On the way to 100 push-ups

For a while now I’ve been reading about Steve Speirs‘ 100 push-up challenge. I even wrote about it on my other blog when Steve’s book was released (click on the image to buy the book). The thing is, though, I’ve had no desire to do this program. Last summer I was still lifting weights fairly regularly and since November I’ve used my baby as an excuse.

But the truth is, my upper body is weak. Carrying a baby around has helped, for sure, but it’s not the answer to my upper body strength. So on Friday when I was bored, I thought what the hell, I’m doing the 100 push-up program.

The idea is simple — follow a seven-week program that leads you to do 100 push-ups consecutively. The flexibility is there to repeat a week or two if necessary. The objective of the program is to change your entire body by doing push-ups.

The program starts with an initial test — do as many good-form push ups as possible. From that initial test you then pick one of three programs that are right for you. My initial test was no shock — I’m weak. I did 15 push ups. But only 12 of them were actually good. Two were so-so and the last? Well, I’m glad my head didn’t explode.

So I chose the second column based on that test. Now all I have to do is follow the schedule for seven weeks. That’s push ups three times a week for almost two months. Day 1’s workout required four sets of push ups — 6, 6, 4 and 4 — and then a “max” set. I maxed at 10, but actually felt like I could have done more. But I didn’t want to ruin 10 good push-ups, and 30 overall. Day 2 will be sets of 6, 8, 6, 6 and a max. Day 3 is 8, 10, 7, 7 and a max.

This should be a wild ride. I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen. For more on the program, click here … and start today!