Ugh, this is annoying. Can't do anything today, pain in left wrist, so can't do weights, and just tried to see if pushups are possible, can't even get into position to start without it hurting quite a bit

Don't want to do undue damage so no point pushing it, will see how it is tomorrow.

Wrist felt better today, so did another session of pushups; I'm short of time today and it takes me forever to set up to do weights and disassemble it all again. This was the plan, a repeat attempt of the level I narrowly failed to beat last time

Week 2 Day 2 (second attempt)

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			10			11
Set 2			12			12
Set 3			9			9
Set 4			9			9
Set 5			Max(13+)			14
Total			53+			55

Total pushups 225+55=280

Felt so good at the start that I got a bit carried away with the first set and did an extra rep before realising I was done. Felt fine all the way through until the last couple of reps on that last set, and just managed to break through the minimum barrier and crunch out one extra before pulling out. Think I might have had one more left in the tank, on reflection perhaps I was fractionally too quick to bail out without giving it one last push. I'll be more careful to make sure I'm done in future, but definitely happy to clear the level.

Maybe the extra day of rest helped me today, but whatever, I'll take it and move on to the next level. There's a slightly bigger jump here for the last day of the week, seven extra target reps overall, and five more than I managed today, so no doubt it's gonna be tough.

			Target
Set 1			12
Set 2			13
Set 3			10
Set 4			10
Set 5			Max(15+)
Total			60+

Whether or not I achieve this level next time, I think I'll do an exhaustion test the session after that and see where I am, and only come back to repeat the last day of week 2 (if necessary) after the exhaustion test.

I've been in the middle column all the way through, and (only) need 21 in the exhaustion test to stay there, which seems very doable indeed. In fact it doesn't seem that implausible to me that I would get 26+, which would in theory put me in the highest column for week 3, but the leap in volume seems huge, and I feel like it would take forever to even clear the first day of week three. I'll wait and see how I feel about the results from the exhaustion test, and decide where to go when the time comes, but first of all I need to make sure I can finish off week 2.



100 in another four weeks seems even more unrealistic now than it did at the start, but I'll keep at it anyway. Even if it takes much longer, I'm determined to get there and then use the basic fitness improvement it will give me as a platform for longer routines and new exercises.

Had a couple more days off on Sunday and Monday, some vicious insect bite left my right calf almost the same size as my thigh, so I wanted to rest it, but felt good enough to resume today.

Started off attempting to do front squats as suggested earlier ITT, but really just wasn't getting it. I think I simply don't have enough shoulder to rest the bar on. Either it was too close to my throat and was choking me, or it was too forward and rolling off down my arm; there didn't seem to be any middle ground. This was with only 40lb on the bar too, which should easily be light enough for me to manage without any difficulty. Will come back to them again, maybe see if I can find some more advice somewhere on how to improve my technique before upping the weight to something challenging.

So anyway, after that I decided instead to have another go at the pushups instead, and here's the results

Week 2 Day 3

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			12			12
Set 2			13			13
Set 3			10			10
Set 4			10			10
Set 5			Max(15+)			9 (FAIL)
Total			60+			54

Total pushups 280+54=334


Obviously I'd already moved some weights about attempting those squats, so my arms weren't completely fresh going into this, unlike last time. I was already feeling the burn by the last couple of reps in the second set, and by about halfway through the fourth set I realised I wasn't going to pass the day, but I didn't want to just give up, I wanted to press on and see what I could manage in the last set.

This is the first day of the whole challenge that the total was less than my previous attempt, though I was only one short, and not on fresh arms. Also comfortably my worst final set so far, even worse than at the beginning. But whatever the reason for it all, I was a massive amount short of passing the level, and I can't move on to the next level until I complete this one. When I posted last time I hadn't seriously entertained the possibility of failing again so soon, so now I'm torn on whether to do the exhaustion test next time, or repeat this level. I'll probably try to pass this one first, so once again this is the goal

			Target
Set 1			12
Set 2			13
Set 3			10
Set 4			10
Set 5			Max(15+)
Total			60+

I also found myself running earlier in the day, had to sprint about half a mile, but no idea how long it took, just guessing at around 4 minutes. I'm claiming it as worth putting in the log, but I really do need to start working more seriously on that aspect of this all round fitness log too.

