I have decided to do the one hundred push ups challenge, and use that as a motivating springboard to engage in sustained exercise habits to improve my overall health.

This challenge is mostly to focus and force myself into some kind of exercise, as I am lazy, severely out of shape, and haven't stuck to any kind of long term exercise discipline in 8-9 years. My level of exercise for the last few years has been barely above sedentary with the exception of some upper body stuff last summer/fall.

I think that when I accomplish this, success will motivate me to engage in a sustained routine exercise program and result in getting and staying in better overall shape either during or after the challenge. My primary goal at that point will be to maintain a healthy exercise routine to achieve and remain in healthy physical condition.

I'm not interested in bulking up or become super toned. My goals are focused on improvements for health benefits, not what I look like. If I end up toned, that would be sweet, but just a secondary benefit. Back in my teens and early 20s, I used to be able to knock out 20 pull ups without stopping and bench more than my body weight. Would be nice to get back to that eventually. I doubt I could do more than 4 pull ups right now, and the only thing I'm successfully benching is the covers so I can get out of bed.

My knowledge level of exercise and working out is effectively zero. I know proper form is important, and that's about it. I have a rudimentary level of knowledge related to diet, knowing some of the basics such as staying away from things that are empty calories, like sodas.


Strengths:
Little to no ego.
Willing to listen to and act on advice.
Don't really like sweets or most "bad" foods.
Love fruits, vegetables, chicken, and fish.
Mostly drink water, tea, lemonade, and limeade.
Rarely drink alcohol. 1 a week, tops.
Body usually responds well and quickly to sustained exercise.

Weaknesses:
Pathological love of french fries.
Lazy and unmotivated when it comes to exercise.
Know effectively nothing about proper exercise form.
Don't have access to a home gym.
Will not buy equipment unless tiny and portable.
My access to gyms and exercise equipment is unreliable at best.
Exercise bores me which is why I rarely do it. Likely my biggest leak.


Stats:
Age: Late 30s
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160-165ish lb
Body type: confirmed skinnyfat with little to no muscle tone

All time high weight was 182lb about a year ago when I was eating nothing but garbage. Improved diet and dropped 10lb, then increased physical activity over the summer and fall and dropped to current range. Have been sitting on my ass since late December. I don't care what my weight is, I care about having a healthier body with a lower percentage of body fat.





On to the push ups!


Initial test was 7 push ups. Yes, I'm ridiculously out of shape.

Today is day 1 of week 1.

Completed column 2, which was:

Set 1: 6
Set 2: 6
Set 3: 4
Set 4: 4
Set 5 (max): 9


Had no problem with these sets. Started to feel it in the third set. Muscle soreness afterward was primary the tops of my forearms just below the elbow, and just a little bit of soreness in biceps right above the elbow.




let us go go go!

Good luck, chopstick!

Looks like mostly bodyweight stuff for you, then?

No access to a semi-decent gm?

might as well add in some air squats (working towards pistols) and some planks while you're at it. Don Melchor has some good bodyweight exercise ideas in his log. Kettlebells are also a reasonable idea for the future.

aura,

Yes, mostly bodyweight. I have access to gyms, but not reliable access. I travel a lot and am sometimes on sailboats out in the ocean for weeks.


Aidan,

I have no clue what air squats, pistols, or planks are but I'll google them. Will look at Don Melchor's log. Kettlebells aren't an option for me, too large and heavy for my constant traveling. I am usually living out of an 80L backpack.



Thanks to both of you for the advice!

ah yes, i remember your sailing in the caribbean thread now. good luck!

Some inspiration for ya

Good luck chopstick

Thanks for the well wishes, folks.

Yesterday I felt soreness only in my arms shortly after finishing the pushups. Today I can now also feel some soreness in the pectorals and moreso in my sides, in what I have just learned are the serratus anterior muscles.




I originally thought the soreness was in the latissimus dorsi, and was concerned when I googled that and pushups as it looks like pushups shouldn't really affect those. Was wondering if I had screwed something up due to poor form. Looks like I have quite a bit to learn.

Also clueless as to which forearm muscles are the ones that were sore. From this:



Looks like anoconeus muscles but other diagrams make it look like supinator muscles. If you are thinking to yourself "he really has no clue, does he?", you would be completely correct.

Serratus delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) with pushups is completely standard. I would imagine a bit of soreness in various muscles rarely used previously will be a bit common for a few sessions, but it will only hang around a day or two.

