Tag: Bodyweight Training

4000 Push-ups Challenge (in January)

I’ve completed a 4000 push-ups challenge this month, together with about 30 others from my Crossfit gym.

I decided to apply the “Margin of Safety” principle and did 150 per day, so I finished a couple of days early.

It was a real challenge for me, as push-ups are one of my least-liked exercises. I applied my push-up checklist and made great progress over the past 4 weeks. Now, whenever push-ups come up in the gym, I’ll be ready. (But I still won’t like them.)

It took some experimentation to find the best setup. In the end, this one worked best for me:

  • Do it (and complete it) first thing in the morning. No matter how you feel.
  • Do a short warm-up.
  • Do 3 sets of 10 push-ups, and then reward yourself with a couple of minutes of something (emails, social media etc.) Rinse and repeat.
  • Never sacrifice your form. If you can’t keep proper form (chest touches the floor & proper plank posture), then scale it down (= do them on a bench or on your knees.) I did >80% scaled ones.
  • Play an uplifting song and try to complete all three sets within this one song.
  • Do different kinds of push-ups to mix up the muscles you need to use.
  • Do a victory scream/dance when you are done (optional)
Image by nenadstojkovic

Posted on by Remo Uherek

Checklist: 6 Common Push-Up Mistakes

Recently I stumbled upon this video that made me rethink and improve my push-up game.

Here’s the checklist:

Mistake #1: Not applying Full Range of Motion
Solution: Get all the way down (chest touches the floor), and all the way up. Don’t just do half push-ups like most people. Do full ones!

Mistake #2: Flaring your elbows out too wide
Solution: Tuck your elbows in as close to the body as possible.

Mistake #3: Not keeping a straight spine
Solution: Keep a proper and firm plank position.

Mistake #4: Going too fast
Solution: Go slow and do each repetition properly.

Mistake #5: Not breathing properly
Solution: Breathe in through your nose as you go down. As you go up, breathe out in a steady stream through your mouth.

Mistake #6: Not progressing with the movement
Solution: When you can’t do full push-ups yet, do them on your knees, but still applying all things above (especially, keeping a straight posture). When regular push-ups stop being hard, you can do weighted ones (e.g. putting a weight plate on your back) or plyo pushups (e.g. clapping your hands in between reps) or one-handed ones.

Watch the full demonstration video here.


Posted on by Remo Uherek