Another stupid day yesterday, was an absolute idiot and managed to forget my keys when I went out shopping, locking myself out with my daughter for several hours until wife came home from work in the evening to let us back in. So, another exercise opportunity missed, hence no update.

Back on the pushups today after two days rest, repeating the level I failed last time. Here's how it went


Week 2 Day 3 (second attempt)

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			12			12
Set 2			13			13
Set 3			10			10
Set 4			10			10
Set 5			Max(15+)			13 (FAIL)
Total			60+			58

Total pushups 334+58=392


I had a feeling as early as halfway through the first set that my arms weren't going to make it today either, as I was already starting to feel the burn just five or six reps in. Honestly, I was surprised by the end that I managed to get as close as I did, I thought it was going to be worse than last time, maybe even failing on set 4, but I'm happy to have pushed on as far as I could. One small thing to note, instead of just 120 seconds rest between each set, I took an extra 30 seconds rest after sets 2 and 4, but still didn't get there.

At least I managed to beat my record for daily total, but still not quite beaten this level, so once again I'll be aiming at this

			Target
Set 1			12
Set 2			13
Set 3			10
Set 4			10
Set 5			Max(15+)
Total			60+

I started this 19 days ago, and I think I'm finally reaching about the level where my fitness really is, and in all honestly probably was only that short time ago. As I suspected right at the very beginning, getting to 100 consecutive pushups in six weeks is clearly impossible in such a short time if, like me, you're starting from nearly nothing. Even if I declare that this was really my starting fitness, and I reset the clock to zero, I'll be surprised if I'm at 100 by Christmas, about 12 weeks from now, never mind the six weeks to mid-November.

However, it is clearly doable if you put the work in over a longer period of time, which is what I'm here to do. I'll stick with the challenge numbers for a while, but I've looked ahead and there is a point where the jumps get quite large, and given how I've already hit a plateau here with quite small jumps, I don't think it's psychologically beneficial to spend forever trying over and over to go up one single level, so at some point I'll probably break the jumps down a little more and insert one or two extra levels in between. Also, at some point the program changes from 4 longer sets plus a best effort set to 7 or 8 shorter sets (plus best effort). That's a concept I might bring forward to increase my daily totals.

I now have no idea how long this is going to take, but in all honestly it really doesn't matter, because it's not like I'm going to stop doing the pushups when I can get to 100. This is going to be a lifestyle change, something to be maintained for good, not just a short fix. For a good while yet however, at least months and perhaps into the years, I am going to need to keep logging my activity to motivate myself. I don't want to be an exercise version of people who go on crash diets to lose weight, and are surprised when the weight goes back on again a few weeks after going back to burgers and Coke, when they should instead have made a fundamental change to the way they eat. I need to make exercise a habit again, something I do naturally rather than making it a special effort or occasion.


Also just had a final thought why I might have felt tired so early today, just realised I haven't really eaten anywhere near as much as usual over the last 36 hours, so that might be something to do with it.

Good luck to you. Many have tried in the forum, all have quit(that I've seen) before getting to the 100. Including me. I got to about 30 consecutive before my interest waned.

Don't worry about repeating levels. I'm not sure anyone could progress as rapidly as that chart calls out.

Especially since you have AMRAP(best effort) sets I wouldn't worry about resetting hurting you at all.

I started the 100 pushups thing early this year as very weak slightly overweight dude who could barely do pushups at all. I got to 16 consecutive before my interest waned. 100 sure seemed a long way off at the time. Good luck!

I think that's the one concern with this sorta program. 100 is way away for most people. Need to set shorter term goals. 25. 35. 50. 60. Etc.

A key component of this is to get myself into the habit of exercising regularly, and in a number of different routines to give me good all-round fitness, rather than just getting good at one exercise and still being rubbish at everything else. At the moment I'm not really succeeding on that front, because another two days laden with weak excuses have slipped by before I had another go at the pushups today, with no other routine in between. However, I think and hope that if I do at least get better at pushups then it will help lay a foundation of core strength to move on to those other things to develop the rest of my body.

