There are lots of 100 Pushups a Day Workouts available, but should you be doing them. That is the question that gets answered in today’s video. The attraction of a simple to follow, easy to remember exercise plan that has the ability to deliver bigger chest and arm gains is definitely something that cannot be denied. That said, is it the best use of your time?
To start, it’s important to realize just why 100 pushups a day is something that has been done and tried by many. Some perform this routine for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or even an entire year. If there were no results to be had from doing it, it is hard to imagine that people would continue to spend their time doing it. But what if there were something better.
Here I’m going to show you something better than 100 pushups a day.
The first issue with making the number simply one hundred is that it will only match the ability levels of about 3 percent of those watching. In order for an exercise to be progressive, it should have the capacity to challenge the person that is doing it. Now, the benefits to this technique are almost wholly due to the dramatically increased volume of the pushup exercise that comes with doing them daily.
Over time, the sub maximal volume, done in much greater amounts, is enough to drive muscle adaptation and size gains in the chest, arms and shoulders. That said, not all increases in volume can do this. Many times, the excessive volume becomes simply junk volume. That is, an accumulation of reps that are so below your capability levels that they serve to do nothing to progress the muscles that you are trying to build and more often only cause irritation, inflammation and aggravation of the joints involved in the exercise.
No exception here with pushups.
People who engage in pushup routines that require daily pushups for more than 3 weeks will often times see a decrease in their muscle output and strength as well as development of poor posture from rounded shoulders. These are caused by the muscle imbalances that occur when focusing all of your efforts on chest development.
In my 22 Days to a Bigger Chest Routine, we not only propose plan involving pushups but important variations of the move that shift the focus more to your triceps or shoulders to offload some of the work being done by the chest. As always however, with the daily recommendation of doing face pulls you will be sure you have enough posterior chain training to counteract any postural issues that could come from an abundance of push ups.
Here, what is suggested is to not only perform your pushups in sets rather than as a firm fixed number of 100 but to shift that fixed number of reps to another exercise – the Superman Pressout – to avoid any of the imbalances that could come. So, with the fixed number of sets rather than pushups we are able to accommodate to a person’s ability level much better.
For example, someone that can do 60-75 reps of pushups in a given set is going to be far less challenged by a 100 pushups a day routine than someone who can only do 5-10 in a set. Here, we equalize the stress by having each person do 5 sets, 5 reps short of failure. It’s important to keep these sets short of all out muscle failure. This will help with the recovery from these workouts as the consecutive days start to pile up.
The next most important element however is that immediately following each of these 5 sets you will perform 20 reps of the Superman Pressout exercise shown. This will work the often overlooked and important muscles of the rotator cuff and rhomboids, helping to prevent postural shoulder rounding that could come from overworking the pecs.
You can perform these sets all at the same time or break them up over the course of the day. Just be sure to include the set of 20 reps of Superman Pressouts immediately following each of the sets to ensure that you get your 100 reps of that exercise in throughout the day.
Try this out and let me know how you do in the comments.
If you’re looking for a complete workout and nutrition plan that will help you to not only get stronger with pushups and build a bigger chest but build a complete, athletic and ripped body – head to athleanx.com via the link below and check out the ATHLEAN-X training systems available. Use the program selector to match your current goals with the program that will help you achieve those goals the fastest.
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Chris Wright
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I very successfully grew bigger and stronger triceps by following your sore in 6 pushup routine once a week (tricep tuesdays ) for about a year. Best workouts and gains than any other routine- 1 min incline, 1 mine decline and 1 min spider-man pushups with 1 min rest time between. As always thanx for your educational videos, I’ve avoided many injurys by taking your suggested precautions while exercising.
Finally a video that is not too long to grind that ad revenue from YouTube. Thanks!
It’s been a minute I won something. I’ve been working hard, I think i deserve the program.
I agree, time under tension and making the push-ups harder is a lot better
Give me one reason to take fitness advice from a celeste fan
Nonsense. It’s all relative. We are all very different and we all respond to stimulus differently. I personally had amazing results doing exactly 100 strict push-ups daily. Personally, I tried variations of them as per Jeff’s suggestions, which didn’t work out as well for me.
@mac Didn’t work = lack of consistency and effort.
@Stripo cuz Celeste is an amazing game
Hey Jeff even before watching the video I have a question. Is there good value in doing micro workouts in your opinion? For instance if I’m working at home the entire day and will only have a fullworkout in the evening then would it be wise to add some reverse planks or some other good stabilization exercise throughout the day? Or even do cardio throughout the day like jumping rope 2 minutes at a time multiple times a day. Will this be a good way to build your work capacity?
