The 100 pushup challenge
- Thread starter Caloi
- Start date
Djokovicfan4life
Legend
What the heck, I'll give it a go. Just did the test and squeezed out 40 good ones, so I guess I'll start on week 3. Will begin on this coming Monday.
Best of luck to you as well.
Best of luck to you as well.
Caloi
Semi-Pro
What percentage of board members do you think can do 100 pushups right now? I'll go with .04%. You in?
Weren't those the days? I remember not taking Advil daily (maybe 3-4 days per week actually). I remember partying for 3 days straight with minimal sleep and finishing 3rd mtn bike racing in elite endurance. Then drinking the night away. Man, those were the days. Body recovered on little sleep, knees didn't ache, back didn't hurt and I had full flexibility in both my wrists. Ahhhh...Calgon! Take me away!
BTW, you in?
Caloi
Semi-Pro
Seeing as how we're in the Health and Fitness section, and fitness and strength goign hand in hand, and pushups being a pretty good way of gaining strength....
You in?
RoddickAce
Hall of Fame
oh man..100 consecutive push-ups, last time i tried I barely got to 50 and was half-dead(muslces ached for like 3 days lolz)...50 = 1/2 dead, so 100 = dead LOLZ! But I'm gonna try too
!
!
Caloi
Semi-Pro
oh man..100 consecutive push-ups, last time i tried I barely got to 50 and was half-dead(muslces ached for like 3 days lolz)...50 = 1/2 dead, so 100 = dead LOLZ! But I'm gonna try too
Follow the plan and try your best. I tried about 9 months ago and got to 70. That's when I started wearing my wrist brace though and couldn't put pressure on my wrist anymore.
My first round will be tomorrow. I'll report results after lunch then.
Those were the days, indeed.
If I could have one thing back from my youth, that would be the fast recovery time.
Unfortunately, I can't join in on the challenge, as I am very careful to monitor my tendons and joints during my workouts (I had a couple of bouts with tennis elbow and my arm is about 80% back to normal. But last few weeks I have been feeling some pain in the lateral epicondyle of my non-tennis arm and I don't hit two-handed backhands. Go figure!).
masterxfob
Semi-Pro
count me in, i'll be starting at week 3.
Sleepstream
Semi-Pro
100 push-ups is easy to reach. Try doing a similar challenge with pull-ups.
Topaz
Legend
I haven't checked out the link, but one of the fitness programs I do includes 70 pushups broken down like this:
set of 16
set of 14
set of 12
set of 10
set of 8
set of 6
set of 4
Minimal rest in between, usually just about five seconds.
And yes, I'm a girl, and I do them on my knees. I can get through them pretty well now, so my plan is to start off with full ones, get as far as I can, and then finish on knees.
set of 16
set of 14
set of 12
set of 10
set of 8
set of 6
set of 4
Minimal rest in between, usually just about five seconds.
And yes, I'm a girl, and I do them on my knees. I can get through them pretty well now, so my plan is to start off with full ones, get as far as I can, and then finish on knees.
maverick66
Hall of Fame
cheater. i dont care what sex you are do them right. ive seen plenty of women do a good pushup. dont use im a girl as an excuse to cheat.
Topaz
Legend
I wasn't aware I was using it as an excuse. I was merely sharing my push-up routine.
I'd rather do them from the knees with good form than do them full and with poor form. In my book, that isn't cheating.
When you've worked out beside me and seen my effort and accomplishments, then you can judge. Until then...shove it.
maverick66
Hall of Fame
you know topaz. all im saying is dont limit yourself. so what if your a girl. you can do a regular pushup. you might struggle at first but you will get it and in the end you will have a better workout. from the knees makes the pushup way to easy for you to get a big gain from a push up. id rather you did less reps with a good form then more reps with an easier form.
Montana Ken
New User
I'm 62 years old and do 100 pushups without problem.
chess9
Hall of Fame
LOL!
Women have at LEAST 50% less testosterone than men, so women have learned to compensate, and usually with their brains. I reached the conclusion long ago that women are smarter than men primarily for that reason-so little testosterone.
Go girl!
-Robert
ReopeningWed
Professional
I did 22 for my initial
At least I'm in the majority.
At least I'm in the majority.
skraggle
Professional
Loving the Jack Palance attitude.
The Watchman
Rookie
Well done, and a good plan.
I was told by a personal trainer that a good way to transition from knees to full pushups is to do them with your hands elevated on something (eg your hands on a chair or bench, your feet on the ground). As you get better, place your hands lower.
That way, you get to practice bracing your core (something mostly absent in a knee pushup and very important in a full pushup) without doing full pushups.
Good luck!
The Watchman
Rookie
I didn't know that doing pushups had "rules". Never in all my time playing tennis was I required to drop down in a prone position, and push my upper body off the ground with arms extended.
Isn't an exercise done for its ability to help you meet your goals (whatever that may be)? If one finds knee pushups challenging (like I do), then surely doing them is a beneficial activity?
If I were a more negative type of a person, I could say that the whole 100 pushup challenge is pointless. The muscular endurance required to do 100 pushups has little real world value compared to the development of other physical qualities.
A better challenge would be to do triple clap pushups (middle clap behind your back) - explosive strength has more value in sports like tennis. Or do one arm pushups with a weighted vest or better yet a *real* pushup (known as a "planche") - maximal strength has more value as a fundamental physical quality.
But people have bought into this 100 pushup challenge because it is challenging to them (and good on them).
chess9
Hall of Fame
Topaz
Legend
LOL!
Women have at LEAST 50% less testosterone than men, so women have learned to compensate, and usually with their brains. I reached the conclusion long ago that women are smarter than men primarily for that reason-so little testosterone.
