I'm trying to get a muscular-looking upper body, but, in the past,
when I've done weightlifting, I've pushed myself a little too hard at
some point and ended up straining something. In particular, I seem to
hurt myself when doing chest excercises like the bench press. As an
alternative way of building up the size of my chest muscles, I'm
considering simply doing a lot of pushups. It seems like it would be
safer, since it involves less weight, and more reps. At the same time,
I worry that this would make it ineffective for bodybuilding. Do you
agree that it would be safer? Do you think it would be effective? How
often would you recommend doing them, and how many sets at a time?

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Clarification of Question by gremlin-ga on 01 Jan 2003 01:27 PST

This is in response to cyberick25's comment.

I've done traditional weightlifting programs like the one you describe
in the past. Last time I tried that, I ended up with an irritated
rotator cuff which put me in physical therapy for a couple months.
Normally, this sort of thing is caused by an imbalance between the
pecs and the upper back muscles, but mine are balanced. The doctor's
current theory is that my joints are too flexible, and I might've been
fine if I had avoided doing stretches... But all I know for sure is
that, last time I tried bench pressing, I hurt myself, even though I
did everything exactly by the book. I'd rather not risk another
injury, so I'm trying to find some alternative way of building up my
chest muscles.

One of the things I'm trying to find out is, if I'm doing an exercise
that's fairly high rep/low weight (pushups), is there any pattern of
reps, sets, and days off that will give me more of a muscle building
result, like what's normally associated with low rep/heigh weight
exercises.

Pushups build some muscles, but not others, so you need to do a wide
variety of exercises. Some of us build body mass slowly, so you need
to learn patience. Do not take even a one in a thousand chance of
tearing a muscle or ligament. It will set you back weeks, at best,
never heal properly at worst. Muscle building is mostly vanity, so
don't risk being a cripple for life.  Neil

The best way to build muscle is to vary your types of resistance. 
Isokinetic, isometric and isotonic.  You should perform the benchpress
for instance one day, then follow up with doing a half push up as long
as possible until your muscles burn so bad you have to go to the
ground. Finally you should work out with dumb bells and alternate
lying on your back then your stomach on a bench getting both positive
and negative resistance.  Depending on what you plan to achieve is how
you should schedule your work out.  If you want to tone up and get a
"cut" chest you should work out with high repetitions and low weight. 
For a bulky, building technique, you should do fewer reps with a
larger amount of weight.  Always allow your body time to recover, and
drink about a gallon of water per day.  You should also find the
maximum amount of weight that you can lift on any given exercise and
pattern your work out according to your max.  For example, if you can
bench press 200 lbs one time, that is you max.  To tone up, you could
do 3 sets of 100 lbs at 12-15 reps.  If you want to bulk up, you could
do 3 sets of 160 lbs at 5-8 reps.  And if you really want to challenge
yourself, do what is called a pyramid---5 reps at 80lbs, 4 reps at
100lbs, 3 reps at 120lbs, 2 reps at 140lbs, and 1 rep at 160lbs.  It
doesn't sound too tough, but try it some time.  That formula is 5@40%,
4@50%, 3@60%, 2@70%, and 1@80%.  Good luck, and remember, safety
first.

the best for you to do would be to invest in a personal trainer. Best
money you'll ever spend.

Cheers,

-dennis