100 Pushups Training Program

Can any of you more excersizey members comment on this program? I'm thinking of giving it a shot.

-Blast

Blast, Blast, Blast,,,

Good idea, but if you try to start from scratch, you will most likely fail.

Try starting at 25 per day for a week or 2, then go to 50 for a couple of weeks, 75 for a couple of weeks, then go for the 100.

Building up keeps you from "biting off more than you can chew" at the beginning, plus helps you build the habit needed to carry on and incorporate such a habit into your everyday lifestyle.

I am NOT an exercise advocate because the idea has always met with interference, in my own personal (limited) experience.

Fact: you have to do something 2000 times before it becomes a reflex. I don't have a clue in regards to making a habit.

Take these thoughts for what it may (or may not) be worth!!!!

I looked at the program and it looks sound. You do the initial test to find out an appropriate place for you to start, and then progressively add more reps. You have rest days and you're NOT encouraged to "go for the burn" in which case you're likely tearing muscle fibers and are going to be rather sore. The soreness from a "no pain, no gain" attitude early on is going to throw you off schedule and likely lead to drop out. I think if you push yourself but not too hard at first (as they suggest in the program), to give your muscles and tendons a chance to adapt to the new stress of doing push up's, you can start pushing harder later once your body is more accustomed to the exercise. Don't be discouraged if you take longer than the 6 weeks in this program.

Good luck!

Looks interesting...might try it out myself.

ooooh 100 pushups is fun!!!

I don't see anything wrong with the program, and pushups are fine, but are not a complete workout. I'm sure it would be fun to have a goal of being able to do 100 pushups, and the plan seems to be easy to follow and motivating.

If I were going to do a plan like this, I'd do burpees, instead. Burpees use a lot more muscle groups, and are going to help the cardiovascular system more than just pushups. It takes A LOT longer to get to 100, though...

Edit to add a video that shows how to do burpees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M

one hundred consecutive push ups in a 6 week program... hmm. This must be a good program or may be a program to build stamina and not really muscle mass.

I did a SERIOUS push-up routine for ~ 6 months. I did as many as I could do rested, did it again, rested, did it again until the max was 1 then I stopped. I did this 2-3x a day.(Almost every day) My goal was to build muscles, it worked. I got large shoulders, upper back triceps, and a noticeable neck.

Doing push-ups practicaly became an addiction! I did them waiting for breakfast to be finished, waiting for someone to call, when I had down time at home I did them.

I was NEVER able to do more than 75 at once. After ~ month I could do TONS of push-ups but not 100 at once, probably due to my method and variance of the muscles.

I did closed fist / knuckle down, arrow (hands touching) and standard.

Push-Ups are fun, easy to do, and can build muscle. Is there a paint to doing 100 at once? Not that I can see.

Start, make your own routine and something you can enjoy. For me it was seeing how many I could do at once and then repeating until I was dead. This really broke down my muscles and rebuilt them. Be sure to break and not do it EVERY day.

Just my opinion:

Tearing muscle fibers and the subsequent healing process is how muscles get bigger, and thus stronger.

Exercising without building muscle mass is nothing more than a cardiovascular workout (increases efficiency of oxygen and nutrient transport, and eliminates wastes built up in fat cells, and also increases weight loss) and only increases endurance, which is by the way, very healthy.

Both kinds of workout burn calories, so if weight loss and endurance is all you are after, I would suggest a full body cardiovascular workout such as swimming (esp. hard-core body surfing), bicycling, and even trail running and hiking without a pack.

Having more endurance is not the same thing as having more strength, although it might seem to be because more pushups can be done. If you don't believe me, lay on your back and lift the heaviest weight you can once and write that down. Now do your 6 weeks of pushups without tearing muscles. You can do many more pushups at the end of six weeks because your body has become a more efficient and cohesive system. Now get on your back again, and I assure you that the amount of weight you can lift will not be significantly increased since your maximum six weeks before.

It's a good program. It follows progressive training, can be done wherever and doesn't need an special equipment. I've been following it myself to get back to being more active.

Mark

Push-ups are really part of a calisthenics program that is more predominantly focused more on endurance and flexibility. Push-ups are on the strength building side of the scale for this group of exercises. It is purported that a good routine of calisthenics combined with an aerobic process is one of the most time proven effective fitness programs known. Certainly most of Jack Lalane's exercise regimen consisted of calisthenics and isometric action.

I would consider doing push-ups in conjunction with other calisthenic exercises and other aerobic activity, such as jumping rope. One thing I might add to the routine is pull-ups, which although requiring some apparatus, I still consider within the same gendre.

As far as quantity go, I think Lalane's recommendation is to work it as a circuit until you break a good sweat for at least 20 minutes.