100 Pushup Challenge

[Fidatelo]

I've been AWOL on this all week due to a long weekend at the cabin and a crazy week at work. That said, I plan to reboot with Wk 1 Day 1 Column 2 this weekend. My hockey season starts in 2 weeks and I better be able to pump out 20 straight by the time I hit the ice. This year, if I cross check a fool, he might at least realise I did it!

[Draft Dodger]

well, just finished week 5. In week 5 you move to more sets of shorter reps, and I think I've really responded well to that. For my max set today I hit 50 - that's a long way from the 16 I started the program with (and the 50 was after 7 sets). I have a test again tomorrow, and I hope to be able to get above 60. Monday appears to be the toughest day of the entire workout by a large margin.

[sabotai]

Week 1, Day 3

Pushups: 10/8/8/6/13 - I was suprised I made the min, let alone get to 13 on that last set (not having work today may have been a part of it.)
Crunches: 10/8/8/6/15
Squats: 10/8/8/6/16

I've noticed that I don't get really sore after the workouts now. My muscles are tired, but not aching like they were.

[Fidatelo]

Well I finally managed to get around to rebooting.

Week 1, Day 1, 7/7/5/4/10

This was definitely the right column for me and I am much more excited now about my chances of sticking with this.

[saldana]

week 2, day 1

12/12/9/7/20

lots of cracking in my shoulder, but no actual pain.

[boberot]

Week 2, Day 3

15/15/12/12/x with a minimum of 15. I managed 16.

Tomorrow, I take the next exhaustion test. I have an ethical conundrum: I KNOW if I put my all into it, I could barely squeeze out 25 pushups in the test. However, that would barely put me into the hardcore column 3, and I'm actually considering sandbagging it a little to go into the middle column. Guess I have to decide . . . .

[samifan24]

Week 6 is ridiculous. That is all.

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Well I finally managed to get around to rebooting.

Week 1, Day 1, 7/7/5/4/10

This was definitely the right column for me and I am much more excited now about my chances of sticking with this.

I started this yesterday in the same column. I was pretty amped about just getting it going, and although I can tell my arms are sore, it still felt good and I am confident I can do this.

Week 1, Day 1 - 7/7/5/4/15

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by boberot

Week 2, Day 3

15/15/12/12/x with a minimum of 15. I managed 16.

Tomorrow, I take the next exhaustion test. I have an ethical conundrum: I KNOW if I put my all into it, I could barely squeeze out 25 pushups in the test. However, that would barely put me into the hardcore column 3, and I'm actually considering sandbagging it a little to go into the middle column. Guess I have to decide . . . .

Rather than sandbagging it, why not just pump out 25+ yet still go into column 2? That way you get a little stronger but still don't get stuck into a column that will discourage you. No one is grading you and forcing you into column 3 based on your results

[Cheesehead Craig]

Well, I started this 2 weeks ago but neglected to post it here.

The week 2 day 3 results were
15/15/12/12/x with a minimum of 15 and I did 27.

I'll do the week 3 test tonight as I'm a day behind, but I'm sure I'll be in the 3rd tier of pushups. This thing really kicks up in week 3.

[PilotMan]

A few days late but I managed to get through my next workout.

I am in week 1, day 3, 2nd tier.

10/8/8/5/13

I wasn't sure I could do the first 10, but after I got warmed up and changed my position a little, I did better. I was surprised to be able to power out 13 on my last set after all that.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by saldana

week 2, day 1

12/12/9/7/20

lots of cracking in my shoulder, but no actual pain.

i am actually a little bit sore today....lats and deltoids...first time that one of the daily workouts actually caused me to be sore the next day.

[Fidatelo]

I don't even know where my lats and deltoids are, so they may or may not be sore after doing these workouts. In my terminology, sometimes I feel a bit of soreness in my upper body and arm areas.

[vex]

Have my first exhaustion test tomorrow as well. Did 33 on the initial test. Would be thrilled with 45-50. Anything less than 40 would seem pretty disappointing really.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by saldana

i am actually a little bit sore today....upper back/sides and shoulders...first time that one of the daily workouts actually caused me to be sore the next day.

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I don't even know where my lats and deltoids are, so they may or may not be sore after doing these workouts. In my terminology, sometimes I feel a bit of soreness in my upper body and arm areas.

fixed, just for you

[boberot]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Rather than sandbagging it, why not just pump out 25+ yet still go into column 2? That way you get a little stronger but still don't get stuck into a column that will discourage you. No one is grading you and forcing you into column 3 based on your results

Great advice and, upon a closer look, column 2 asks for a minimum of 83 right out of the gate on day 1.



