The value I’ve gotten over the years from plain old vanilla pushups is staggering.
I’ve had periods of high volume pushups to near exclusivity, and as a rule have better training results when I have their volume high.
In short more pushups is always superior to less pushups.
While it may not show in your gym strength (though pushups seem to have given me a baked in 315 bench, even done sans warmup), a pushup habit will give you grappler style conditioning and old man type strength.
I do them daily. It’s a sizeable reason that physically I am how I am.
My wind will never be terrible as my nightly set keeps me at a minimum level of conditioning.
(Real pushup sessions give wind even moreso than strength, though both, and to really get it in back and forth them with hindu squats.)
The reps and volume always keeps me building strength (even if at a slow pace), and this type of work gives strength, gains, that become part of you…unlike so many other’s experiences in the gym, my gains stay with me regardless/irregardless/despite/in spite of/etc.
I’d warm up before a buddy and I would spar bare knuckle (a solid choice of red blooded male activity) with pushups, and he swore they amped me up, that they made me hit harder.
“I prefer it when we just box. You fire, lay the hooks in harder when you do that quick set first”.
If I had the requisite bodies and logistics available I’d be alternating rounds on the mat with sets of ~35 pushups til the vicinity of 30 rounds and 1000 pushups on a regular basis. This is how one makes grappling strength.
I need to up the pushup volume. It’s true. At present I’m only doing 40 or so daily. That’s pretty lazy.
There’s no limit to how far the simple pushup will take you. You simply have to put in the effort to dominate them, to milk them for their worth.
It’s summer. Go outside shirtless, get some vitamin d, and pushup to ∞. You’ll be better for it.
Persistence & Tenacity