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For some of you, it’s the end of week four of the Get Fit Slowly one hundred pushup challenge. You’ve come a long way! I would love to know how many are ready to move on to week five. If the number is small, I wont move the schedule forward next week.
For today, however, here’s your schedule:
And for those, like me, who are on week three:
(If you’re starting or repeating the first week, go here.)
Remember to rest at least 120 seconds between each set. It’s fine to rest longer if needed. Also note that those moving to week five should perform an “exhaustion test” sometime over the weekend. Set aside some time to do as many pushups as you can in one set. You’ll use your result to determine how many pushups you do next week.
As for myself, I’ll be repeating week three. I’m making definite progress, but I’m not ready to move on. Today I completed 20, 15, 11 (of 15), 12, and 11 (of 16). That’s a total of 69 pushups, a personal best!
Read about this project at One Hundred Pushups.
Mac
22 responses so far ↓
1 Steve // Jul 11, 2008 at 8:42 am
I had a successful repeat of Week 3 last week:
http://www.runbulldogrun.com/core/hundred-push-ups-week-3-day-3-repeat/
and am now looking forward to tackling Week 4!
Halfway there….
–Steve
2 Alex // Jul 11, 2008 at 9:27 am
Due to a minor shoulder injury, I skipped a week and started over, so I’ll be moving on to week 3 next week. I love the way this program has been working so far, though. I don’t really feel like I’m behind because my progress has felt really good so far.
3 abileneblues // Jul 11, 2008 at 9:39 am
I’m on week one, which I’ll probably do twice, as you did.
I have one question. I’m doing this with my daughter. She does her pushups fast, and does not go all the way to the ground, while I do mine slowly and brush the ground with my chest (no pause or supporting by the ground).
It may not matter in the long run, but am I doing them incorrectly? How do others do them?
4 Scott // Jul 11, 2008 at 10:26 am
Moving on to week five! This week felt better than last, so I’m making progress. Next week promises to be tougher, but I think I’m ready!
5 Leslie // Jul 11, 2008 at 11:25 am
Well, I was repeating week 3 this week and actually having a harder time the second time around than the first. I think it is mostly because I was doing a lot of home improvement stuff this week (like painting) and my arms just aren’t used to all this upper body activity. In fact, I have been unable to do the push ups at all today because I took a Strike class at the gym yesterday (think kick boxing with weighted gloves and a 6 lb. body bar) and I caused some significant muscle problems (every muscle in my back and shoulders hates me right now). So, I will repeat week 3 again next week and conquer it once and for all.
On a positive note though, just the time I have spent on it so far has really done wonders for the looks of my arms. I teach swimming and spend a lot of time in a bathing suit and I have to say that my shoulders look good :-).
6 Anonymous // Jul 11, 2008 at 11:56 am
Actually, I think I’m about done with the challenge (I’m quitting.)
I’ve decided that some people are just not meant to do 100 pushups. I’m a thin woman with thin arms, and although the pushups have given me some cleavage (which I could use), I just put on my favorite dress shirt and the arms are too tight!
I had already despaired of reaching 100 consecutive, and decided I would stop at just 100 in a day (I’m up to 71 now.)
I completed Week 1, Week 2 on the easy column, Week 2 on the middle column, and Week 3 on the easy column.
Week 3 is just ridiculous. And it’s only going to get worse. I think I’ll just keep doing some maintenance number of pushups (20 every two days, perhaps.)
7 abileneblues // Jul 11, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Sometimes I feel that way if I start thinking too far ahead. If I think about doing 100, it’s way too big. If I think about just reaching this week’s workouts, it doesn’t seem so big.
I know I’m only on week one, but I’m now worrying about week 3 yet. I can see that I’m going to have to do week 1 twice (or maybe more, to my embarrassment) to get all the reps done with perfect form.
I’m a guy (and wouldn’t change that for the world), but I think it would totally rock to be a woman and be able to say, if asked, that I could do 100 pushups.
You’re already doing something that only a small percentage of people can do. Twenty years from now, you’ll probably never regret having to buy a new shirt. However, you might regret that you never did finish the program to see if you can do 100 pushups.
8 Alan K // Jul 11, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I am thinking about starting this program. I can do 40 good form push-ups in a row now. Does that mean I start at week 4?
9 Al // Jul 11, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I did Week 3, day 2 last night. Fail fail fail. I’m going to see the doctor tomorrow. I’ve been fighting a cold and a sinus/ear infection for the last two weeks, and I”m getting discouraged.
