Hundred Pushup Challenge

[Trezker]

I have a little too little willpower to go as far out of my comfort zone as this schedule requires. I really can't see how anyone can go straight from week two to week three, it's a ridiculously huge leap up. I think the plan is very unrealistic.

I think I could use a major diet upgrade and better fitness in general. Just doing these pushups is impossible if you're not keeping up with core, leg and endurance training in parallell.

I think the program is not supposed to actually last 6 weeks. Rather, the weeks represent different stages in which you're supposed to stay until you're ready for the next stage. But the website really presents an image of a program that's supposed to be done in 6 weeks literally. Just consider that there are only 6 weeks for those who start in the third column as well as those who can barely do one pushup.

I think a much better program would be to do 5 sets of pushups three days a week. As many as you can do just outside your comfort zone. If you try too many you decrease the amount, if too few, you increase. Just let the weeks pass and eventually you'll be doing lots of pushups, if you just keep pushing that comfort zone.

The website is very poorly designed in my opinion. It gives you a few good tips. Do your training in sets with rest in between. Push yourself a little. Keep good form. Don't do the same exercise every day.

But the schedule itself is broken.

[Ohabu]

I'm finishing week 5 tomorrow. Week 3 was the hardest for me, but I forced myself to do it and now I'm doing pretty well.

I increased the amount of protein in my diet slightly and have been very concious about stretching and resting.

Fyi: I did 28 on my inital test, have not been working out for about 2 years, and I am 25 years of age. My diet is generally very good, normal body.

[thefictionxwelive]

I think it's a good plan as long as you go at the pace you need to in order to improve. If you get to week three and it's too hard for you, for example, keep repeating week two with your own additions to it. Find what works for you.
I'm doing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with mine, as well as my own plan for crunches the alternate days (besides Sunday) sort of matching this.

[VacMan]

Woo! This is a tough challenge.

I gave it my best and could only get to 50.

Then I couldn't get up without rolling over on my back

Good luck to everyone!

[mlc82]

Here's a link for those of you doing this who want some stretches for afterward. Your Chest, Delts, and Triceps will need the most stretching.

Bodybuilding.com - #1 Stretching Guide! Pictures And Video!

[Curtis2011]

First post in here, but I found this website awhile back and now I'm in my 3rd week of Monday-Wednesday-Friday pushup workouts with this program.


The program is definitely *extremely* optimistic about the gains that you will see between days.

I did 18 pushups on my initial test and thus started in column 3.

I have done pushups a total of 7 days now, but I am still working on Day 3 of the program. It's alright though because every day I am able to do more pushups than last time, if only by a little.


One thing that helps me stay motivated is that I record in an Excel sheet how many pushups I am able to do each Day on each of the levels.

I am motivated every time I look at it and see that every day's amounts are increasing!

[Dan.Linehan]

I am definitely starting this challenge over as soon as I can.

I was really busy with a new relationship, a vacation for a softball tournament, my team was practicing all the time for that, that I got injured in one of the games (bone bruise to the knee) so I've been letting that heal.

I'll probably be doing the pushup challenge in conjunction with a new Rock Climbing gym membership, ab wheel exercises, and kettlebell exercises.

[Pirlipon]

the program is nice (even thou i believe is a bit too much optimistic)

does anybody has really made it starting from maybe 20 30 PU on the initial test to even reach 70 80 push up after 1month ?

i am curious

[Hyperchiller]

To make sure you don't injuire yourself doing pushups in poor form, be sure to check out this youtube video: YouTube - Chest Workout: Pushups for the Complete Beginner

[Pirlipon]

nobody answering me Y_Y

[PlanetaryNapkin]

I think there are better training goals than being able to do one-hundred push-ups, as catchy as the idea sounds.

Form, for instance, is way, way, way more important than quantity. Initially, I think that most people would benefit more from focusing on doing a small volume of extremely beautiful push-ups, rather than trying to tackle a huge volume. Numbers follow once the basics become second nature.

Also, a completely push-up centric program is pretty deficient. Better to lower the push-up volume, allow for more recovery, and incorporate squats, pull-ups, and running in the meantime.

And there ought to be some question as to the actual benefit of being able to do one-hundred push-ups. What is the cross-training benefit of such a specific skill? Is there any real reason for such a high-volume, low intensity training program?

I don't worry about repetitions when I train. I don't know what my max might be for one set of push-ups. I instead focus on strength, and, again, don't worry about volume. My personal best set of push-ups that I can recall is fifteen. With one arm. Fifteen with the right, then fifteen with the left, no rest. Probably, I could have gotten a couple more, but again, I don't think there's any sense in worrying about repetitions. Could I do one-hundred standard two-arm push-ups? Probably. But I'm not that curious to find out.

I'd run with the first few weeks of this push-up program, but once you can do 50 push-ups, what's the point of shooting for 100? Instead, ramp up the difficulty! Increase the height of your feet until you're doing handstand push-ups. Take away fingers until you're doing two-finger push-ups. Work on party-trick variations like these, and regular push-ups will start to seem like a breeze in comparison. And you'll feel stronger than ever.

I would refer anyone to the ideas in Pavel Tsatsouline's "The Naked Warrior", though I would discourage anyone from buying it -- it's a fairly padded book.

Just my $0.02, anyway. Happy training.

:Cheers,:
-PlanetaryNapkin.

[mercuryrising]

Interesting. Thanks, Dan. I did the initial test and pulled off 30 consecutively. That's better than what I thought. Think I might give this a try.

We should come up for one for the Abs, too.

[mercuryrising]

Originally Posted by Pirlipon

nobody answering me Y_Y

I can tell you in about a month.

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by PlanetaryNapkin

My personal best set of push-ups that I can recall is fifteen.

Hmm, that's not very much...

Originally Posted by PlanetaryNapkin

With one arm.

[Pirlipon]

I think there are better training goals than being able to do one-hundred push-ups, as catchy as the idea sounds.

sincerely i think the same

i can say i am in a good shape, i can do 50 - 60 push-ups, i dont see the need to raise to 100, i guess i can spend that extra time i would use to reach 100 to improve for example my abs or my running skills...

@mercuryrising: ok i am curious,keep us informed.
btw which was your starting number?

[oBakasan]

Hmm, I can do 30 in two sets, but I'd like to raise it to 50,

[mercuryrising]

Originally Posted by Pirlipon

sincerely i think the same

i can say i am in a good shape, i can do 50 - 60 push-ups, i dont see the need to raise to 100, i guess i can spend that extra time i would use to reach 100 to improve for example my abs or my running skills...

@mercuryrising: ok i am curious,keep us informed.
btw which was your starting number?

30 was my initial number. According to the plan, I would start off on week 3.

Personally, I like static holds more than doing reps. A static hold creates more intensity, thus taxing the muscles more.

But like dude said, it does sound good. I just appreciate the motivation to get in shape.

[Pirlipon]

Personally, I like static holds more than doing reps. A static hold creates more intensity, thus taxing the muscles more.

aye, doing fast reps is not good as good as doing them slowly

make slow movements is much harder and i think also gives more benefit to the muscles.

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by Pirlipon

aye, doing fast reps is not good as good as doing them slowly

make slow movements is much harder and i think also gives more benefit to the muscles.

But it develops a specific kind of strength. It doesn't develop explosive strength, which some people want rather than the "slow and deliberate" kind. You can increase the difficulty by "exploding" on the way up, and build enough momentum from the bottom up to do a clap (or two or three). Makes the exercise more ballistic and, yes, harder.