i've completely stopped doing situps, i was doing over 400 a day, even posted about it here too, lolz. but i've since learned max ab dev comes from exercises like the dead lift. if any ab work is done, i find the best results i've gotten are from exercises i can only do low rep of:

hanging upside down crunches
ab wheel
jangda crunches

but these are after deadlifts.

Yeah, core exercises (deadlifts/squats/etc) mixed with high intensity interval training and a proper diet is best for abs, imo.

I have been off & on for the past year but hardcore for the past 4 months and lost almost 100 pounds. And yes, I have a six pack. But, I'm still working on it.

I do agree that you need to mix it up as much as posible, but this is my base training and like I said... I lost almost 100 punds already. But this thread is about push-ups not me. Carry on.

Your body is more complex than you think. If you push it daily, the muscles will respond and never go into a healing phase which is when actual growth happens. When you take a day off, the muscles notice this and allow themselves to go into a healing phase. The healing phase makes the muscle less able to respond, so it only does this if it thinks it won't be stressed again.

A long time ago I would work out everyday and I actually got better results when I only worked out certain muscle groups once a week instead of 2-3 times a week. However, if you work out everyday, you will carry a bigger "pump" and feel bigger, but you will get stronger much more slowly.

The above is for heavy workouts, if your workout doesn't make you sore then you can probably do it everyday as a maintenance type of thing.

Naaa, they have to pass the same physical fitness today as 15 years ago. A grunt would prob cross train more, but normal Military does push-pull-sit ups and running all the f'in time, some units a couple times a day, others 7 days a week like MP units.

If you push yourself, if you work hard.. no mater what you're doing you need a day or a few to rest. You could go out for a walk and over do it and need to rest. But this type of working out, naaa... just don't kill yourself and you're fine to do a little each day.

When i was in the royal marines we did closed arm pushups (elbow tight against your body) 100's of times a day, sometimes with 10st on our backs.
Have a few days off while it hurts, it will go and you wont feel it again so long as you keep your muscles active.
It's just the initial response from your body, it will get used to anything :)

I'm sorry but please pass what you're smoking. If you believe the muscles grow when you're lifting and not when you're healing, you need to go back and read basic physiological information. This isn't even close tbo being accurate.
Misleading. We don't know what your diet was at the time, and if it was noob gains.

from pavel's naked warrior book:

The Naked Wa rrior Principles
? S t r e n gth is built by tensing the muscles harder, not by exhausting them with
reps.
? High tension requires high resistance and mental focus on contracting the
muscles harder.
? High resistance can be achieved without heavy weights by deliberately
imposing poor leverage and unfavorable weight distribution between the
l i m b s .
? The best strength gains are made by focusing on a limited number of highresistance,
low-rep, full-body exercises. The Naked Warrior program features
only two exercises: the one-legged squat and the one-arm pushup. They are
the bodyweight equivalents of the powerlifts.
? S t r e n gth is a skill. Training must be approached as a practice, not a
workout. You will practice every day, throughout the day; you will focus on
R U L E S O F E N G A G E M E N T
1 1
max tension; and you will totally avoid muscle fatigue and failure.
? The skill of tension-generation is the most important variable in getting
stronger?it is much more important than the building of muscle mass.
? The martial arts high-tension techniques will make you stronger by
enabling you to tense your muscles harder.

i do half a situp when i wake up and the other half when i go to bed.

Trust me... I can lift ALOT of HEAVY Weight - More than I will admit to here lest people think I'm lying or bragging. This thread was about push-ups, and my goal was fat loss. My push-up routine is what I'm doing now to avoid sitting down for long periods of time. That's also why I walk 12-20 miles a day and do alot of stairs - to burn fat and avoid doing nothing besides sitting in front of a computer screen.

trust you about what? i don't see what any of that has to do with what i posted.

I don't see why this guy's talking about fat loss and not even mentioning any kind of diet, which is about 80% responsible for said fat loss.

Um, maybe re-read my post and you'll realize you pretty much read the opposite of what I actually wrote.

As for noob-gains, I've been lifting for nearly ten years, I think I can tell you when something works or doesn't work.

so from what ive read here i need to do pullups too for a symmetrical muscle development... ar pullups from a bar sufficient? or is a deadlift mandatory.

i mean installing a bar like this at home:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SI55kVYQKI...ps_pull_up.jpg

You walk 12-20 miles a day???

IMO, that's not a very efficient use of time or energy.

I know I mentioned it earlier, and I don't want to beat a dead horse or anything, but if your goal is fat loss, I highly recommend a high fiber diet (25+ grams of soluble fiber per day) and 20+ minutes of jumping rope. Or some other type of high intensity interval training, Especially when combined with the push ups that you're already doing. If possible, it would be even better to also work in some pull ups, dips, and light dumbbell work.