EEK GBP: £0.05

On one of the forums I'm on, someone posted about a 100 push-up training programme that spans 6 weeks.  The idea behind it is that at the end of the 6 weeks, you'll be able to do 100 push-ups.

When I was doing karate in my teens, we used to do 60 push-ups during training, and I remember finding them a struggle.  So I was interested to see how quickly a 12-stone weekling could get to the point where 100 push-ups was achievable.

The training programme is broken down into 6 weeks, and each week into 3 days.  You start off doing a test to see how many push-ups you can do before you start the programme.  This determines the number of repetitions you do as you progress.  The whole programme can be downloaded and printed off from the site.

Anyway, I managed 30 push-ups in my initial test, and according to the programme, that's not a bad starting point. 

Each day you follow the programme's 5 levels - so on Day 1 of Week 1, I had to do 10 push-ups, rest for 60 seconds, 10 more push-ups, rest, 8 push-ups, rest, 6 push-ups, rest, and then do as many as you can (at least 7).  The same pattern is repeated each time, but with the number of push-ups gradually increasing for each level.

Anyway, I've just completed Week 4 of the programme.  It's gone well, in fact it's gone very well…

Last night I was on the final day of Week 4.  The repetitions were 30-22-22-20-Max (at least 29).  The first four reps were relatively easy, and so I wanted to see if I could match the 70 push-ups I'd managed at the start of Week 4.  I somehow managed to get to 100!  Two weeks ahead of schedule, and I'm chuffed to bits.  

Now it's a case of building from there and making sure I keep it up from now on.  I guess I'll have to set a new goal to keep me interested.

It just goes to show, you have a target and a plan, and the rest is plain sailing.