Go girl!
-Robert
Ahh see, Robert, I like the way you think!
I do get at my core with planks, and sometimes combine planks, side planks, and a *full* pushup. In combination like that, I have no problem, but when just doing a whole bunch of pushups, I'm still on the knees. I do put my legs up on the stability ball, too, sometimes, I think those are fun!
When I first started, I set the bar on a smith machine low, and would do pushups holding onto the bar. It was sometimes fun to do a set, lower the bar, do another, keep lowering, etc etc.
But yeah, I'm not going to do something until I'm strong enough to do it properly. I wouldn't want an injury to take me out of tennis...especially one that may have resulted from pushups!!!
skraggle
Professional
Yeesh. I repeat, yeesh.
Phil
Hall of Fame
You can do it-it just takes time and patience. A gal in my class at one of the service schools I attended (she was in the army) was able to do 75 push-ups. That's 75 in a SINGLE go-which put many of the men to shame.
Montana Ken
New User
100 pushups in less than two minutes. I'm computer literate without the benefit of grandchildren.
masterxfob
Semi-Pro
damn, i started on week 3 and was sore for three days after. i'm in poorer shape than i thought, so i think i'll just start from the beginning.
Montana Ken
New User
90 degrees and I've never done a one-arm pushup.
spiritdragon
Rookie
sounds fun i'm in
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Yea, and the Jack Daniels sweat running into your eyes and burning so badly that you can't see.
J
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
What is the thinking about down to the ground vs. 90deg?
Dunno if you have seen pics of me, but I am very thin, all arms and legs, and down to the ground is pretty far for me, same with barbell bench (With DBs I go as far as possible to get the good pec stretch in.)
I always wonder if I would be better served doing more just to 90deg, or less going to the ground.
I have been going to the ground/touching my chest with the bar and will continue to do so until someone provides a compelling reason not to.
J
snoopy
Professional
Just yesterday I read the section on bench pressing in Starting Strength. Rippetoe addresses the issue of wether it's necessary for the the humerus to go past a 90 degree angle w the forearm starting on pg 84 of the 2nd edition. Rip says that you should go past 90 and make sure the bar touches your chest (don't bounce it too much, but that's another issue).
Here are some quotes:
"Strength development is extremely specific: muscles get strong in the positions they are made to get strong in precisely the way they are trained."
"Any joint about which movement can occur will benefit from having it's entire function improved. So, all the muscles that move a joint should be exercised using a movement that calls into play as many of them as might be used in the sport for which we are training."
So, going past 90 uses a fuller range of motion and exercises the muscles around the joint more completely.
How this translates into fitness for tennis I'm not entirely sure. I know Andre Agassi bench pressed, but do other tennis players?
For me, I'm not just interested in working out to be a better tennis player, so I would definitely bench press and go past 90. Although i think I have a shoulder impingement and I may not be able to bench press at all
He applies the same reasoning to squatting as well, saying you should go past parallel.
onehandbh
G.O.A.T.
I was just wondering b/c going down only to 90 degrees
is significantly easier than going down to the ground.
For someone that's very barrel chested 90 degrees might
be the ground. I think just getting a full range of motion
is good as long as it doesn't wreck your rotator cuff.
Lowering the bar down to the lower part of the chest is
easier on your shoulder than higher up at your shoulders.
You can widen your grip.
Seems okay as long as your shoulders are okay.
Another thing to watch out for is hunching your shoulders
up to help get the bar up at the top of the movement.
Try to keep your shoulders back and in a more neutral
position.
btw, I am not a fitness trainer, I hold no degrees or certificates
in any fitness discipline or organization, and I have average
length arms for a 6' tall human.
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RoddickAce
Hall of Fame
lolz..its like someone says I can hit 135 mph serves! Then a second guy comes along and says only 135 mph??? Roddick can serve 155! Then you see the second guy go and dink in 20 mph serves.
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nadalfan!
Professional
At the beginning of the school year, I did 75 consecutive push-ups in my P.E. class. I got the highest amount! I'm only a freshman too. I don't really do pushups now because they create man-boobs and I don't want those because they get in the way of a swing when you play tennis.
I'm only a freshman too. I don't really do pushups now because they create man-boobs and I don't want those because they get in the way of a swing when you play tennis.
Patrick_St
Rookie
Jolly, the reason why people lift that way is because of the makeup of our muscles. Our muscles are not as strong close to the tendons, but are stronger in the middle of the muscle. When you are doing reps of a lift it is good to do full extension (ei. down to your chest) for as many reps as you can, but then when youc an't bring it down to your chest anymore, bring the weight down and stop a few inches above your chest instead. Do this because your muscles may only be tired next to the tendon, but you still have plenty of strength left in your muscles in the middle part and you should work your whole muscle until the whole muscle is fatigued. Then you wait for about two minutes and do it again.
I hope this helps.
Djokovicfan4life
Legend
At the beginning of the school year, I did 75 consecutive push-ups in my P.E. class. I got the highest amount!
*cough cough* COPOUT! *cough cough*
Just messing. But seriously, a little mass in the chest will not slow you down. Verdasco has added a considerable amount of upper body mass and is moving better than ever.
Matt
maverick66
Hall of Fame
having a developed chest is having man boobs now? i thought you only had man boobs if they were fat? how times have changed since i was in high school.
nadalfan!
Professional
I know but I'd rather do curls or something because I know that is working something like the bicep which I use a bit more. I'm not saying that if you're able to do 100 push-ups that you will have man boobs. I'm saying if you keep doing it then you will get man boobs.
