1,000 push ups a day challenge

Not long after I began doing 30 day exercise challenges a friend told me about someone he knew who completed 1,000 push ups a day for an entire month.  What a monster!  I desperately wanted to do this myself, but was too weak so I set myself a goal to give this a go.  

I knew I wasn't ready then so planned to try some day.  At that time I was struggling to do 25 push ups in a set and 100 across an entire day, so completing one thousand push ups in a day seemed unimaginable to me at the time.  

Once I got a lot stronger I decided to see if I could complete 1,000 push ups in one day.  At the time I could do 50 to 75 in one set.  I decided to try on a day when I would have time, and I wrote on the blackboard the numbers I did in each set so I could add them up over the day.

I started doing push ups before breakfast, and started strong.  By lunch time I was pretty wrecked, and still had a lot to do to reach my goal that day.  While my sets started out as 75 this declined until the sets at the end were only 25, and towards the end I was struggling to even do that many in one go.

While I started before breakfast, I didn’t reach one thousand until after dinner that day.  I was in tremendous pain, and shaking so badly I struggled to bring a cup to my mouth so I could have a drink.  

The next day I could hardly see out of my left eye, I was trembling for days, and in big pain for a week or two afterwards.  I clearly wasn’t ready.

About a year later (of doing back to back 30 day two minute exercise challenges) I was much stronger and decided to give this another go.  I could not sleep one night, so I tried to do one thousand push ups.  Including rest time it took me just under an hour to complete one thousand push ups that night.  

I was hurting for days afterwards but I pulled up better and recovered much faster than the first time.  I am not sure if I was ready at that stage either.

Skinny fat before 1,000 push ups per day

About a year of back to back exercise challenges later,  about two years from the start, I was a lot stronger and I decided to commit to a personal challenge of an entire week of one thousand push ups per day.  

I decided on a start and end date that would give me a reasonably quiet week to do these, then for no particular reason I started a few days early.

Before starting the challenge I felt highly optimistic.  This was going to be great!  I was finally ready.  I could hardly wait to see the transformation that my body would go through.  I have seen the before and after photos of people who have done this and they are incredible, some even look like an entirely different person (there is a reason for this) and others look pretty impressive.

When I started my 1,000 push ups per day challenge I was in constant pain, the pain seemed to intensify over the first week of the challenge.  I started to dread doing push ups and began to think of excuses to end the challenge early.  This negative self-talk reached a point where I almost talked myself out of attempting the final day.  That's right, I had completed six days and almost talked myself out of even attempting day seven.  Motivation is key to doing anything like this.

I started to feel really tired and exhausted all day every day.  Being really tired, with a renewed hatred of push ups, experiencing endless/increasing pain, not really wanting to do this anymore, realising that no one other than me would know or even care if I gave up, and then fearing that I had already completed so many consecutive days and did not want to start again at zero, made the week more difficult than I had anticipated.  

No matter what happened I had to reach my minimum of one thousand push ups per day.  I struggled through the week and completed over 1,000 push ups each and every day.  Some days I completed significantly more.  

I am now one of the few people who have achieved one week of 1,000 push ups per day, and one of the even smaller number who have done such a thing for the first time when they were aged in their 40’s. 

You can see my 'before' photo above and my 'after' photo below.  They look much the same.  

Other than lighting, wearing different pants (same belt), and my arms being at a slightly different angle, the difference is only really noticeable if you look closely and convince yourself that you can find a difference.  I am skinny, doing 1,000 push ups every day did not make me bulk up, I did not get ripped, but it did help me get a lot stronger.  

It's frustrating how difficult it is for skinny fat people to bulk up.  I knew other people's before and after photos had mostly been photoshopped, but I had expected a lot more noticeable improvement than this.  I am stronger now, so it was well worth doing.

Here is the shocking twist: Successfully completing this challenge left me feeling really lame and pathetic. 