So, after two full rest days from formal exercise, and repeating the level I failed twice in a row, here's how it went

Week 2 Day 3 (third attempt)

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			12			12
Set 2			13			13
Set 3			10			10
Set 4			10			10
Set 5			Max(15+)			17
Total			60+			62

Total pushups 392+62=454


Success Happy to tick this one off, and although it's "only" four extra reps, that's still an improvement of almost 7%, which sounds good to me.

Felt comfortable most of the way through really, only the slightest fatigue was starting to creep in near the end of the fourth set, and by then I was confident that I was going to go the distance, actually disappointed that I couldn't squeeze out a few more in the last set. Best of all though, I didn't even need to take sneaky longer breaks this time

So, week 2 is cleared, meaning I've made it to the first exhaustion test — as many reps as I can in one set, without stopping. If I make it to 26 or more reps then in theory I should go to column 3. But unless I absolutely smash 26 by miles then I don't see it being realistic for me to keep moving through levels in column 3, which I am concerned could become demotivating. So it's likely I'll stick to column 2 and just treat the test as a progress report. I know the six weeks is already hopelessly ambitious, and this is part of a permanent lifestyle change, not just a five minute wonder.


So, next time is simple, keep doing pushups until I can't do any more pushups.

Yeah, I've had a good look through a few more threads now and the general theme running through them definitely seems to be that it's so unrealistic to get to 100 in 6 weeks that people get distracted or demotivated or whatever. I'm going to try and avoid that negative mindset by using the underlying point of the challenge (slowly but regularly increasing reps) as the basis for my own similar version to help me achieve what I want. I'll just adjust it to more realistic timescales and, when I think it's necessary, I'll adjust the targets as well.

Now that I know that apparently nobody in H&F has achieved this, it makes it all the more tempting to try and be first to complete it, or something that is at least very, very similar. I'm going to see if I can find a cheap video to record my progress, and I still haven't forgotten the "before" pics either


Thanks for this very convenient abbreviation

I know the AMRAP sets help, but I still think that continually succeeding at new targets with smaller increments will be better than repeatedly failing to make it over one large increment, even if the overall reps performed is the same, which is why I've done the following.....

Exactly, the jumps at the end are insane. I really wondered exactly how fast this progressed, and rather than just go on about feelings I decided to actually enumerate it. So, I spent a few minutes to create this table and see just how extreme the jumps get (hope the table makes sense)

Week/Day

Column

1

Column

2

Column

3

Fixed sets

AMRAP

Total

Fixed sets

AMRAP

Total

Fixed sets

AMRAP

Total

1/1

9

3+

12+

20

5+

25+

36

9+

45+

1/2

12

4+

16+

26

7+

33+

38

12+

50+

1/3

17

5+

22+

32

10+

42+

44

13+

57+

-----

-----

---

---

-----

---

---

-----

---

---

2/1

18

6+

24+

36

11+

47+

48

15+

63+

2/2

19

7+

26+

40

13+

53+

54

17+

71+

2/3

22

8+

30+

45

15+

60+

61

20+

81+

AMRAP

16-20

21-25

>25

3/1

36

9+

45+

55

17+

72+

60

20+

80+

3/2

38

12+

50+

61

19+

80+

75

25+

100+

3/3

42

13+

55+

67

21+

88+

92

28+

120+

-----

-----

---

---

-----

---

---

-----

---

---

4/1

47

16+

63+

72

25+

97+

88

32+

120+

4/2

54

18+

72+

85

28+

113+

104

36+

140+

4/3

60

20+

80+

97

33+

130+

120

40+

160+

AMRAP

31-35

36-40

>40

5/1

66

20+

86+

110

35+

145+

130

40+

170+

5/2

75*

25+

100+

120*

40+

160+

140*

45+

185+

5/3

90*

30+

120+

130*

45+

175+

150*

50+

200+

AMRAP

46-50

51-60

>60

6/1

90

40+

130+

140

50+

190+

165

55+

220+

6/2

106*

44+

150+

162*

53+

215+

188*

58+

246+

6/3

120*

50+

170+

190*

55+

245+

214*

60+

274+

*7 or 8 shorter sets instead of 4 longer sets



I haven't actually worked out the exact percentage increases for each day, but roughly speaking, it seems that most of the time you're supposed to somehow beat your previous target by 10% or more, and sometimes 20%. That's insane. OK, it's achievable right at the very beginning, but that's always where the easiest wins are in any challenge. But once you get any distance in, that level of progression is utterly unsustainable.