Column 3 asks for a pants-wetting 99. I'll give the exhaustion test my all and go for column 2 regardless of the results.

[Sublime 2]

Thought I'd join in.

Week 1, Day 1:

7/7/5/4/11

The middle column seems like my best bet to stick with this. That right column looks like a bitch.

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by Sublime 2

Thought I'd join in.

Week 1, Day 1:

7/7/5/4/11

The middle column seems like my best bet to stick with this. That right column looks like a bitch.

+1

[PilotMan]

Alright, I have moved to week 2, and manged to get my workout in today.

Week 2, Day 1, Tier 2

9/8/6/4/11 (min 7) Total 38

I still feel good about knocking out that many on the last set. I am really focusing on my form to make sure that all of these are solid pushups. Still, not as many as I did a couple of days ago, but I was still pretty sore today.

The next workout is a min of 44 pushups, and that will be a challenge especially if I am still sore. I can almost guarantee you that if I can succeed the final at the end of the week that I will be in the lowest tier of week 3 and have to work my way up to the third tier over a couple of weeks. If I can't manage at least the 16 pushups, I will redo the third tier of week 2.

[sabotai]

Week 2, Day 1

Pushups: 9/8/6/4/17
Crunches: 9/8/6/4/20
Squats: 9/8/6/4/10

Was walking around all day at work, so I didn't do too many squats on the last set.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Crap. Failed to complete Week 3 day 1.
I tested out at 33 pushups after week 2, but the jump to week 3 third tier is simply too much. I'm going to tone it down to tier 2 and see how that goes in 2 days.
It was 25/17/17/15/x, but I could only make it to 14 on the third set before my arms just gave out. I waited a minute and did 7 more for the 4th set and decided to call it a night.
I believe I will be repeating this week next week.

[vex]

Originally Posted by vex

Have my first exhaustion test tomorrow as well. Did 33 on the initial test. Would be thrilled with 45-50. Anything less than 40 would seem pretty disappointing really.

Well, I did 39. So a little better than the initial test but not by much. I figure once the workload starts to get larger though that my exhuastion tests will be much better.

The first 10-15 were possibly the smoothest first pushups I've ever had. At 20-25 though, I knew I was in trouble.

[PLD3009]

Originally Posted by saldana

i am actually a little bit sore today....lats and deltoids...first time that one of the daily workouts actually caused me to be sore the next day.

first time I have felt it after my workout

16/13/11/11/18

[Sublime 2]

Week 1 Day 2:

9/8/6/5/12

I was a little tight from the first day, but felt good after completing tonight's.

[PackerFanatic]

Almost identical to Sublimes for my Week 1, Day 2. Still feeling it from Day 1, but I powered through and am looking forward to finishing out the first week tomorrow.

9/8/6/5/14

[saldana]

week 2, day 2

16/13/11/11/25

[PilotMan]

Week 2, Day 2, Tier 2

11/9/7/7/16 Total 50

My third set was a little weak, but I finished the fourth set very strong and was fired up for my last set. One more to go before the next test. Looking at that third week scares me a little, as it is a big step up.

Arms/shoulders aren't too sore, just tired, but I can feel the results now.

[Maple Leafs]

W1 D3:
15/13/10/10/25

With five days in between. At this rate, I'm going to be the only one posting in this thread in four months.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

W1 D3:
15/13/10/10/25

With five days in between. At this rate, I'm going to be the only one posting in this thread in four months.

i will still be here...it says right on the program that it is ok to add extra rest days if you feel you need them, so i took 3 as my last interval until the soreness went away. after yesterday, i wasnt sore at all, so i will try to do W2D3...it all depends on pain.

i also did 100 reps in the ab-lounger yesterday.

[PackerFanatic]

Week 1, Day 3: 10/8/8/5/21

Felt good going in, a little rough to start, but powered through with my best max and a good finish to the first week. I feel good.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by saldana

i will still be here...it says right on the program that it is ok to add extra rest days if you feel you need them, so i took 3 as my last interval until the soreness went away. after yesterday, i wasnt sore at all, so i will try to do W2D3...it all depends on pain.

Does it say anything about adding extra days because you have the short-term memory of a tree squirrel?

