Last week saw the completion of the third week in the one hundred push up challenge. After a mixed bag of results in week 3 of the program and realising that the expectation was going to be lifted considerably – week 4 in the push up challenge felt like it was going to be a complete unknown.
The first session in week four required five sets and each set had at least 21 push ups in them with the fifth expecting not less than 32. After having a strong finish in the third set in week 3 and pushing more repetitions on each set than required – it meant that I only needed to match my previous total work output in a different format to reach the goal. Thankfully I managed to make scrape through but only increased my total output by 2 to 132.
Session two was again five sets and each set had at least 25 repetitions in it with the fifth requiring not less than 36. I was reasonably confident that I’d make it through session two, based on the logic that I’d improved in the last two sessions and that I should theoretically have slightly more endurance. The assumption was correct and I managed to match or exceed the requirements for each set, pushing out 45 in the fifth for a total of 152.
Third and final session for the week was a doozie, five sets with a minimum of 29 per set and at least 40 in the fifth set. This session was really quite difficult to complete and I had to work really hard for it. While I’ve been completing more total push ups than required, this session required more than my peak output from the previous push up workout. I still managed to match or better the requirements but only just – requiring a total of 160 and I managed 164 – the perfect workout.
Week five is going to be a blinder as the second and third sessions increase to eight sets instead of five. Thankfully, however each set is on a lower repetition count initially but for a higher total output. I think more sets but lower rep count is going to suit me more, as each session is closer to the power style exercise I’d normally do at the gym but I’ll wait and see how I go before making a judgement call!
I tested myself last week as a wakeup exercise whilst in Perth. Sadly I made only 14 in the first attempt. The next two days I repeated and still could not get past that mark. Very disappointing. Maybe now I will read the training program. I’ll let you know.
You should definitely read the personal training guide on their site as it isn’t about doing as many as you can in each set – it’s about progressively building up.
I think you’ll find that as soon as you follow the guide, you’ll see yourself doing more total push ups which is the key – building overall strength and endurance.
Not thinking about it, I didn’t bother to read forward through the program to see how the strength building and endurance building system works but I’d recommend you do – it’ll help get a clear picture of what they are trying to get your muscles to do.