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 turned 64 this past March 6, 2016 and this morning did 110 solid push ups in one minute. Perhaps you do not believe me so I will do it again right now and post the video. NO gimmicks just real. I am 5’11” and weight about 235 at this time. Can bench press at least 350 on most days and have gone to about 365 at 64 yrs. of age. I can post that lift as well when my wife is willing to take the video.. however here are only 90 this afternoon (sorry() push ups in one minute. I hope to make them all solid and good ones as well. If you have any questions or reactions send me an email at pjwunger@comcast.net.. Next time in the morning 100 promise.. Not quite this afternoon. but still not too bad you think??
my question is: does a proper push-up require locking out your arms at the top and kissing the floor at the bottom? I have arthritic arm joints so keeping the torque on the muscles is less painful for me than going to a full extension at the top.
i just didn’t need to have a kindle at first, but when receiving one for christmas i’m utterly converted. It supply genuine advantages more than a book, and makes it such a lot additional convenient. i might undoubtedly advocate this item:
Just do 7 sets of 15 regular pushups with a great pushup bar for deeper pushes, 100 reps total. Do it Monday Wednesday Friday. You got to have rest in between. I’ve been doing this for weeks now, and it only takes about 15 minutes. I have achieved more muscle and strength. On Tuesday and Thursday, I do 3 sets of 30 bodyweight squats and 6 sets of 15 core exercise for cardio and lower body. Take the weekend off.
Really, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone do even 20 push-ups in person. Now, I don’t hang around the type of person who WOULD be able to do 100 pushups all that much, but even most athletes I’ve seen just kind of bounce in place a bit while planking and call it a “push-up.”
I’ve done at least one max set of pushups almost every day for the past 10-ish years. I started around 30 reps when I was in middle school and worked my way very slowly up to 45. One time I hit 50, I think. Not really a strategy for increasing reps, but it’s probably good enough to put me inn the 99th percentile of pushup-doers.
Actually, I worked my way up very gradually from 30 to about 38, stagnated there for years, and then was just randomly able to do 45 for no apparent reason before stagnating again.
I will be 80 years old, March 28, 2017. From September 14, 2015, to the present day, I have done 100 non-stop pushups every day without fail, a total of 541,000 pushups. Yesterday, I did 350 pushups (100 + 5 sets of 50). Today, I have already done 350 and will do three more sets of 50 to reach 500. I am not finding this difficult to do.
Excuse the math. 54,100 pushups., not 541,000. 541 days X 100.
I’m 15 and my record is 120 pushups and but I don’t think the last ten reps were as good I am 177.9 cm and 55.7kg
I am 63 years old just did 75 push-ups – do push-ups every other day and regularly do 1,000 per day. Have added tremendous growth to my chest in the three years have been doing. Have not had any joint pain – so will keep my plan for workouts. My goal since reading article is to get to 100 straight.
I can do 90 pushups straight. Not the best form. Not slow or controlled, but i go all the way down, but i dont fully lock out. Still feels great. Im 18 years old, 6ft, 160lbs.
Am 63 years old and accomplished the 100 straight challenge yesterday going to keep pressing forward towards new personal bests.
I an 63 and just accomplished 110 straight push-up adding 10 a week. Feels great to continue to add push-ups.
I am 18 years old, and I did one set beyond exhaustion every day for 8 months. At the end I did average 80 per day and I maxed out at 110, even though I could have done more and probably still can. It was not a PR attempt, I just 80 and felt somewhat alive and did another 30. Hardest experience in my life problably. I started out at 33. If you do beyond exhaustion every day, you will get good. By the way, I tested diamond push-ups recently, did 70
Great job!
Amazing job I look to the older guys for inspiration!
Great job, keep in pushing!
Amazing! You are an inspiration sir! I look to the
older men for inspiration to not give up.
Nice job! Mix up the pushups, parallel is all you really
need. Short of locking out is good because it keeps tension on the muscles which will get stronger.
Don’t worry about the last 10 bad ones just keep going!