[Schmidty]

People are still trying???

Apparently, even though I am 161, I am a God.

[Schmidty]

And I am a scrawny fuck. Ask my wife. Maybe that's why it hasn't been hard.

I was at the doc today, and I was a bit surprised that I was at 161, when only 5 weeks ago I was 169. I haven't done anything different. Maybe this thread has made me lose even more, ALTHOUGH, I thought muscle was heavier than fat.

I should post my drivers license from '06 when I was 210. With a goatee. Good Lord.

[vex]

Ok, the increased workload from week 2 to week 3 is almost criminal. Had to take a five minute break before I did the last set because I was about to die after the 3rd set as it was.

[Sublime 2]

Week 1 Day 3

10/8/8/5/19

Really thought I'd get to 20, but I just fizzled at the end. No lingering soreness from Day 2 really helped me have a good showing, for me.

[boberot]

Originally Posted by vex

Ok, the increased workload from week 2 to week 3 is almost criminal. Had to take a five minute break before I did the last set because I was about to die after the 3rd set as it was.

No lie.
I'm doing "track 2" now in week 3. It took me two tries to get through W3, D1 and I just failed this morning on W3, D2.

It asked for 22/17/17/15/20, and I only managed 12 in the fifth set.
Still, it was 83 pushups -- and I'm happy with the progress I'm making.

[Sublime 2]

Forgot to update yesterday:
9/8/6/4/10

I would have liked to push out 15 on the last level, but just died at 9-10.

[PackerFanatic]

I also forgot to update after Sunday.

Week 2, Day 1: 9/8/6/4/16

I am starting to not feel nearly as sore, but I know it is still going to take all my energy to finish this (especially from what people say about the increase in Week 3, heh)

[boberot]

W3, D2 -- a second attempt

22/17/17/15/20, and I managed 25in the fifth set.

In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't do extremely "deep" push-ups fearing I would fail again. I'll have to push myself a little harder next time.

[PackerFanatic]

Week 2, Day 2: 11/9/7/7/13

I have a feeling week 3 is going to kick my ass.

[vex]

I thought it looked different. Sure enough, the site has altered the workouts.

[Sublime 2]

From yesterday

Week 2 day 2:

11/9/7/7/14

[boberot]

Originally Posted by vex

I thought it looked different. Sure enough, the site has altered the workouts.

So it has!
At first glance, it seems pretty scaled back. I couldn't find an explanation for why it was changed, but there seem to be other changes like the addition of a "push up logger" to track your progress online.

[PackerFanatic]

Yeah I saw the changes too...that is neat that they have a logger, I might have to check that out.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by saldana

i will still be here...it says right on the program that it is ok to add extra rest days if you feel you need them, so i took 3 as my last interval until the soreness went away. after yesterday, i wasnt sore at all, so i will try to do W2D3...it all depends on pain.

i also did 100 reps in the ab-lounger yesterday.

wow..i couldnt kick my upper respiratory infection for a while, so it has been 11 days since my w2d2...i thought i would have to at least repeat that one if not go back to d1, but i was able to push out w2d3 with pretty much no problem!

i am back on track

20/17/14/14/20

[Brian Swartz]

I've been doing this for a while -- on my fifth week -- started it over at TSW. A couple points relevant to what people have stated in the thread:

I find it better to not judge success or failure by 'I beat the program goals for today', but by personal growth/improvement. A great life philosophy really, but relevant to this program. Each week I've compared what I did to the previous week, and it's improving, so that's an encouraging thing to hold onto. One thing it does for me is that I don't worry about whether or not I hit the goal for each set so much. What I concern myself with is giving maximum effort, and the overall direction of whether I'm getting better or worse.

The other thing is that if my horrifically out of shape lard butt can stick with this, than just about anyone can. How out of shape? I'm glad you asked. You didn't ask? Well too bad, I'm going to tell you anyway.

Literally just prior to learning about this(as in, the previous day), I had completed research on a new diet/workout regimen as what I was doing wasn't working(I think because it wasn't ambitious enough). I'm 6 foot, 4.5 in. and my high weight was 333 lbs. almost a year ago -- I was up to 329.3 again and going in the wrong direction. I started a new high-protein, relatively low-fat diet(I discovered I've been criminally under-eating protein for YEARS), and committed to about 1.5 hours of exercise a day(including travel time to the gym, etc.). Combination of strength training and cardio.