Let's assume that the numbers at the end of week 6 (bottom row of table) are actually the sort of ballpark numbers I need to then be able to perform 100 consecutive pushups. Let's also assume I'm continuing to follow column 2, and starting at my current level of 62 reps total. Finally, let's assume I can continually improve by 3% each session, still quite challenging in the long term IMO. From where I am now I'd be looking at around 50 sessions to get there. At three sessions per week that's almost 17 weeks or 4 months. Chuck in at least a few fails, where we don't improve on our last session, and a few days illness/injury/crisis/laziness, and we are talking about 5+ months to get there.

I'm still prepared to push myself to do this regularly, because after all, this is about my new lifestyle, and I think that getting to the point where I can do 100 would be a very satisfying achievement, but I think I now have a more realistic timescale for achieving this. That doesn't mean I'm settling for early March already, of course I will try to be as aggressive as possible, but now I can settle in for the long run and still keep a more positive mindset. I will start throwing a bit of mathematical analysis at this as well, to track exactly what my improvements are and keep the adjustments both challenging and realistic.

Exhaustion test done, managed 24 complete reps.

Thought I could make number 25 but just couldn't quite push it out.

Total pushups 454+24=478

As I suspected, this keeps me in column 2; had I waited another day I might have been fresher still and managed to get to 26, but whatever, it's only a guide to my progression and I doubt I'd clear any levels of column 3 for quite a while.

Interestingly, if I were to just do 1 set to exhaustion each session, starting from a baseline of 24 now, and if I improved by 3% each time, then it would take me about 50 sessions to get to 100, which is the same as I calculated in my previous post, sticking to column 2 all the way with 3% improvement on daily totals of shorter sets.

Does that mean their plan really does correlate to doing 100 consecutive if you can do the shorter sets? I don't know yet, and anyway, it all hinges on whether I can continuously improve by 3%, so I guess we'll find out in about six months time. I'll stick to their plan for a bit longer before deciding when I want to start to modify the numbers, so here's the next target

			Target
Set 1			12
Set 2			17
Set 3			13
Set 4			13
Set 5			Max(17+)
Total			72+

So, aiming for a 16% improvement on the previous outing, which seems ambitious, but let's see what I can do.

Barely been able to do a thing for the last two days. I hadn't bowled in just over 3½ years, but agreed to play as a sub in my wife's doubles team as her regular partner is away. I woke up in the morning and every little muscle in my back and right shoulder has been protesting about my efforts ever since. Happy to make 555 though, after such a long time out, and it would have been about 630-640 if I hadn't totally lost my ability to convert spares.

Anyway, I digress; I finally forced my creaking body into some activity this afternoon. I've also invested in a 12kg (25lb) kettlebell, starting light as I've got to work up to anything heavier. Went through a ten minute routine I sketched out based on a couple of youtube vids for beginners. Probably doing it wrong, because while I definitely felt it in my arms, I didn't feel much like I was engaging my core at all. I suspect I might have used my core muscles more if the weight was heavier, but then my arms would have struggled to keep control of it.

But as long as I'm doing something, that's good, just need to add more variety as I build my strength and make sure I do it regularly.

If you post a form check vid I'm sure someone here can give you feedback for the kettlebell movements.

Yeah, trying to work out a way of doing that, my POS phone isn't up to the task, might have to buy a cheap camcorder

Also want to see if I can do a check on my weights as well, and just generally start to document this whole thing on video.


Back on it after a busy weekend. Pushups today

Week 3 Day 1

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			12			12
Set 2			17			17
Set 3			13			13
Set 4			13			7 (FAIL)
Set 5			Max(17+)			9 (FAIL)
Total			72+			58

Total pushups 478+58=536


First two sets felt fine, but the long second set obviously had an effect on the rest of it, and towards the end of the third set it was starting to feel tough. Fourth set was a disaster, but I attempted a fifth set anyway just to round out the session.