Today is day 2 of week 1. Yesterday was supposed to be day 2, but I was still sore from DOMS and after googling and reading a bunch of conflicting advice on whether or not your should exercise with it, I decided to wait another day. Today I was much less sore, so I went for it. The advice that I arbitrarily decided to follow was "if the muscles are sore to the touch, rest another day". They were sore to the touch yesterday but not today.


Completed column 2, which was:

Set 1: 6
Set 2: 8
Set 3: 6
Set 4: 6
Set 5 (max): 11


No pain or soreness in the arms this time after finishing. No additional pain or soreness at all, actually. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I could have gone past 11 on the final set but figured there was no reason to push it too hard when I was already still sore from day 1.

Also threw in a 1 mile walk as a cool down afterward and had a steak for dinner because something something protein.

Today is day 3 of week 1. Some soreness in right bicep after finishing, but that's it so far.

Completed column 2, which was:

Set 1: 8
Set 2: 10
Set 3: 7
Set 4: 7
Set 5 (max): 13

Was supposed to rest 120 seconds between each set but my brain somehow translated that to 1:20, so it ended up being 80 seconds between each set. Not sure how much that matters. Realized it right before the final set and gave myself the full 120 seconds before that one.

13 for the final set was definitely my max, I struggled to do the 13th.

Today is day 1 of week 2.

Set 1: 9
Set 2: 11
Set 3: 8
Set 4: 8
Set 5 (max): 11 (barely did 11th)

I was really struggling halfway into that max set. I have no clue why. I'm wondering if my form is off. I'm going by the animated gif on the 100 pushups site. I don't tend to have my feet together, they are usually spaced 6+ inches apart.

Today is day 2 of week 2.

Set 1: 10
Set 2: 12
Set 3: 9
Set 4: 9
Set 5 (max): 13 (barely did 13th)

i am enjoying this thread. getting motivated to begin something myself...

I tried this challenge for a few months a few years ago. I went from 10 max (lol I know) to about 35 max before quitting. I pretty much had to do each week twice to make any gains. YMMV. I like all the pushup pictures. Good luck.

Good to hear you guys are enjoying the thread. My initial lolmax was even worse at 7, nice to have already almost doubled that. There's an exhaustion test at the end of week 2, so we'll see what my new max is in a few days. If I can hit 15 I'll be happy.

I have a feeling that I'll be repeating some weeks in the near future, it's getting tough. That may be because of improper form. Not quite sure how low I'm supposed to go, reading some sources that say touch your chest to the ground, others that say leave a small space or touch your chin. I've certainly not been going all the way to the ground, so if I start doing that I expect my numbers will go down somewhat. That's fine, it's not about numbers in the end.

Today is day 3 of week 2.

Set 1: 12
Set 2: 13
Set 3: 10
Set 4: 10
Set 5 (max): 16 (barely did 16th)

I am not going to give myself full credit for this one. My form was terrible in the final set, and saying that I did 16 pushups is not really accurate. I made it to the 10th before my form started to break down and by the 13th I definitely wasn't doing anything resembling a decent pushup.

My thought is that my form overall has been a little below par due to not lowering my chest all the way to the floor. I'd say I've been doing 75% of a pushup because of this. I raise all the way up with no problem, but I don't lower myself the entire way.

You are supposed to do another exhaustion test after week 2, which tells you which column to start in for week 3. I was thinking of starting over completely, but I think that the best thing to do at this point is try the exhaustion test with only good form pushups and see where I am at. I will need a minimum of 16 good form pushups in the exhaustion test to start week 3 in the lowest bracket. If I can't do 16, then I do week 2 over again.

My guess is that I will be able to do 11 or 12, maybe 13. No problem repeating week 2 if needed.

I'm still not 100% sure on what constitutes a good form pushup. Lots of conflicting opinions out there. Some say that the chest should touch the ground. Some say that the chin should touch. Some say you should have a fist sized space between chest and ground. Some say upper arms should be at least parallel to the ground. Some say put a tennis ball under your chest and stop when you touch it. Some say upper back lower than elbows.

Also reading a lot of conflicting advice on arm position. Some say your arms should be perpendicular to the rest of your body so you look like a T. Others say this is bad form and you should keep your elbows as close to your core as possible.

Guess I have a couple of days to figure it out.

While reading everything I could find by Mike Robertson, I found this article: http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/...ls-and-shrugs/

And also this link from Eric Cressey: http://www.ericcressey.com/strength-...vement-push-up

These guys are really really good at what they do, so I'd tend to take what they say over other sauces.

