One Hundred Push Ups: The Final Test (Take Fore)

Note: Started off with 3 sets of push-up styled burpies to get the entire body warmed up. Then, after a 5 minute break, I went right into the max sets:

max 1 ——> 50

(6 minute break)

max 2 ——> 70

(5 minute break)

max 2.5 ——> 20 (lost concentration, so I decided to start over)

(5 minute break)

max 3 ——> ??

It must be said that I took almost 5 days off from the push up test due to much of my free time this week being spent on renovations/cleaning up in and around the house as well as just having a small life away from exercising and tumblelogging (believe it or not). Not sure if that helped any to give my chest and arm muscles some rest or if it caused them to regress in size and power. Either way, I found out exactly where I stood today.

Notice how I only did 3.5 sets before I was satisfied with my results (and I’m not easily satisfied as you can probably tell in my previous posts). The burpies helped to pump blood into the muscles and warm them up without fully exhausting them (which was the point). As a result, my new personal high in consecutive push ups is…*MPC drum machine roll*…

NINETY-ONE!

Then I took a 10 second break and did 10 more just for fun. Of course those extra reps do not count, but it’s a wonder how much a few seconds of rest will give you when you’re already pumped up. Around 50, I knew I could make it to 70. At 70, I pushed hard to make it to 80. By 80, it was almost all mental from there and the rate of reps slowed down considerably (once again, I try and do the reps as fast as I can to out race muscle failure…that’s just how my body works). Also, my usually steady core started to shake in the 80s, a sign that my entire support system was feeling the strain. As a result, 91 was my absolute breaking point (my muscles were practically frozen considering they were in constant hardcore stress for a considerable amount of time). And I’m quite happy with that result.

The most important thing about today’s test is that 100 looks plausible now. It can be done and once I drill that into my brain, give myself the proper rest and warm up before the test, then I know I can do it and can finally put this last challenge to bed for good. Only 9 additional reps stand between me the promised land of push ups. And when that happens, you will hear about it first right here.