#360fit: Nutrition Souq’s 100 push up challenge

NutritionSouq 14:18 05/09/2015
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    • Just push through it: Are you up for the challenge?

    The push up is the ultimate barometer of strength. Not only is it the perfect upper body exercise, it also hits the core and legs. When it comes to pumping out the reps, the holy-grail for push ups is 100. Drop down and pump out a century with good form and you’ve just garnered for yourself a whole lot of respect.

    For most people, the prospect of doing 100 push ups is as distant as running a four-minute mile. The average guy on the street would struggle to do 20 reps of anything that reasonably approaches a push up. Yet, 100 push ups is a goal that is achievable by anybody, and it’s achievable quicker than you think.

    — Nutrition Souq (@NutritionSouq) July 1, 2015

    In this challenge, you are being asked to commit to making your 100-rep push up goal a reality in 30 days. That’s right – in just one month, you will take it from zero to hero, maxing up your strength and your muscle mass.

    How to do the perfect push up

    The first step towards your 100-rep push up goal is to believe that you can do it – because you can!

    The next step is to learn how to perform a push up properly. We’re only interested in full, complete reps – not those 1/8th movement joke reps that so many people seem happy to delude themselves with.

    Check out this perfect form video to make sure that you’ve got it right

    1. Set yourself on the ground, face down with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Your feet should be touching.

    2. Keeping your body in a straight line, rise up so that your arms are fully extended. Tense your buttocks and tighten your abs to prevent your butt from lifting you into a ‘v’ position.

    3. Look straight ahead rather than down. Now steadily lower yourself until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. When your chest touches the floor, explode back up to the start position.

    4. Get down on the floor and practice that form until you have got it down pat. Remember, no sticking your butt in the air, no looking down and no partial reps – keep it strict all the way.

    Four Tips to Success

    Consistency – this challenge is built upon incremental progressions. If you miss a day, your progress will stutter. Fortunately, push ups are a movement that can be done anywhere, any time – and they only take a few minutes.

    Interest – boredom may be your biggest enemy. To fight it, keep your goal constantly before you. You should also vary the types of push up that you do. Try inclines, decline, knuckle and fingertip variations. You should also break up the target number in your mind – knocking 10 sets of six (with no break between mini sets, of course) is less of a mental hurdle than doing 60.

    Speed – 100 push-ups is both a strength and an endurance challenge. Play it smart by doing your first 60 reps as fast as you can (without sacrificing form). If you can hit 60 before your arms and pecs fatigue, pure grit should allow you to bang out the final 40.

    Mental toughness – As indicated above, the last 40 % of this challenge is mental. You need to shut down that nagging voice in your head that tells you that you’ll never get beyond 75 and just do it. With the end in sight, realize that you will not die and grind out until you reach absolute positive failure – you’ll soon find that the 100 rep benchmark will arrive first.

    The Challenge Programme

    • You will be training 3 days per week on alternate days – those rest days in between are critical for recovery and repair.
    • You will be doing 5 sets of push ups each workout,
    • You will be resting exactly 60 seconds between sets 1 and 4
    • Your final set each workout will be a max test – rest 120 seconds before pumping out as many as you possibly can in good form.
    • At the end of week four you will be able to achieve 90 push-ups after having completed 4 previous sets totalling to 283 push ups. You should now take a full days rest before doing your 100-rep challenge.
    • Perform your 100-rep challenge about 90 minutes after eating a protein rich meal. Get yourself in the zone to smash this number that has been looming over your head for the past month. After all, for the last week of the challenge you’ve actually been doing hundreds of reps in a few minutes each day. All you’re doing is compressing them into one much smaller set. Remember to mentally break your hundred up into smaller mini sets – 10 x 10 works well.
    • Now go for it – get to 60 as quick as you can without sacrificing form (that’s just 6 sets of 10). The next 20 will be all about pec and triceps strength – which you’ve got in spades. The last 20 is simply about guts and pride – you are so close, there’s no way you’re going to stop now.
    • Smash through that hundred barrier – and then do another 4 or 5 for good measure – just because you can!

    Let us know how you go – Post a before and after Instagram photo and tag #ReachYourMax and mention @nutritionsouq.

    The Routine

    Week One Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
    Set One 16 20 22
    Set Two 18 22 25
    Set Three 15 18 20
    Set Four 15 18 20
    Set Five Max (goal:20) Max (goal:25) Max (goal:30)
    Week Two      
    Set One 28 30 32
    Set Two 30 34 36
    Set Three 26 28 30
    Set Four 26 28 30
    Set Five Max (goal:35) Max (goal:40) Max (goal:45)
    Week Three      
    Set One 40 45 50
    Set Two 42 48 55
    Set Three 38 42 45
    Set Four 38 42 45
    Set Five Max (goal:50) Max (goal:55) Max (goal:60)
    Week Four      
    Set One 60 65 70
    Set Two 65 68 75
    Set Three 55 63 68
    Set Four 55 63 68
    Set Five Max (goal:70) Max (goal:80) Max (goal: 90)

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