96… 97… 98… 99… …
BOOM! Crashing to the floor like Superman on Kryptonite.
For weeks, I had prepared for this moment… So you can imagine the disappointment when I came up one rep short of the goal…
See, for whatever reason, I had always had the goal to do 100 push-ups in a row.
After failing miserably on my first attempt, doing just 71 push-ups straight, I knew I had some work to do.
I needed to start a workout routine that would strengthen my chest muscles and triceps so I could improve my upper body strength.
Now before I introduce you to the push-up training program I used to achieve my goal, you must understand something:
No matter where you are right now in the “push-up game,” you can use the insights found on this page to double or even triple your push-up totals.
My Journey to 100 Pushups in a Row
When I did those 71 straight push-ups, I had already been doing push-up training for quite some time.
But it wasn’t until I used the simple tactics in the program below that I started seeing progress and doing more push-ups very quickly.
And now, you can do the exact same thing and reach the goal of doing 100 push-ups in a row.
After doing those 71 straight push-ups, I devised a plan that would allow me to start doing more pushups on a weekly basis without burning out.
Let me ask you something…
Are you familiar with the phrase, “practice makes perfect?” Well, that is the approach that I took.
After spending time researching (and from personal experience), I knew that it wasn’t a big problem to do push-ups more than a few times per week.
More often than not, when people want to increase how many push-ups they can do, a big mistake they make is not doing them enough.
Push-ups aren’t what I call a “big” exercise like bench press, squats, deadlifts, etc.
You can add them a few times more per week to your normal workout routine without a problem.
Of course, you do want to make sure you listen to your body.
If you are overly sore or feel fatigued, it’s probably best to take a day or two to recover so that you can come back stronger and fresh.
As you will see below, we place in strategic rest days so that your body can recover, grow, and get stronger.
Going back to the story from the beginning…
There I was on the 99th rep for push-ups… It would be amazing to write this to you telling you that I pushed through and reached 100 reps on that second attempt…
Yet, on rep 100… My arms just gave out, as if they were saying, “Dennis, that is enough.”
You know the feeling right?
Although I was disappointed in not completing that final repetition, I went back and looked at the stats over the previous two weeks.
In all, I had increased my max pushups from 71 reps to 99 reps.
That’s 28 more reps. Not bad for just 2-weeks.
And it was just days later when I eventually able to achieve 100 push-ups in a row.
In fact, the final count on that third test was 104 straight.
So how on earth was I able to do this and how can you do the same?
The plan that you will find below is very straightforward and to the point.
And as we talked about earlier, “practice makes perfect” when trying to dominate pushups.
If you think you are ready to start dominating YOUR pushups, let’s dive in…
How You Can Get 100 Push-Ups In A Row?
Step One: Test Day
Of course, before starting, you will want to test your pushup strength so you can have a measuring stick when you retest 2-weeks from now.
All you need to do for this is do as many push-ups as possible with proper form.
That last part is VERY important.
You want to make sure that you maintain proper form throughout your total number of pushups.
If you feel that your form is slipping, then stop.
As I like to say, “It’s better to do 25 perfect form pushups than 50 sloppy pushups.”
In the long run, having good form for fewer reps will benefit you more.
So, how many pushups were you able to do?
Write that number down: _______________________. (For example purposes, we will use the number of 50 straight pushups.)
Once you have your pushup total, you will then move to step number two.
Step Two: Goal Number (how many push-ups do you want to do?)
Step two is where we are going to determine YOUR goal pushup number that you will be doing over the next 2-weeks.
What you will do is take your total number of pushups from step one and multiply that by five.
For example, since our example number is 50 straight pushups, our equation would look like this:
50 Pushups X 5 = 250 pushups
What was your number? Write it down: ____________________________.
Note: If your pushup total is over 50 repetitions in a row, your pushups will consist of doing 250-300 reps MAX for your workout routine.
For example, even if your max rep was 70 pushups on your test day, you will NOT be doing more than 300 reps for your workout.
Instead, you will do 250-300 in as few sets as possible (see step 3).
