Adam Sinicki, November 16, 2020. You’d be amazed at how many times I get asked the same question: What would happen if 100 push-ups per day?
There are many variations.
“Should 500 air squats be done per day?”
This question is a result of people liking simplicity. They’d rather not follow a complicated training program that requires eight sets of exercises and five pieces of equipment, but instead they would prefer to do grueling sets of the exact same movement.
100 push-ups per day seem like the easiest and simplest option.
This logic is what drives people to abandon diets for years only to suddenly decide to eliminate a whole food group. It’s simple and seems “can’t fail” at least on paper.
What happens if you do hundreds of push-ups per day?
There are no limits to performing 100 push ups per day
Let’s begin by highlighting the downsides to this type of training. It is not enough to train with only pushups. This type of training is not good for your legs. It doesn’t give you strength gains in the transverse plane (rotational), and it does not include pulling movements.
> Doing hundreds of push-ups can lead to bad form.
Pushing yourself hard is not going to win strength awards. It is a fact that you can’t cause significant muscle damage or neural stimulation by using only a small portion of your bodyweight. We will discuss the caveats in a moment.
Neglecting to do hundreds of push-ups can lead to poor form. You may be minimizing the benefits of push-ups and even causing harm if you have a sagging waist or retracted shoulders. You can also do harm if your range of motion is restricted or you bounce around.
But here’s the thing…
As I have said before, it is possible to build strength by taking a low-weight to failure without releasing tension. This is known as continuous time under tension. This is because you will fatigue all motor units that are smaller than you when you reach failure. (See Henneman’s Size Principle.
Your body will now have no choice but use the faster motor units and associated muscles fibers. Rep 85 of 100 pushups is a lot like lifting 85% of your bench press rep maximum. It’s not exactly the same but it is more similar.
Also see: Advanced bodyweight training can help you achieve your desired size and performance
Push ups, in turn, will increase blood vessels that supply the muscles with nutrients and blood. This is a huge benefit as you will have more energy, endurance, and better recovery once you are done. You’ll also increase the metabolic stress in this area, which could lead to hypertrophy.
Functional Training and Beyond
Functional Training and Beyondis a book that describes the power of functional training to improve your life. Learn about the history and culture of training, and why traditional training methods are not sufficient to deliver the full range health benefits.
This article by Christian Thibaudeua from T-Nation is a regular quote. Thibaudeau describes Tom Platz’s leg-press training to create massive legs and endurance. He was eventually able to do over 100 squats while weighing in at 225 lbs. That’s nuts!
Tom Platz did sets of over 100 reps of the leg press to create massive legs and incredible endurance.
As I have mentioned on this page, being able exert strength multiple times over a longer duration is far more valuable than being able only to demonstrate your maximum power.
Endurance
We often think about improving our endurance by focusing on the systemic approach for better cardio. This means a better stroke volume and stronger heart muscle. This means that red blood cells are increasing. It also means that the lungs are strengthened.
What endurance is also determined by the efficiency of each limb and muscle. How do these muscles’ fibers look? What is their access to nutrients and blood? How does the mitochondrial density look? What about the glycogen stored within muscle?
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High reps of 100 pushups or more will increase strength and endurance in the chest, arms and legs.
What 100 push ups does for your core
You may be surprised at the results of 100 push-ups on your core.
The push up is essentially an anti-extension move, just like the plank. Push ups require you to keep your core flat, just like a plank. You must also avoid sagging. This can lead to back pain if you do long sets of push-ups. You will also be able to perform more powerful and explosive moves.
It’s because all of this is why I believe I had a great start to my training career. My bedroom was my first gym. I did a lot of push-ups daily. While this wasn’t the most logical approach to full-body training, it did result in a rigid core, some decent strength gains, and impressive work capacity and recovery-capabilities for my upper body.
You can add karate, capoeira and eventually bodybuilding to that foundation, and you’ll have something quite functional. Perhaps because I started with push-ups, I was able succeed in these other areas.
My strength has always been my pecs. I think this is why! This is also why, at age 13, I was able lift almost 100kg when I first tried the bench press.
It’s also why SuperFunctional training and my eBook recommend high reps for pull ups and pushups.
My superhero origin story was doing 100 push-up sets per day.
What can you do with this information?
Do I recommend you do 5×100 push-ups each day? Both yes and no.
This is not the only method of training. It is not necessary to do this every day.
SuperFunctional Training Ebook and Full Programme
You can still incorporate super-high repetition bodyweight movements in your workouts. This can be balanced with bodyweight movements such as squats, Hindu squats, or pull-ups for the antagonist muscle groups. Pull ups are the most common type of pull up, but you can also do bodweight rows or inverted pushups. To do this, place your body underneath a bar and grip it, then lift your upper body up while keeping your heels on the ground. This move is easier than the push-up in difficulty, and you have to keep your waist from sagging.
These effects combine to flatten your stomach and make you more rigid in all other movements.
Also see: The Key to Bruce Lee’s Athleticism: Core Stability
How to do 100 push ups
Do you find it difficult to do 10 push-ups? Combine this with a simpler variation, such as push-ups on your knees. Do as many push-ups as possible in one session, then return to your knees for the final step.
You can only do 100 push-ups at a time, so take short breaks. You should keep the rest period short and stay in one spot until you complete the set.
When 100 is easy, aim to reach 150.
The question of whether you should try to reach 100 is up to you and your recovery. Listen to your body. It’s better to do it every other day, or at least three times per week. But eventually, this will no longer feel like a challenge. This is adaptation!
Adaptation
This site is all about adaptation. Training is often not enough to trigger the body’s ability to adapt to its environment.
This is why doing hundreds of push-ups can make a huge difference: it is a large enough number to be a stimulant for transformation. This is even more true if you spread out the training throughout the day. To rack up huge numbers, you could do 100 pushups every few hours.
It’s more than just training. It’s now part of your daily routine, part of your environment.
Also see: Should you spread your workouts throughout the day?
Or not. It doesn’t matter if you do 100 pushups, 100 bodyweight row, and 100 squats. This will make a huge difference in how you feel, look and perform.
Jax Blade refers to push-ups as “anime God Makers”!