I was doing a set of 100 before I started using the “perfect push-up” bars… could only do 30 of those. I recently got to 100 on those, (being a few more inches off of the floor to boot).. followed by hundreds more. I wait 2 minutes in between sets until 200. Then wait 3 minutes, followed by exercises on my total gym. My record which took a couple of hours was 1,600 (about a month or so ago). It will transform the way you think about yourself. The record set back in 1980 was over 10,000….was disheartened until I found this article. Keep posting this stuff. It helps ppl like me stay motivated. I shared this on FB.
Am 63 years old and accomplished 145 two days ago – it seems when one hits the first 100 that one adjusts to the pain level and can push further from that moment.
Am 63 years old and it seems since I hit the 100 goal it has been steady upward increase and 100 is now the norm – a couple hours ago did 170 straight have my eye on 200. Part of it is overcoming the pain threshold.
I’m a skinny guy and don’t work out all that often. Today I did 100 push-ups, although they weren’t non-stop. If I recall the first rep was 15 push ups and slowly each succeeding rep became less and less until when I hit 90 and I could only muster 2 push-ups a rep. It was tough, but it wasn’t necessarily pain that made it tough. I pressed as hard as I could each rep, but I found my limit when I couldn’t physically extend my arms to raise my body despite my best efforts (in these instances it felt like an intense plank).
I just share this because if anyone else is reading these comments and feels discouraged, don’t be. I feel like the first 100 push-ups (no matter how you get to them) are always the hardest for us beginners. Personally, doing these 100 push-ups today was more beneficial mentally than physically for me because it gave me confidence to continue.
I’ll try to keep you guys updated weekly. I’m aiming to do 100 pushups tomorrow and after that who knows.
I’m 27 years old 5’8″ and currently 160lbs. I max 345lbs on the bench press. That’s 2.11 times my bodyweight for those who didn’t do the math. I can also do OVER 100 push-ups in a row MILITARY style easy and 1000 push-ups in an hour. When you can bench over double your bodyweight raw you can do 50 without even breaking a damn sweat. Benching is pretty much the only weighted exercise I do too so it shows your wrong about it not providing functional strength. It biulds an EXCELLENT core when your using proper form and it’s a compound movement that works many different muscle groups if done correctly. I can also do push-ups with a 180lb man sitting on my back and I’ve never been beat at armwrestling either. And I can do over 75 handstand push-ups too. You clearly have no idea what your talking about at all. Sounds like you just need to justify not being able to move plates on the bar like a real beast. PS what makes you think a person can’t bench over 3 plates and still do mad push-ups? I can. Your just limiting yourself and anyone else who follows you bro. Mind over matter convince your mind and the body will follow. And PSS I definitely have vids of the 345lb bench and the push-ups I’d love to show them off as well
Also not trying to be rude or violent but let me punch you in the gut one time THEN tell me what you think of my functional strength. Lol
Oh I forgot I can also do 50 one arm push-ups with either hand too and touch my shoulder to the ground for every rep. If anything bench pressing helped me achieve that
You sound like a beast.
And in high school as a senior at 145 lbs I benched 330 lbs. As a 9th grader deadlifted 400 lbs, what’s your point?
And did dips with 150 lbs around my waist, did wide grip pull ups with 88 lbs extra, could walk the school gym on my hands, and ran a 4.5 yard dash, all while still in high school.
In my late 30’s did 1,002 consecutive pushups never coming out of the pushup position in 43:45 my son videoed it.
Again, what’s your point?
I guess you think all that strength training equals toughness.
Post your videos, I would love to see them.
You’re still a boy, you need to get a little older and we will see where your toughness and durability falls.
Your gym accomplishments matter nothing to know one, but you.
Remember you don’t have to read this blog.
So send me a link to your videos.
Anyhow be proud of your accomplishments.
I am 82 and can do 105 push ups non stop, full extension, and no pausing. I have been exercising all my life. I used to lift weights daily, and my max was 375 on the bench press, in my early years (when in HS). With 225 on the bench press, I was able to do 25-30 reps. I attribute my younger days conditioning to my present day strength. In addition, I was an avid triathlete competing at the Ultra Triathlon level (not to mention a 7th Dan Black Belt in TaeKwon-Do). Because I am very much aware of the physical body’s limitations, which indeed are mostly limited by one’s mental toughness, with all due respect, I sincerely question sir your boasting of +1,000 push ups. I ask that you post the video.
