Pushups are pretty good for upper body strength...in so far that you will have stronger triceps and chest muscles. Of all the exercises you can do, this requires the least equipment, and is a good start (and foundation) for upper body strength. Give them a whirl and if they work for you, try to work in other upper body exercises later. The nice thing about push ups is you can do them almost anywhere, anytime, without hardly any preparation.

It is true, "no pain, no gain". You have to tear the muscle to build it. The trick however is to tear it just enough. Your workouts should be intense enough that you feel some soreness after wards, but you should be fully recovered (no pain) after your rest period. So if you do your thing Monday, feel sore, rest and recover on Tuesday, and are ready to go again on Wednesday, you've hit the right pace. Exercising sore muscles is counterproductive, and potentially harmful (Better to stretch on a day you are sore than exercise). This is why it is better to start out really slow, and slowly work your way into a cycle where you are pushing yourself with allowances for recovery, rather than going for broke out of the gate and not being able to button your shirt for 4 days.

US Army minimum for an 18 year old male was 42 continuous push-ups in 2 minutes (IIRC circa 1990). Maximum score was 82 (And this was fairly easily attainable by the more athletic types). So 100 continuous is a fairly high but attainable goal, and certainly if you reach this level, I would strive to maintain it while branching out into more diverse exercises (pullups, rows, shoulder presses, etc).

Hope it works out for you, and I am looking forward to hearing your results.

Re,

C. Rowe