The 100 Pushup Philosophy
I have always said a man that can do 100 straight pushups will
almost always be in great shape. How can I say that a man that
can do only 100 pushups be in great shape?
The first thing is 100 straight pushups are not easy for the average
man or even most weight trainers. I have been training for over
30 years and have never seen any man do 100 straight pushups in
person.
I have seen 70 I have even seen 80 pushups in a row but not 100.
The reason that 100 pushups are rare is because it takes more
than just strength it also requires a total body effort to execute
the pushup while keeping the body straight throughout the
entire exercise.
But, to get the big bench almost always requires low reps and
long rest periods. Sometimes longer than 2 minutes. Building
a big bench is not getting you conditioned to do anything but
lying down and pushing a weight off your chest. And oh yeah
telling people how much you can bench.
Really, how many men do you think that go to the gym can do
many more than 50 pushups? Here’s another difference with
the pushup and the bench press. Training to bigger bench
numbers, you will push and push and push some more all in
the name to get the big bench, but the majority of people once
they get to their max number of pushups stop and think workout
over.
The Bench press requires no conditioning what so ever to get
stronger. But, there is no way you are not going to be sucking
wind working up to 100 pushups, pushups in a short period of
time become an anaerobic exercise meaning no oxygen.
No oxygen to the muscles means hard times and this is when
most will quit. Pushing a little farther will not mean injury. What
it means is you will train your mind and body to get a little
tougher and stronger.
I have seen it many times over the years; bring me a guy that
can do 100 pushups some pull-ups and sprints. A guy that
can bench press 300 lbs and works his way through the gym
doing every type of bench incline, decline, cross over’s on
machines and does curls etc.
And put these two guys in an athletic type of contest and I
can almost guarantee that the man that can do 100 pushups
will be the winner and he will also be plenty strong!
And here is something you bench press specialists won’t like
to hear. Most guys in the gym that are focused on the bench
press are functionally weak. This is not my opinion it’s a fact
focusing on the bench press works very few muscles the
pushup works many more and conditions the at the same
time. So work to 100 pushups and see what happens.
Toughness Builds Winners
Johnny Grube
www.wildmantraining.com
I am a 46 year-old woman. I am about 35 lbs. overweight. I am wondering how to start push-up training, girlie push-ups, or shallow regular push-ups. At the moment, I can do about one good push-up. That’s it.
Thanks,
Monet
Monet, I would suggest doing inclined pushups. Then, as you get stronger, you can decrease the angle until you are parallel to the ground. This way, you can focus on and maintain good form while reaching the 5-8 reps that promote strength improvement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQJN5HDPut8
I’m 22 years old, and in the past 8 months worked my way from 23 pushups to finally 100 today (can probably do a bit more). I’m in great shape and I look muscular. However, my strength is terrible compared to my friends who can’t do that many pushups. It’s annoying when I’m at the gym and can’t lift nearly as much as a friend, even though I look as strong. I feel like I’ve sacrificed strength in favor of endurance. Perhaps the strength will come later as I’ve been working out for less than a year, but for now it’s kind of an embarrassment.
I turned 51 yesterday, and celebrated by doing 100 consecutive pushups. I trained for it by using an iphone app called hundredpushups. before I started the program, I could already do 70 pushups, but I’ve been training and going to the gym for 35 years.
But nevermind that. Anybody who pushes themselves, regardless of how many you can do, should give themselves a pat on the back.
First, let me say that there is no such thing anymore as functional strength. What I mean by that is unless your job requires a certain physical level, then being abnormally strong or aerobic doesn’t matter for functionality. We don’t live in the Indian times where we need to catch our food and be fast or what have you. That being said I think we do need to be active for our health or enjoyment. You can’t compare “100 pushups” to a “big bench” like one is better. They aren’t really apples to apples. Not everyone who benches is a gym rat. That’s a stereotype. I bench all the time but can still do 19 bodyweight pull ups in a row. Its all about opinion and what you want to achieve. But I don’t think aerobic/endurance trumps power/strength. Some people like to build a lot of muscle. In my opinion “functional strength” would be a guy with a huge bench who could push his friends car out of a snow bank in winter if you want to look at it like that. Don’t make up one sided scenarios of the push up guy and bench guy because then I could just say the guy with pure strength would have a higher chance of killing the other guy if they were both of equal fighting skill. That’s my crazy rant.
March 24, 2011 is the first time I did 100 consecutive push ups. My best now is 142 accomplished this month. Hopefully I’ll get 150 soon. My best in a day is 1555, and best for a month is 10,205. I’ve kept an excel log of my exercising dating back to August 2007 (55-60 in a row), which is fun to look back on. I used to swtich it up all the time, fist push ups, incline, fingertip, pyramid, wide, handstand, etc. trying to beat my previous best. I’m 37 and weigh 190 + – a few pounds.
So I am 31 years old and 4 years ago I had a work accident as an iron worker in florida. I fell 30 feet and comppletely shateres my right wrist and all the bones in my lower arm. About 15 places. 8inch titanium place seven pins and five screws later. Year went by couldn’t even pull a milk jug out of the fridge. Been four years now and all the calcium and bone has fused with the metal. Hand doesn’t move much but is an iron fist now. I’ve always been into sports and the gym. My roomate is a parareacue in the airforce and we were hamered one night and he was telling me he could do eighty straight pushups. I told him that wasn’t shit.he said bullshit I got a hundred dollar bill if you can and five for every one after.big I didn’t make a hundred I owed him a hundred. Mind you I can only do fist pushups cause my hand does not move up. So I hit the deck and busted 120 straight. He was blown away. And I told him to pay the fuck up. He said he’s never seen anybody do that many so fast in seven years of airforce training. Made me feel good. Tried if again tonite only got 82. Lol money on the table I guess up the anti