Re: Pump you Up (Pushups)
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In my experience if you do just two sets until you can't do anymore your muscles will be so burnt out the next day that you won't even be able to do half as many. Is this not true for everyone, or am I a nancy boy?
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How many sets/reps you can do depends a lot on how good shape you're in in the first place. If you're in great shape, it will take more sets to wear yourself out or put yourself in pain the next day or two. If you're in bad shape, it's harder to wear out all of your muscles evenly before one particularly weak group of them is torn up and you can't continue. With push-ups, for an untrained guy, maybe his triceps will give out way before his chest or shoulders do. To get the best work-out, you have to be in good shape already. There's a weird catch-up phase for everyone else that can last quite a while, depending on how quick you naturally put on muscle and where you're building up from.
Taking up running is another good example. If you're in bad aerobic shape, you'll be exhausted way before your legs come close to giving out. But aerobic shape can build pretty rapidly, and after a while, you have a better chance of wearing out your legs running because your lungs will last long enough to do it!
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