I am not above setting up a fitness challenge right at the start of a new year. This isn’t about “New Year New You” or some other resolution that everyone forgets about as soon as it gets inconvenient. While this challenge falls under the fitness category, I could easily have put it under mindset as well.
You see, this one is more about discipline than anything else.
Sometimes life gets in the way of our goals. During the Go-Getter Challenge I posted last year, I started off well and then tapered out after a few weeks. Pressure from the day job mounted, commitments outside of work added up, and having a little one only a few months old at home just made everything that much harder.
But here’s the thing, I failed because I treated it like things were optional. To be truly successful, the thing you are trying to do needs to be just another “hygiene item” like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. You aren’t always going to enjoy it, but you do it because you know you have to.
The 100 for 30 Pushup Challenge
This month’s challenge comes from an article a reader sent me over on the Facebook page. The article is about YouTuber Nick Bare, who has done 100 pushups per day for over 10 years.
In the end, it’s not about the pushups- it’s about the discipline to do it every day.
This challenge is simple. To complete it, you must do 100 pushups per day, every day, for 30 consecutive days. If you can’t do 100 pushups straight through, that’s fine. You can break up the 100 repetitions however you need to.
- 10 pushups at a time 10 times throughout the day
- 20 pushups 5 times per day
- 50 pushups 2 times per day
- 100 pushups at once
How to Do a Pushup
Everyone thinks they know how to do a proper pushup. But I’ve watched enough fitness tests while serving on active duty to know that such thinking is wrong. Each person’s body has different mechanics, and so everyone finds ways to take the path of least resistance. Guys with long arms like me usually struggled a lot with the Air Force’s 90-degree rule, for example.
So let’s set a baseline. Toss whatever variation you’ve learned in the past, and focus on the hand release pushups.
I first came across this variation while working through my Mountain Tactical Institute workout plan.
It came up again while I was interviewing Dr. Whitfield East for the podcast. If you recall from that interview, the hand release pushup requires about 35% more effort than the “classic” style.
This is the variation you must use to complete the challenge.
Challenge Levels
There are two levels for this one.
Level 1 is simply performing 100 hand-release pushups per day for 30 days in any combination of sets.
Level 2 is the same, except you must post a video of yourself completing 100 pushups. For the video, you may take breaks as needed, but 100 pushups have to be completed within the video.
Providing Proof
This challenge obviously has a high trust factor, because we’re taking your word for it. In order to complete it you must post a weekly summary of your progress in a thread within the forum.
That’s it, good luck!
Level 1 Challenge Winners
- Matt
- Sunshine Shooter
- Tom (from East Tennessee)
Nice! I’ve been wondering what January’s challenge would be. A physical challenge to keep us resolutioners disciplined is a good way to start off the new year.
I was hoping ya’ll would enjoy it!
If you don’t mind some suggestions from someone who’s already done this a while back (albeit using WW2 Army pushups instead of hand release).
I’m a firm believer in the concept called Greasing the Groove. To that end before I started the challenge proper I concentrated on delivering just a single, perfect pushup. In order to go through a complete cycle of a hand release P/U may require doing two reps but absolutely no more. The important thing is to focus on delivering a single perfect pushup.
Now pardon me if anyone thinks that I’m insulting their intelligence but make sure that you print out a 30 day grid with dates on it and then hang it in a prominent place (mine was on the inside of the front door). Decide that you’ll do sets of ten for example. After completing a set make a mark for in the box for that day. I went for a minimum of 15 minutes between sets. The tic marks told me how I was doing for that day getting my pushups in. Seeing how many I had to do for the day would often motivate me by making me tell myself, “You know what you gotta do, Cowboy.”
For those unfamiliar with GTG, here’s a quick link
https://www.strongfirst.com/one-good-rep-perform-perfect-pushup/
Hey John! Happy New Year!
I love Pavel’s work, and GTG is a great concept. The importance of getting the form perfect cannot be overstated, really. I want to set up a similar challenge to this one in the future, but with dry fire routines. I wonder how well we could translate GTG from fitness to marksmanship?
When I was a teenager, I did 50+50 push-ups a day and harmed my shoulder joints for many years.
Because most people are doing push-ups physiologically wrong, with completely wrong focus on external form instead of muscle activity. Even PE had us do push-ups with complete disregard of physiological correctness.
The essential requirement is that your shoulder blades MUST NOT, under any circumstances, move back from your back. Your shoulders must be pushed down/front of your body at all times. If you don’t have enough strength to keep shoulders pushed forward, STOP IMMEDIATELY. (When I shown my physiotherapist how I do push-ups, I was forbidden from doing any push-ups at all until I can do them correctly without harming myself.)
Having nice muscles or feeling strong is not worth permanent joints damage which comes to haunt you when you reach 40. And same goes for many military habits, eg. hauling 60lbs+ backpacks on hiking. Many armymen end their service with permanent physical damage caused not by combat, but by overloading and overstressing their joints out of lack of knowledge.
Andy, you are spot on with the importance of good and correct form. John pointes it out as well above. Hitting high numbers is not worth getting injured along the way.