Felt like a big fail immediately after I'd finished, perhaps because I'd already blown it before the AMRAP set, the first time I've had to accept that this log. But looking back on it, the increase in the target was huge, so it's not quite as bad as I thought, "only" four short of my daily PB. I know it sounds a bit negative before even trying, but honestly I doubt I'll succeed next time either, although obviously I have to persevere. If I'm close then I'll just keep going on this

			Target
Set 1			12
Set 2			17
Set 3			13
Set 4			13
Set 5			Max(17+)
Total			72+

I've decided that if I'm still nowhere near after five attempts then I will think about modifying the numbers slightly.

Squats day today. I'd already got bored with virtually pointless 50lb squats so I was determined to get at least 60lb on the bar and get it over my head and onto my back. It may not be classical, but I reckon I've worked out a safe way to get it up there, and even more important, I've worked out a way to get it off again.

The previous sets weren't challenging me at all, so even though I've put the weight up 20%, I also made the sets bigger, because it's still nowhere near what I could squat if I didn't have to lift it up there in the first place. So I at 60lb I managed three sets of 15 reps each. My legs are still completely fine, I've a feeling it's going to be some of the (trapezius?) muscles in my shoulders that will be protesting about it tomorrow morning.

I hope to go for a run tomorrow.

If you get +5 on your next session I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to call it a failure

True, very true, but I'm recording this in some detail, so I'm getting a good overall picture as well as the session by session snapshot. I'm only calling it a failure relative to the arbitrary target, not to necessarily to my long term progress.

But I reckon there will be plenty of people trying this elsewhere, who aren't documenting their efforts so closely, who just reach a level they find themselves continually failing (because the jump is absurdly large) and who give up because of it. That's why I think that at some point it makes sense to modify the targets to be realistic, and so maintain a sense of regular success and achievement.




I nurtured a faint hope of an early morning run, but that didn't happen and clearly I'm not going to get the opportunity to go for a run later, so I've done more pushups instead, to make sure I do at least manage something

Week 3 Day 1 (second attempt)

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			12			12
Set 2			17			17
Set 3			13			13
Set 4			13			8 (FAIL)
Set 5			Max(17+)			10 (FAIL)
Total			72+			60

Total pushups 536+60=596


That second set of 17 is still killing me for everything else afterwards, and with only marginal progress over the last few sets, I've definitely now reached the true level of where my fitness is at, and it's probably going to take a while to get through this level. Also need to remember though, day 1 of each week only permits 60 seconds rest between sets, whereas the day 3 where I set my PB has 120 seconds rest between sets, and that clearly makes a big difference.

The third set was very hard work even though I completed it, and the count for the 4th and 5th set probably includes one or two dodgy reps.

Target stays the same again, but I feel that if I'm properly rested then I can do this within five attempts now. If I don't do it by then I will see if I can go longer with shorter sets, or maybe do it with 120 second breaks.

			Target
Set 1			12
Set 2			17
Set 3			13
Set 4			13
Set 5			Max(17+)
Total			72+

I did manage my morning run today. I think my endurance is still going to be decent enough for the time being, because I managed to run a 5k a few weeks ago without any real tiredness issues, so I want to start by increasing my speed. To which end I'm going to do a series of 1 mile runs, aiming to get my base speed up to something respectable before putting the distance back on.

I am borrowing my wife's GPS watch, so I know exactly what distance is done. Today's mile was run in 7:04, with some slight inclines rather than being completely flat, and I was pretty much gasping at the end of it. I don't know how this compares to others my age, but I think it sounds a bit rubbish, so my target for my next run is simply to get under 7:00 for a mile. It's a bit of a cheat, but I will probably be able to do this by making sure I stick to the flat all the way.

Eventually I'd like to at least be able to run a mile in under six minutes again, and preferably quite a bit below that, as fast as I can, but that's way off at the moment. Right now I have no idea what rate of improvement I can expect, so I won't bother setting too precise a time goal for this yet, but sometime next spring would be nice. Of course I won't just be running single miles all winter, just for a few weeks to get my base speed up, then intersperse them with longer runs.