Anyway, the next day I found out about this program and did the initial test. I managed ONE. Yep, that's right, one whole pushup. So I tested using the alternate pushups method(knee pushups). Got six. Ok, that's more manageable to work on. Started on column 2, week one. The following is how it's gone so far:

**Numbers in parentheses are what I actually achieved, first number is the program goals**

FIRST WEEK(Column 2, Week One, Alternate Method)

Day 1: 7(7), 7(4), 5(3), 4(3), Max-5(3) -- 20 total
Day 2: 9(7), 8(5), 6(4), 5(3), Max-7(3) -- 22 total
Day 3: 10(10), 8(7), 8(5), 5(5), Max-10(4) -- 31 total
Re-test: 2(+1)

SECOND WEEK(Column 2, Week One, Alternate Method)

Day 1: 7(7), 7(7), 5(5), 4(3), Max-5(2) -- 24 total(+4)
Day 2: 9(9), 8(5), 6(4), 5(4), Max-7(4) -- 26 total(+4)
Day 3: 10(9), 8(6), 8(5), 5(6), Max-10(5) -- 31 total(no change)
Re-test: 2(no change)

THIRD WEEK(Column 2, Week One, Alternate Method)

Day 1: 7(7), 7(7), 5(5), 4(4), Max-5(6) -- 29 total(+5)
Day 2: 9(9), 8(6), 6(5), 5(4), Max-7(4) -- 28 total(+2)
Day 3: 10(10), 8(8), 8(6), 5(5), Max-10(6) -- 35 total(+4)
Re-test: 2(no change)

FOURTH WEEK(Column 2, Week One, Alternate Method)

Day 1: 7(7), 7(7), 5(5), 4(4), Max-5(7) -- 30 total(+1)
Day 2: 6(6), 8(8), 6(6), 6(6), Max-7(10) -- 36 total(+8)
Day 3: 8(8), 10(10), 7(7), 7(7), Max-10(9) -- 41 total(+6)
Re-test: 3(+1)

FIFTH WEEK(Column 3, Week One, Alternate Mehtod)

Day 1: 10(10), 12(12), 7(7), 7(4), Max-9(4) -- 37 total(+7)

And that's where we stand as of now.

A couple things that I think are helpful from this. One, while there are some disappointing days(Day 3 of Week Two isn't real impressive, for example), the overall picture is very good progress. And secondly, if you think you are a wimp -- look at me! . If I can stick with this, then almost anybody can. My goal at the moment is to get to 4 standard pushups, at which point I'll switch over to doing the program with those on column 1. So everything I've done to this point has literally been with the aim of getting me in shape to even attempt to hundred pushups program -- and I'm not there yet, but I think I'll hit it this week or next.

Hopefully this will be of some encouragement to anybody who has found the program difficult or gets discouraged. Along with the strength gains, I'm down almost 10 lbs. to 319.4, so I've got about 3% less weight to move around then I did initially. My best advice is to stay focused on the big picture, and to be strict with yourself -- demand maximum effort and follow the rest times between sets religiously. Then you can get a clear picture of whether you are headed in the right direction -- and once you see that progress, it gives you encouragement. Personally I am now looking forward to the workout time of day now, because I can see that it's moving me in the right direction.

[boberot]

Way to go, Bryan. I also think this is going to take me a LONG time to successfully "complete," but I refuse to quit.

I just finished week 3, and got a 32 on the exhaustion test. [I guess that's pretty good. My initial fitness test # way back on day 1 was 20.]

That puts me in column 3 for Week 4, and once again I am scared and strongly considering going through column 2 instead.

[lordscarlet]

My Max keeps going down. I have been able to handle the requirements, but I'm on Level 2 and I have done:
6/6/4/4/9
6/8/6/6/7
8/10/7/7/5

[Travis]

Really happy to see so many of you sticking with this. Thought it was a great idea when I first saw the thread/program posted, but that was a few days after I broke my leg. Given what I'm reading so far though I'm planning on giving this a try once I'm physically able to which'll hopefully be soon. Keep it up gents.

[Fidatelo]

Sadly, I fell off track on this. Since September rolled around I've been really busy, both at work and around the house, I've upped my running to 4-5 days a week, hockey has started, and now I'm sick. The combination has had me either completely forgetting about the pushups or feeling too tired to bother. I hope to restart this sometime soon when I'm feeling better, as we've almost got the house projects under control again.