If you are working out regularly, odds are, you are doing pushups. They can be an excellent exercise, as this strengthens your upper-body strength. However, one may be asking themselves if 100 pushups a day are beneficial to your body at all.
You can indeed do 100 pushups a day. Your body will adapt to this routine, and it can be beneficial initially due to lowering stress and risk throughout the body. However, you must consider that specific muscles in your body need time to rest, so it may not be worth it due to this reason.
Read on to find more information if you should or should not do 100 pushups a day. We will also delve into the signs of overtraining and the pros and cons of doing 100 pushups daily. The read will be well worth it!
Should I Do 100 Pushups a Day?
It surely does not hurt to do 100 pushups a day. However, your body will adjust to doing it daily, and it might not be as beneficial as you think when time flies by.
The more your body does pushups, the easier it will become over time, which results in less muscle growth.
Another common reason why it is not feasible is that your body needs time to reset itself. In most cases, bodybuilders or people who generally work out will focus on one specific muscle at a time.
Having your body rest may be common knowledge, but the reason is that your muscles can retract and contract properly. Overusing them will result in muscle pulling, which you would want to avoid.
What Should I Do if it’s Too Hard?
If doing 100 pushups a day is too difficult for your fitness level, then you probably should not do it or do what you can.
You can always do a smaller amount of pushups that will help you strengthen your upper body. In doing so, it will equip you for your goals.
There are a few other options to consider, but you’ll have to put your ego aside and come to grips with reality:
- Wall pushups
- Countertop pushups
- Assisted-knee pushups
Tips On Doing 100 Pushups a Day
Some of you still want to do 100 pushups every day despite the risks that you may take. We want to help you out with this situation and have gotten an answer for you!
There are a few options you can do that will lower the consequences involved;
- Space the pushups out during the day: You can do the pushups in sets every hour instead of doing them all at once. This allows you to have more recovery time in between sets. You can easily do this on your break or wherever you feel most comfortable if you’re working.
- Don’t overdo yourself before you fail: Say you can do 15 pushups in a row. You’ll want to limit that set to 10 each time. Doing so will prevent injury, and your muscles and joints will not work too hard. It also lowers the intensity of the workout, which helps you get to your goals quicker.
- Pace yourself slowly in the beginning: Doing pushups every day means it is unwise not to combine this workout with others, such as intense cardio or heavy lifting. Although you may want to show everything off to your friends, it is not worth the injury or risks involved. In other words, make sure you’re ready and pace yourself accordingly.
- Get enough sleep: Regeneration is critical for success, and not getting enough sleep will not help you progress quickly. If you are like me and do not sleep well at times, take some supplements that will help you out and give you the “gentle push” for sleep.
How Do I Know if I Am Overtraining?
Many of you know what overtraining is, but for those who do not, it is intense training that does not provide enough time to recover, according to Ace Fitness.
Here are the symptoms of physical overtraining:
- Headaches
- Blood pressure is elevated in resting time
- Not performing as well as you used to
- You are recovering too long
- Heartbeat is raised in the mornings
- No more appetite
- Loss of coordination
- You will not be hungry (appetite loss)
- Developed bad sleeping patterns
- Muscle tenderness & soreness
- Gastrointestinal disturbances
- Cannot ward off infections
- Increased incidence of musculoskeletal injuries
Case 1: Suppose the specific activity (in this case, pushups) is causing you to have health issues. In that case, it is essential to stop what you are doing to take care of yourself. If you have increased the momentum due to training for an event, it is different, however.
Before quitting altogether, you can try and reduce the stress you are putting on your body. Instead of doing 100 pushups from the beginning, try 10. The following week 20 pushups, and so on until your body is used to the 100.
Case 2: In other instances, you may cause overtraining from something phycological. Is there any trauma that you are currently dealing with? How is your home and work life?
If this is the case, it would be in your best interest to address the issues accordingly before starting 100 pushups again.
Signs of phycological and emotional overtraining are as follows:
- Depression
- Apathy
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling very emotional
- Lowered self-esteem
Case 3: The last reason may be that you are at risk of declining health if you exercise more often than you should. Making gains is excellent until your stamina is not working very well. Just as you need a break from everything else in life, your body needs a break too.
Benefits & Drawbacks of Doing Daily Pushups
There will always be pros and cons to everything you do. First, let us take a look at the advantages!
PROSCONSYou’ll become a lot betterMuscle imbalances may developIt will help you build upper-body strengthYou’re not 100% recoveredProvides great weight management
PROS
1. You’ll Get Better At It
When you start off doing pushups, it will quickly occur that they are hard to do, especially if you do not have much muscle mass in your upper body.
However, when you do pushups daily, you will eventually start doing them quickly and easily, as 100 pushups are not a lot.
Doing them efficiently after a while is because our bodies adapt to what we are doing. Your muscles might get used to what you are doing and stop working after a time.
On the other hand, some people have had great success rates from doing 100 pushups daily for a year. This person does not recommend doing it daily, but he did it only because he wanted to see the results in a year. You can see his story here.
2. Helps You Build Upper-Body Strength
Pushups are compound muscles, which means they focus on several muscles at once. In this instance, it will benefit your upper-body strength.
This specific exercise will mainly focus on your shoulders, chest, and triceps, saving you loads of time in areas that do not have this luxury. However, your lower back and abdominal muscles are being put to use when in proper form, too. Not to mention, you are not paying for any equipment to use!
3. Provides Weight Management
One of the best things about doing daily pushups is they will help you with weight loss and management. Getting into that daily routine ensures you’ll meet your goals.
Since pushups do not require any equipment. They can be done practically anywhere, especially since you are burning calories each time you do them.
CONS
1. Muscle Imbalances May Be Developed
If all you do is pushups daily and nothing else for your body, this can result in muscle imbalances. For example, your chest will gain much muscle mass over time, while your legs will look like they have nothing worth showing for. Now, who would want that? Especially if you are trying to build your body up.
Looks aside, imbalance in the muscles can lead to other things, too. Your posture will subside, and playing sports results in limited movement.
The solution to this issue is quite simply making sure you have a balanced workout put in. Hitting different parts of your body during your workout sessions is a must for your sake.
2. Your Will Not 100% Recover
As mentioned before, your muscles need time to go back to normal again. Daily pushups will make it very hard for your muscles to recover, thus leaving it hard for your muscles to progress.
Making sure you are allowing your body to rest will help your muscles grow faster. If you are a beginner in working out, it is said that you should start with a maximum of 2 to 3 times per week until your body gets used to it.
Final Thoughts
You can indeed do 100 pushups daily. However, it is not feasible due to the amount of stress you will put on your upper body after a while. However, if you still wish to do this challenge, then remember to follow the steps above.