After 1,000 push ups per day for 50 consecutive days - looks much the same

This challenge, like all my previous exercise challenges, was pointless.  Most people are not as skinny as I am, if they put in half the effort I put in they would be able to complete this challenge.  I look much the same as before, and no one would ever believe that I achieved this.  I may as well claim I paddled a canoe to the moon or something!  See what I was saying about negative self-talk?  Negative self-talk didn’t end even when I had completed the challenge.

The morning after my week of one thousand was over I was really irritated that I still had to meet my regular push up minimums, I felt like I had earned a break.  It was incredible just how hard done by I felt, especially considering that no one made me do any part of this.  

I was doing this week on top of my usual thirty day exercise challenge.  I begrudgingly did my push up minimums that day, then went on to complete over 1,000 push ups that day.  For no particular reason I continued to complete 1,000+ push ups each day after that.  I toyed with the idea of reaching 2 weeks, or 3 weeks, or even 30 days, but none of this really seemed possible as it was so difficult just getting through one week. 

I kept going, and reached 30 days of one thousand push ups per day.  Then I did another day because some months have 31 days and I wanted to be able to say that I had completed an entire month of one thousand push ups per day.  

I am now one of the small number of people in their 40’s who have completed an entire month of 1,000 push ups per day.

Then for some reason I didn't want to stop, so I continued until I reached fifty consecutive days of one thousand push ups per day.  Very few people in their 40's can honestly say that they have achieved this.  I did a few more days on top of this and reached two months, 62 continuous days.  After two months I stopped, enough was enough.

Push ups are great for skinny fat people

One of the frustrating things about being skinny fat is that I have achieved something that few people can do, and am still not ripped.  I kept doing one thousand push ups per day, and eventually stopped after 62 days.  I figured this seemed like a natural stopping point as it was two grueling months.

No one would ever think by looking at me that I have done 1,000 push ups per day for 62 consecutive days, but I have, and you should do this too.  Or at least you should set a personal challenge to do one week of one thousand push ups per day.  Don't tell anyone you are doing this, just set the challenge and do it.

If I can do one thousand push ups per day then so can you.  I am skinny and weak, and I did sixty two consecutive days of one thousand push ups per day in my 40’s.  

I was involved in an accident years ago after which I was told by a doctor that I would never walk again.  I walk.  I was later told by a leading specialist that my body would degrade so badly that I would have to retire by age 50 due to pain.  I am putting in the effort to get strong now.  Prochnost' training is helping me be stronger and push back this date so I can lead a less painful and more enjoyable life for as long as possible.  

I put in a little training time each day, but make sure that it is every day (no lies, no excuses), and look what I have achieved.  Most people in this country will never do 1,000 push ups in a day, they will never do a week of one thousand push ups very day, and they will not do 62 consecutive days of one thousand push ups per day.  I certainly don't have hours to spend at the gym, and I doubt you do either.  If I can do this, then you should give it a try too.  Just aim for a week, and see where it takes you.

I may not look like I could ever do something like this, but  doing it increases my strength dramatically, so it has been worth the effort.  

A month after stopping 1,000 push ups per day

After ending my 1,000 push ups per day I then did about 250 per day.  After doing this for a month, the photo above shows that I still look pretty much the same.  Perhaps I have slimmed down a little, but that may just be the lighting.

This has made other things in everyday life easier and less painful.  Strangely enough I still struggle to walk upstairs, and if rain is coming or the weather is about to change I am in a world of hurt.  I am now a lot stronger and in less pain most of the time, so it really is worth it.

You should join me and do a personal challenge of one week of completing 1,000 push ups per day.  

Just start with one week and see how you go.  That seems difficult yet achievable.  If you get through that, perhaps aim for one month.  You will never know that you can do this until you give it a go.

If you do try to do one thousand push ups per day let me know how you go in the comments.  If you succeed, or even if you fail, perhaps your story will inspire someone.  If you are skinny fat then all the more reason to do something like this!  

Prochnost training - Try harder. (стараться), be more (более)!