At age 56 , I do micro workouts during day in my office – I have bands , weights and a pull-up/dip station – save my longer workouts for sports specific training
If you’re strapped for time – you just get it done whatever way you can
Yes there is. I call them Incidentals. I’m preparing for my exams and I have to study for over 12-14 hours a day. So I put in these Incidentals or micro workouts as you call them. Every hour, I either do a weighted wall chair or a plank variation or a reverse plank, pushup variations, a few reps with a barbell, forearm or rotator cuff exercises. Neck resistance exercises. Something quick like Juggling or reflex ball. It really improves my day.
@Stovepipe That’s Amazing! Mad respect. And yes. We make do with the time we have.
@Stovepipe Absolutely! 56 yrs old and I find it beneficial to stay loose and keep my body burning calories more consistently. I do full workouts when I have time but make sure I do at least one micro every day. Resistance bands are great. Very little strain on joints but plenty of resistance and utilizing peripheral muscles that free weights don’t hit.
@M Fawls Yup – you don’t give up as you age – just train smarter
Yes do more pushups. I only do push-ups to train my chest and just tested my 1rpm for a clean 255lb. I’ve never been strong on the bench in the first place I have more aerobic muscle fibers but for only training chest with push ups I’m very satisfied with the 255lbs.
Also I’m also 200lbs so yeah again not that impressive but very happy
only basic push ups or also other harder variations
Its good bro chill
Be proud bro! I’m not quite there yet, but trying to get there
I think the best point he makes is that 100 is an arbitrary number. It should be geared towards personal ability. My wife couldn’t do a normal pushup. I told her to start on her knees and do as many as she could and every day try to add 1 and then move up to regular pushups. I told her to not be discouraged if she did fewer on a particular day. She would find that some days she couldn’t do as many, but other days she could add 3 or 4 reps. In a little over a month she went from doing pushups on her knees to 30 regular pushups. Her just seeing that progress really motivated her and made her feel great about herself.
@DinkHunter ask your mom she farts while doing a push up
Yes, compare yourself to yourself!
Doing 100 Push-ups a day is what got me started because it was doable and rewarding. I started taking working out seriously way later, I did 100 Push-ups a day for months before and it helped a lot in getting me to a little base strength
100 reps in 1 set ?? Or more sets
@Asim World if i were to do it, i’d do 20 reps in 5 sets, 3 in the morning 2 in the evenening
Working my way to 200 5 times a week. At 150-75 transition. Just crank out 20-25 reps a set. If I need less I do it. Split morning/evening.
@Barb Boranne actually you can, there are many studies done about it. Just look it up
@Barb Boranne I beg to differ. Between my work and exercise after work I’ve became waaaaaay stronger the last two years. Run 3 times a week and lift the opposite three. Full body on sundays. Letttsss gooo!!!
100 pushups is a fantastic way to work one’s way into more difficult exercise programming. For the individual that is more into hiking or running, etc, it is also a fantastic way to sustain a moderate amount of upper body muscle mass.
As a man that ended up getting shoulder tendonitis because of the excessive volume and not training the minor muscles all I have to say it that Jeff is saving lives with videos like these
I spent like a year doing little else but pullups and pushups on my own insane plan. I messed myself up
Issues with “volume” is right up Jeff Cavalier’s alley!
However, the beauty in this video…is the tact and grace the man response to others opinions.
My philosophy on volume is “progressive overload”…
“Dynamic”…seems to be what Jeff is suggesting as a better aim…
and dynamic seems to be another way of saying “progressive”.
The cost-to-benefit (repetition and risk of injury vs. potential muscle gain) doesn’t fair well for most people’s current health and athletic/training backgrounds. I agree!
@Ashish Nayak bpc-157 & tb500 nasal spray works miracles….if you have money to throw at it and feel comfy going down the peptide route
@panos xd φιλε εχω τενοντοπαθεια υπερακανθιου ειμαι εκτος προπονησεων 2 μηνες σημερα ξεκιναω φυσιοθεραπεια, σε νιωθω.
@Γιάννης Δ. Wish you a fast recovery bro. Μείνε σε όσο καλύτερη φυσική κατάσταση μπορείς
During my time of service in the army (mandatory service in my country), i used to do 200 push ups(there was no equipment), 5 days a week, devided to 10 sets of 20 each day, for a long period of time. Even though i gained muscle throughout my whole core and arms, after about a month I started to feel the stress on the shoulders and elbows, making the excercise very hard to perform..
Things like this or running in boots would seem to catch up to us as we get older.
I’ve been waiting to get your insight on these type of challenges; whether consecutive or sets. Your perspective is intriguing and I take it into consideration. I feel better with this knowledge to get started with it to not just complete it, but to spice things up with the approach.