I’m sure my weight (>250) has something to do with the failure, but the huge jump from day 1 (12 pushups) to the last exhaustion test (33), really gave me hope.
I’ve *got* to get control of my diet and regulate my sleep schedule. Workouts will surely improve as a result.
10 Joel // Jul 11, 2008 at 2:25 pm
How long can I reasonably rest in between sets? If 120 seconds is the official interval, but I can rest more if I need it, should I rest as long as I need to in order to do the right number of push ups?
I could probably do a lot more if I rested, say, 6-7 minutes instead of 2, but wouldn’t that be cheating?
Resting the official 2 minutes, I managed four sets of 20, then rested six minutes, and squeezed out 30. (And now can barely type this post.)
11 fit36.com // Jul 11, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Alan K: Go to the hundredpushups website and read about it. No, you don’t start in week 4. You start in week 1 in a more challenging column.
12 fit36.com // Jul 11, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Joel: It’s not “cheating”, but you’ll never make it to 100 if you take 6-7 minute breaks during the training sessions. The whole point is to build up strength *and* stamina.
13 fit36.com // Jul 11, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Holy crap. I just did it. W3D3, with a max of 18 (16 required). That’s 80 pushups, and I stuck tight to the 2 min breaks.
14 A.M. // Jul 11, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Moving on to week 5, but as I see we’re getting finicky about these things:
Form: I have my hands out 4-5 inches from my torso at shoulder height. I start from up, and go down to about 90 degree bend in my elbows - long way from touching the ground. It’s not super hardcore, but it seems to satisfy my ex-military judo instructor.
Rest periods: the rest periods say “or longer as needed” and I’m thinking it’s more important to do all the pushups than to do them quickly. I’m not timing my rest periods, but I’d guess they sometimes are 2-3 times the official length.
(My husband jumped in on week 3, doing the same number I am (column 1 all the way!)- and he’s keeping up just fine. )
15 drifting // Jul 11, 2008 at 5:15 pm
W3D3C3: 30, 22, 20, 11 (-9), 7 (-22)
Looking forward to the weekend rest and another crack at week 3.
@fit36 & Steve - awesome work!
@Al - focus on those great gains! This program is a fast progression designed to tax your system and force it to adapt. 12 to 33 sounds like it’s working, to me!
16 Steve // Jul 11, 2008 at 5:17 pm
@ drifting - thanks. enjoy the weekend. take it easy ok? i’m the hoping the extra “strength” will help me on my Muddy Buddy mission on the weekend:
http://www.runbulldogrun.com/biking/counting-down-to-muddy-buddy/
17 Peter // Jul 12, 2008 at 1:16 am
Week 5? Euhm … no!
Maybe after next week, but two weeks is more likely. Congrats to all of you who are ready for week 5 though! Still … it looks pretty brutal to me.
18 BK // Jul 12, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I’m still way back in week two, repeating it the third time now I guess. I just can’t seem to make that jump to week 3. ..its quite a jump.
19 Doug W // Jul 12, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Finished W3D3. Wasn’t going to move onto W4, but it doesn’t look like a significant jump, so I’ll do it, and try to stick better to the breaks. The first 3 sets I stick to the 120 seconds, but either before the 4th, or before the 5th, I end up having to take a 4-5 minutes just to catch my breath.
Maybe I should be doing cardio too, haha.
As for form, I touch my nose to the ground. It’s not quite my chest, but I’d rather not have to turn my head every time I come down.
20 Steven Rigney // Jul 12, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Finished W4D3. It was tough. My max was only 31, which was the worst max of the week for me. My arms never felt like they recovered from Wednesday though, so I’m happy with the success. On to week 5. Day 1 looks like a huge jump.
21 Peter // Jul 13, 2008 at 11:48 am
W3D3C2: 25-19-19-17-24
I did it! After dropping back to column 2 earlier this week, I finished week 3, with a push-up total of 104 (another +10). That means I broke the magical barrier of 100 push ups! Well sure, they weren’t consecutive … and yeah, they were “girly” push ups. But still, I’m gonna treat it like a milestone
Next week, I’ll move on to week 4 column 2, seeing as there is little to no difference between weeks 3 and 4. After that I’ll probably repeat week 4 on column 3.
Stay strong everybody!
22 100 Pushups: Week Six, Day Three // Jul 25, 2008 at 11:46 am
[...] Week four [...]
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