Step Three: Different Day, Different Technique
Now that you have your goal pushup number for the next two weeks, it’s time to go over how to use that number.
Over the next 2-weeks, you are going to cycle through three different kinds of days:
- Max Push
- Sporadic Push
- Rest
Let me explain what each day is:
Max Rep:
Max rep days are the days that you will be training to failure on each set.
*Your goal is simple: To complete all 250 pushups (or whatever your number is) in as few sets as possible.
In between sets, feel free to take a good rest so that you can recover and go hard on your remaining sets. An example of a Max Rep day would look like this:
Set 1: 50
Set 2: 44
Set 3: 38
Set 4: 36
Set 5: 30
Set 6: 30
Set 7: 22
So in this example, it took us 7 sets to get us to 250 pushups. Your goal would then be to beat those numbers the next time you did a Max Push day.
Remember, we are always looking for some kind of improvement.
Next up, we have our sporadic push days.
Sporadic Push:
Evenly spread out your pushups throughout the day to complete them. You are NOT training to failure.
You can call these days your “relaxed” pushup days. All you need to do is simply get your pushups done throughout the day.
For example, you could do 100 reps in the morning, 50 on your lunch break, and 100 when you get home.
You can do sets of 25 or 30 or whatever you want. Simply get all 250 done. Again, you are NOT training to failure on these days.
Rest Day:
Finally, we have our rest days. And I think you can guess what this will be.
Take this day to recover and let your body rest. Do not do any kind of upper body workouts on this rest day.
Now that we have covered the different days that you will be doing on this plan, let’s quickly cover how you are going to cycle them.
If you know anything about me, I like keeping things simple. That’s why all you will do is “rinse and repeat” with the three different days that we covered. This means:
Day 1: Max Rep
Day 2: Sporadic Push
Day 3: Rest
REPEAT
Pretty simple, right?
After day number 12 (which is a rest day), you will take another day rest on day 13 then take your pushup retest on day 14.
If you follow this simple format, you will be amazed at how easy it is to increase your pushup totals in just 2-weeks time.
Write Your Numbers In The Comments Section Below
For those who are serious, I recommend repeating three 2-week cycles so that you can really see how much improvement you can make.
Having the goal of doubling or tripling your pushups or doing 50 or 100 straight, is a great way to keep you focused and motivated in your workouts.
And what’s great about this plan is that you can add it to any workout program you are currently on.
No need to drop everything and just do this. In fact, I encourage you to add this to your current workouts.
Do yourself a favor and take your pushup test today, then post your numbers in the comments section below. Then in 2-weeks, come back and share with us all the progress you made.
Push-ups are an amazing exercise for your chest, shoulders, arms, and core. But you want to make sure you stay balanced.
Here are some very challenging bodyweight back exercises to help round out your routine.
Bonus Push Up Exercises For You to Try:
Frequently Asked Questions
What Will A 100 Push Ups A Day do?
Doing 100 push ups a day would improve your ability to perform pushing exercises as well as build strength, muscle, and mass in your chest, triceps, and shoulders.
Not only will you gain more strength and definition in those muscle groups, but you’ll be improving your overall pushing motion. This will allow you to move on to harder progressions of pushing exercises within calisthenics.
Are 100 Push Ups A Day Possible?
Yes, it is possible to do 100 push ups a day because it only takes a few minutes or so to do it however it takes practice, planning, and dedication to actually be able to do 100 push ups in a row, to begin with.
Should you do 100 pushups a day?
Whether you should do 100 push ups a day depends on your fitness level and how difficult it is for you to complete 100 push ups in a row.
You can also choose to do 100 push ups within multiple sets, which technically would still be 100 push ups a day.
In general, there is no problem with doing 100 push ups a day however it would be more beneficial to make sure you are working your full body so you don’t grow disproportionately.
How many calories do 100 pushups burn?
You will burn about 150 to 200 calories by doing 100 push-ups. The variables are your weight and how many sets it takes.
By doing 100 push ups in a row you will burn a lot more calories than if you break it up into fewer reps per set.