I believe you mentioned it in the video with variety types of push ups. I have to find that video of yours.
While it always sounded like a pretty cool feat of strength, I always questioned in the back of my mind the true effectiveness of 100 push-ups a day. If I’m not mistaken, it would seem to invite opportunities for strength and muscle imbalances. I’m glad to hear your thoughts on this topic, Jeff. Very educating.
Been doing pushups for 20+ years. At some point i was making 250 in 5 sets per day. It kills your shoulder joints. Now i make 48 in 4 sets and not raising all the way up(to protect shoulders), while going very slow down. Also mixed in some other exercises, the difference in muscle is very visible. I went from 65 to 73 kg with this change in pushups and it’s mostly muscle
Yeah, you didn’t gain 8kg of muscle from doing push ups more effectively…
Somebody come get this guy.
@Cody Lowe ofc not, there’s also food involved and i said i mixed in some other exercises. What are you trying to say?
I smell cap man
@Thomas Marsh ok i’ll post the full workout. Note that going down on a pushup takes me about 5 seconds. So here goes: 12 rep regular pushup, 12 rep diamond pushup, 15 rep under the table pullups, 12 regular pushups 12 pushups with feet on bed, handstand for 20 seconds, 60 seconds for a pushup going very slow up and down, 20 seconds handstand with 5 handstand pushups, the exercise that’s in this video called superman something, another exercise for traps don’t know how to describe it and 15 abs+30s plank. Most of these are taken from jeff’s channel.
Go ahead and try just one 12 rep set of those slow pushup and you’ll see what i’m talking about. It’s about progressive overload the easier it is to make one the slower you go. Jeff talked alot about this subject and that’s what helped me.
I started doing push-ups maybe 5 times a week when covid hit for the first time and gyms closed in Germany. I barely went back to the gym for almost a year. But was still doing my push-ups. Now that I have been hitting the gym again I can say that I am a stronger bencher than ever before. 1 year of almost daily push-ups made me stronger!
yo when the gyms were closed in my country those times were so depressing bruh
*made you stronger in one specific exercise
How many reps and sets you were doing everyday? What’s your current bench press weight?
@Wojtek Ostrowski No it works in general. Its not like Bodybuilding where its geared toward only specific muscles. Its very functional. Some trend studies are based for people like scientist just so they can get money for a publishing.
This was honestly very insightful. I’ve been thinking about doing one of these push up challenges, but Jeff went and made a better and safer way of doing the challenge. I’m still wondering why I would repeatedly do 100 push ups a day instead of using more difficult variations. Thank you Jeff
Nice addition to do the superman press-out (20x) after each set of push-ups. Adds to range of muscle groups being trained without making it too complex to stick to (the biggest attraction of the ‘100 push-ups per day’ regime is its simplicity – and anything is better than doing nothing).
For a 46 year old who’s smoked ,drank too much with rotator cuff , achielies heel problems an operation for tennis elbow and a physical job the temptation to let my body go was strong .
My improvements are slow but they are still a big positive. I have to say these vids are massive for me especially the 10 min core ones .
@-Nath- Wtf bro, have u never drank too much with your rotator cuff?
I thought it was common
@vIPR for real, gotta use that rotator cuff to lift the bottle.
I’ve been waiting for your perspective on these types of challenges, whether consecutive or sets; your perspective is intriguing, and I take it into consideration; I feel better with this knowledge to get started with it, not just to finish it, but to spice things up with the approach; I believe you mentioned it in the video with different types of push ups; I’ll have to look for that video.
wth first i see u on bcjp baron big peng zombie cheese video and now here!!
Did you just copy that text from @Lorenza Griffin, who wrote this 7 hours before you?
“I’ve been waiting to get your insight on these type of challenges; whether consecutive or sets. Your perspective is intriguing and I take it into consideration. I feel better with this knowledge to get started with it to not just complete it, but to spice things up with the approach.
I believe you mentioned it in the video with variety types of push ups. I have to find that video of yours.”
@Grey ohh shiit that’s how this guy is everywhere, he just uses a bot to copy and paste comments
@calc Not sure if he uses a bot cause there were some minor alterations in punctuation and word choice. Nevertheless, looks like he uses other people’s comments quite often then, if not always, if you say you see him everywhere.
Little over a month ago, I started a system similar to this to increase my number of quality reps. I’ve been quite happy with the results of doing 5 sets to sub failure and adding a couple reps to each set at the start of every new week. Its giving me results and that has been great for inspiring me to continue to improve. I was very discouraged with my pushups before.
This was honestly very insightful