Earl, because it isn’t worth my efforts to get the vhs tape to digital.
You seem to be amazing especially at 82 and hope I am able to be as fit as you.
As long as my family, my son who actually taped it and counted for me is all I need.
And then my grandsons will be able to see my 1,002 pushups in 43:45 is all that matters. The opinions of strangers or people I don’t respect doesn’t matter.
Earl, I would like to see pictures or videos, after 82 years I figured you would have written a book.
Do you have a you tube channel?
I would love to see the 105 pushups at 82.
I am 77 years old and had a stent put in seven years ago. For the last three years I have been on my own exercise program. I try to keep it below ten mins of actual exercise. I have worked my way up to 100 pushups at a time and do some jogging in place(count to 500) and one legged jumps(115 per leg at this time). I have decided that I will not try for more than that and believe that my increasing age will not allow me to keep these numbers. My heart doctor told me three years ago that I should exercise my heart and condition it by exercising. After my 100 pushups, I get very winded and my heart beats at a high rate. My concern is that maybe this is too much, but I hate the idea of backing off. I do this 5 or 6 days a week. After my pushups, it takes my body more than two minutes to normalize. I now wonder if this could be dangerous to my health. The other exercises don’t exert myself too much although the one legged jumps really strain my leg muscles….I am 5’10” and weigh in the 180s…about 5 or so pounds more than when I was 18 yrs old. I also do abut 5 hours of physical(not hard) work five or six days a week.
Hello to all the push ups champions. I did 1,200 consecutive pushups when I was 60 years old and viewers can see my video on YouTube and also Facebook, just punch in my name and see them. I’m now 79 years old and I continue to train with weights and push ups. Thanks to all of you that will look at my 40 videos.
Hello I did 200 consecutive action and reaction push-ups in 2 minutes and 13 seconds when I was 60 years old.
Check out my 2,000 consecutive full push-ups when I was 60 yeas old. Thank You.
When I was 62 years old I did 249 consecutive thumbs touching push-ups.
At 62 years old I did 510 consecutive full push-ups with feet on top of a sofa.
At 63 years old I did 1020 consecutive half way push-ups. I planked for one hour and 32 minutes never going on my knees. These push-ups going down only half way are much harder to do because the triceps muscles of your arms take the full load of effort. Here is what I mean, when I was able to do 1,200 consecutive full push-ups, I was only able to do 300 of the regular push-ups, therefore, one of these half way push-ups is the equivalent of 3 regular push-ups. You can try it on yourself.
At 70 years old I did 100 consecutive superfast action and reaction push-ups with 22 lbs un my back in 48 seconds of time.
At age 70, I did 1,000 consecutive push-ups in only 26, minutes.
At age 70, I did a plank on my hands and toes With Arms Extended for One hour and 2 minutes of time. It is a world record and you can look at it on https://recordsetter.com
At age 70, I did 3,570 action and reaction push-ups in One Hour of time.
At age 70, I did 1,050 action and reaction push-ups in only 17, minutes and 15 seconds. That comes to on average of 60 push-ups per minute.
At age 70, I did 250 consecutive superfast partial push-ups with 40 lbs on my back in only One minute of time.
At age 70, I did 184 partial push-ups with 45 lbs on my back in One minute of time.
At age 70, I did 1,200 action and reaction push-ups with 40 lbs on my back in One Hour of time.
At age 71, I did 1,667 push-ups in 54 minutes of time.
At age 71, I did 100 full push-ups with 100 lbs on top of my back.
At age 73, I did 100 consecutive superfast bouncing shoulder jerk’s with 250 lbs of weight in only 48 seconds of time for a total weight moved was 25,000 lbs. That is 11 tons. in less than a minute.
At age 75, I did 1,231 Push-ups with 45 lbs on my back in 68 minutes. Total weight moved in all was 55,395 lbs, or 25 tons.