Can doing too many pushups be bad for you?

[Patrick]

I've read that doing too many pushups can lead to muscle imbalance and poor posture. Is this really true? If yes, why does the police or military allow this as a common form of exercise and regimentation? I've been doing reps of 50 every morning, as a early morning workout to get some blood flowing. Should I be concerned?

Does anyone know of any complementary exercises should we do to complement this, to avoid muscle imbalance? (Preferably without the use of weights or equipment)

 

[Peninha]

I think that everything that is too much is bad, we should increase gradually, but if we start with a lot we can hurt ourselves.

 

[LongShot]

A lot of exervise is never too muh. Though, you can strain your muscles quite easy from over exertion with exercise. Therefore, never push yourself too far and work within your limits.

 

[JoshPosh]

Any exercise that is performed excessively could be potentially harmful. The best thing to do is slowly increase the reps as your muscles heal from the previous workout. Listen to your body. If it hurts, then you shouldn't be doing what you are doing. Simple as that.

 

[shandrum]

I personally have never heard that doing too many push-ups could lead to muscle imbalance. I would think if you are doing other exercises to balance out your workouts, whether using weights or your own body weight to build strength, then you should be balanced. Also, just standing up straight and holding your abdominal muscles in, as well as holding your shoulders back, will improve your posture. An exercise that I like to do to help build upper body strength is the Plank exercise. A quick Google search will show you proper form and technique when performing this exercise.