Thanks, Aidan. I appreciate the help.

Today was the exhaustion test at the end of week 2.

This is going to sound really stupid, but I think I did 20. The reason I say "I think" is because I'm not sure if I lost count or not. I had found this book reference for proper form. It's written by the guy behind the 100 pushups site, Steve Spiers. That link is to the FAQ, and discusses chest lowering distance (he says 1-2 inches from floor) and a few other things.




I realize it sounds silly, but I was so focused on maintaining proper form, breathing correctly, and lowering to the right distance, that I'm not 100% sure I counted correctly. I'd say I'm 85% sure.

I am considering doing the exhaustion test again in two days, but I'll probably just stick with this result. That would put me into column 1 for week 3. The first day for week 3 is: 10/12/7/7/9+, which I already passed at the end of week 2 with 12/13/10/10/15+. This is not that surprising considering my form was much better during this exhaustion test, so I was not able to do as many push ups.

Today was day 1 of week 3. I started in column 1 given my max pushups were 20 at the exhaustion test after week 2.

What a difference better form makes. This day really kicked my ass, even though the numbers are lower.

Set 1: 10
Set 2: 12
Set 3: 7
Set 4: 7
Set 5 (max): 10 (barely did 10th)


Before I started, I was wondering if I should just try column 2 instead. That's a 12/17/13/13/17+. There is no way I would have made that.

The first set was fine, though I noticed my arms were aching.

The second set took a lot of effort to make it to 12, arms really aching.

The third and fourth sets, which I had thought would be a piece of cake at only 7 each, actually took serious effort. How do only 7 pushups take serious effort!?!

The final set, I barely made it through the 10th.


I think the difference here was better form. I was going almost all the way to the ground with my chest on all of these. I also went much slower than I had been going before.

No aches anywhere except my arms, mostly in biceps this time, with a little in forearms just below elbows. I didn't fly anywhere but man are my arms tired.

Today is day 2 of week 3 in column 1. Today, I failed to reach a target number for the first time.

Set 1: 10
Set 2: 12
Set 3: 8
Set 4: 8
Set 5 (max): 11 (failed during #12 - target is 12+)


The 5th set is supposed to be a minimum of 12. I was about a third of the way up in #12 when muscle failure happened and I fell to the floor. Close, but no cigar.

All pushups were good form except for 1 in the middle of the 5th set. I immediately corrected form in the next one and failed using good form for the final one.

I'm OK with failing, as I look at the numbers as just targets and guidelines. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to hit 12 at the end after barely making 10 two days ago. This is what I get for starting off with such bad form, I think.

I'll still go ahead and try day 3 as written (11/13/9/9/13) in two days.

Today is day 3 of week 3 in column 1.

Set 1: 11
Set 2: 13
Set 3: 9
Set 4: 9
Set 5 (max, target 13+): 14

Some aching in triceps immediately after the first set, lasting into the 4th set. No issues after all sets completed, just some muscle exhaustion.

I'm going to allow myself to move on to week 4, despite failing set 5 of day 2 by one pushup. I figure if I made it through day 3, that's adequate. Guessing I'll be repeating week 4 though, as the numbers go up by like 45%, and that seems a tad unrealistic for one week. We'll see. I don't mind, I like the number 4.

Have been eating a small carb based meal a few hours before doing the sets, then a protein based (usually ~8oz chicken with fruit/veggies) meal afterward.

This is an interesting program. I'll probably take a proper look at the site for times when I have no access to the gym.

Fantastic work with the images!

Today is day 1 of week 4 in column 1.

Set 1: 12
Set 2: 14
Set 3: 11
Set 4: 10
Set 5 (max, target 16+): 11


I knew before I started that there was no way I was going to hit 16+ on the final set. Any glimmer of hope faded when I barely finished sets 3/4. You are supposed to rest 60 seconds between sets on day 1. I took over twice that before starting set 5, and still hit muscle failure at #11.

Form was OK overall, though had one or two toward the end of sets that got a little wobbly. I noticed some wrist and elbow pain after finishing set 1, so I brought my hands in directly under the shoulders and pointed them somewhat inward per this. My usual positioning is slightly wider than shoulders and pointed slightly outward. Changing the hand position helped a lot.

I'll continue through the week attempting days 2 & 3, but I'm definitely going to repeat this week.

Thanks, RedHot. Glad you like them. I figure they liven up an otherwise super boring log a little bit.

I love the idea because i can barely do 5 pushups now without collapsing..
i'm in!! GL us!!