A- If you are worried about improving- slowly increase the noumber of push ups per set. I am talking over periods of weeks, not days. In a couple of months youll be doing easily twice as much pushups, unless your physology is diffrent than all other human beings(and as a former boot commander, trust me ive seen some very phiscally backwards soldiers)
B- As for tests- In my experience when you know there is no choice your physical abileties enhance dramtically. I am not a very big fan of fitness(classic IDF tank trooper) but when i had tests i usually could do twice as many push ups as in other situations.
C- One last thing- and this is a sound truth for any high level effort- pain is somthing you can ignore. Your arms and legs will hurt like hell, your stomach muscles will feel on fire, but its not beyond your(or anyones) abilety to ignore it. Just think about what you are doing it for, and try to pretend there is no physical link between your brain and your limbs. I cant count the ammount of times i told my self "there is no pain, there is no pain" or tried to convince my self my shoulders or legs are too numb to hurt. It worked for me, and i could usually carry a strecher, for example for much longer than the other guys. I also managed to carry one on one some very big guys, and i weigh in at about 65 kg. Its not cause i super strong, far from it, its like we say in the IDF "All in your head".

Thanks a lot guys, that's really helping me a lot actually. I never thought at the psycological aspect of it but it's helping a lot thinking about it. I like to believe that pain is weakness leaving your body.

Any who, I'm back from a FTX (Field Training Exercise) with my Cadet Corps. We did a good amount of exercise so I'm a tad tired to start on my pushups today, but tomorrow is a different story

You should work yourself when you're in your weakest state. It hurts but it helps a lot.

You should work yourself when you're in your weakest state. It hurts but it helps a lot.

yes but its very important to get good sleep(6 houres anight at least) and eat proteins. Other wise your just tearing muscle tissue down and your boday cant rebuild it.

Originally Posted by KJ

Drop yourself every hour on the hour for 20 PU,s.
You will soon be able to increase repetitions.
DO NOT trade endurance for form, keep them strict and you will in a matter of days be able to increase.

Worked for me, came from the same person too (imagine that...

There is no quick fix to a low push up score all you can do is push yourself. Do 20 one day and do not stop until you hit 21 the next, then 22, then 23 and so on. If you get to the point where you cannot do more pushups, do inverted push ups. Do wide arm and diamond, do all kinds of pushups but absolutely remember form.

Work your body, and your body will work for you.

repetition, doesnt matter what fancy way you divide em up or how you do it end the end... just keep doing it and push yourself alittle farther daily and you will be able to do more with time...

Wow, this is working wonders for me, I jumped from 20 to 25 by pushing it and now my standard is 25. Working on 30!

Originally Posted by Cdt Matteo

Wow, this is working wonders for me, I jumped from 20 to 25 by pushing it and now my standard is 25. Working on 30!

Way to go dude. Never sell yourself short and keep pushing. Trust me, it pays off in the end. Apply yourself to every area of your workout too... it will do wonders for your total fitness.

And when you run out of motivation, redneck has got your back.

Originally Posted by Cdt Matteo

Wow, this is working wonders for me, I jumped from 20 to 25 by pushing it and now my standard is 25. Working on 30!

Congratulations, bro! That's the way to do it!

Yep! That's the way to do it. Ain't this forum great?