I've given it further thought, and in addition to my 20 minute 5k goal I mentioned earlier ITT, I want to work over the next few years to achieve the following....

10k in 42 minutes
half marathon in 1 hr 40
marathon in 3½ hours

Feel absolutely recovered after yesterday's run, pushups again today


Week 3 Day 1 (third attempt)

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			12			12
Set 2			17			17
Set 3			13			13
Set 4			13			11 (FAIL)
Set 5			Max(17+)			10 (FAIL)
Total			72+			63

Total pushups 596+63=659

Same story, fine first set, difficult long second, struggling through third and burning out during fourth (11th rep was very dodgy) but at least I am getting closer to the target, and I managed an overall total daily PB by one rep. 60 second rests make this much tougher than the old PB too, and by the time I've moved to the 120 second rests on Day 3 of this "week" I should be in good shape to clear that by some margin.

I think my recovery time is coming down too; it's only a few minutes since I did the sets, and my arms already have lost most of the leaden feeling. Target stays the same once again

			Target
Set 1			12
Set 2			17
Set 3			13
Set 4			13
Set 5			Max(17+)
Total			72+

It's only just over a month since I started this, and the total pushups so far is 659. By the time I've done five more sessions I'll be somewhere around the 1,000 mark; maybe doesn't sound a lot to some, but to me considering where I'm starting from I'm reasonably happy to have managed that. It's probably a decent percentage of all the pushups I've ever done in my life, I certainly didn't do many even when I was fitter in my teens and twenties. There are about 75 days until the end of the year, and I can probably do about 30 sessions of pushups in there, so assuming that my daily totals continue to get a little bit bigger, lets see if I can get to 3,000 total by 31st December.

Just had an idea — we have a baby gate to keep her out of the kitchen, I can put my over-door chinup bar there and lift myself over the gate. Saves wasting time with the fiddly locking mechanism, while giving me a slight workout over the course of the day, even though I'm not yet up to doing proper pullups.

Did my little kettlebell routine again today. Can't really quantify it like the other stuff, other than to say I spent about ten minutes swinging it around in various ways, and it left my arms and shoulders mildly tired out.

I was idly reading the Wikipedia article on the pushup, and learned a little more about it. Apparently it's part of a range of exercises called calisthenics. This in turn lead me to find out about plyometric exercises. I'll be boning up on these a little more and adapting and expanding my routines to include at least some of the movements, as I think they will be beneficial to what I want to achieve with my fitness.

Maybe I'm just being a bit short-termist, maybe it's just variance, but I'm really starting to not be knackered the next day after doing my routines, even if they are still on the small side at the moment. Back to pushups again today, that's every other day this week, with other exercises on the non-pushup days, and I'm not feeling stiff. Here's today's effort

Week 3 Day 1 (fourth attempt)

			Target			Achieved
Set 1			12			12
Set 2			17			17
Set 3			13			13
Set 4			13			13
Set 5			Max(17+)			9 (FAIL)
Total			72+			64

Total pushups 659+64=723

The long second set today didn't seem to take quite so much out of me, and when I finished it I felt that I wouldn't fail set 4 today. I was almost too confident though, and as it happened I only just about managed the 13th rep, resulting in the last set being one worse than Friday's. Still, an extra one on the daily total PB, and I can erase one of those red FAIL marks Some progress seems to be happening, with numbers slowly edging up and tiredness and recovery times slowly edging down. I'll keep to the scheduled targets for at least another two or three attempts, because I really feel like I can soon start to add on more than one rep per day, especially when the longer breaks kick in on days 2 and 3 of the plan.

As well as keeping a running total of push ups, which is really just for fun, I've decided I should also count how many sessions this actually takes me to get to where I can do 100 in one go, which will be far more useful for people who want to do it themselves. The program claims 18 planned sessions plus five exhaustion test sessions for a total of 23. We already know that's complete crap, so let's find out how long it actually takes.

Yesterday was day 37 and session number 14.