ups you need to keep making the exercise more difficult to force the muscles to keep growing and adapting. 

When you master the basic push-ups, try other harder versions of push-ups and when that also become easy for you and your body adapts to it try adding some weight plates on your back to give more resistance to your muscles to force them to adapt to harder exercise which will make them grow.

Gaining muscle mass isn't an easy process, whether you choose to build muscles with bodyweight exercises or by lifting weights. You have to stress your muscles and provide them with the proper nutrients to help them to rebuild and give them good rest to recuperate and grow. Pushing your muscles to grow becomes more difficult over time as your body adapts to the workout, so the best thing that you can do to build muscle mass fast is to always make your workouts more challenging. 

What are the benefits of doing push-ups?


1. Compound movement, target multiple muscle groups

2. No equipment needed and you can do them anywhere

3. Push-ups build core strength

4. Burning a lot of calories

5. Improve your posture

6. Prevent lower back injuries 

7. Higher testosterone levels

8. Strengthen bones, reduce risk of osteoporosis




How to build muscle mass with push ups?


Considering that you are able to do more than 10 regular push ups you can start with 5 sets of 10 push-ups and perform them every other day in the first week. 


Next week, try to add 3 to 5 more push-ups in each set and also perform 5 sets of that number of push-ups.


Continue doing this until you easily do more than 20 push-ups per one set.




1. Try other variations of push-ups


To make your workout harder try some other push-ups variations like diamond push-ups, incline push-ups, decline push-ups, incline and decline diamond push-ups and the hardest - one arm push-ups. 

Diamond Push-Up

Incline Push-Up

Decline Push-Up

One arm push-up

Try all these push-ups variations to make your workout more challenging and be consistent. Perform every variation for some time until you can do more than 15 push-ups then it is time for the next step.




2. Perform Push-ups with a weighted vest or a weight plate on your back


This is also one of the ways to make your push-ups routine more challenging and more effective for building muscle mass. Weighted vests and weight plates are a great way to add more resistance to your push up. If you don't have an access to weight plates and weighted vests then there is also an alternative - fill your backpack with heavy objects that should equal to 20% of your body weight and wear it while performing your push-ups routine.



If you really follow all these tips and remain consistent every week your push-ups routine could really build some pounds of muscle mass, but of course, you shouldn't forget that one of the main components of muscle building plans is - Diet. You need to be in caloric surplus and consume a proper number of nutrient (proteins, carbs, fats) every day.


More about muscle-building foods and diet you can find in other articles on this site:


20 Foods You Should Eat to Gain Muscle Mass



Diet Tips for Lean Muscle Gain





If you are planning to start lifting weights, or you don't feel that you are getting results by doing push ups you can check out many other workout programs and muscle building tips on this website:



How to Gain Muscle Mass - 5 Principles of Muscle Hypertrophy



Try Reg Park's 5x5 Workout Program to Gain Strength and Muscle Mass