Starting this post with the similar energy from yesterday! Third disappointing day in a row. I took more time to finish the 100 push-ups. Not only that, I could barely compete with my previous number of push-ups in a single rep. Gosh, it felt bad.

One inside story that I would like to share is that whatever bad feeling I had after these push-ups, I made sure I excel at CrossFit workout and finished the 45-minute workout in just 35 minutes, topping the session. It gave me a really good feeling.

Talking about the push-ups, I took 12 seconds more compared to the previous day to finish my 100 push-ups. Also, I could complete only 23 push-ups in the first rep which was not impressive when compared with the previous best of 30 push-ups. 👎🏽
I got beaten up on both the fronts; making the 100 push-ups not a good highlight of the day for me. 😞

The learnings are difficult, but very important for the lesson to learn.

1. 🔴 Took 12 seconds more to finish the 100 push-ups. 👀 👎🏽
2. 🔴 Could not beat the last best record of 30 push-ups in a single rep. 😾 🥱
3. 🔴 I hurried through the 100 push-ups as I was getting late for CrossFit; I should have taken my time and given more dedicated effort.
4. 🔴 Week 2 has a lot in store and I should focus on improving on daily basis, instead of focusing on the final result.

If you are looking for the Time-Lapse from December 07, 2019, please check out the video below. You can see, I took more breaks and was visibly tired in my attempt. No further explanation needed!

Here’s the tracker to document the progress.

The third disappointing day in a row for me, moreover, I ended the first week on a low note – which I did not want to do. As mentioned earlier, I should not have rushed through my push-ups. Well, a lesson well learnt – I will remember it the next time!

As we have reached the end of the first week, I would like to give you the progress I have made over this week, and you be the judge of it.

• Maximum Push-ups per repetition

I must say, when you look at the big picture, you see I have made *some* progress when it comes to maximum number of push-ups per rep.
The first day, I could barely complete 10 push-ups in the first rep; whereas, by the last day of the week, I more than doubled this number to 23. I hit a high of 30 unbroken push-ups during this week. That is my personal best till now.

Here’s the graph giving you a better idea of the last seven days of Week-1.

• Total time taken for 100 push-ups

This is the area where I have worked harder. I started the week with 08:25 for the 100 push-ups and by the weekend, I cut down a couple minutes and took only 06:30 for those push-ups. I can consider this as a *small* victory with more improvements to come.

Here’s the graph to showcase this progress.

Week 2, here I come.

Enjoy this gif till then! Bye Bye!

Where do I start with today? If I want to set the expectation right for today, I can explain it in only one word and that is – “disappointing”. The worst things that I imagined yesterday came true today and boy, was I down the whole day, despite it being a Friday! Such a waste of a Friday, I tell ya!

So to put things in order, let me tell you, I took more than a minute to finish my quota of 100 push-ups. I think, this is enough to express my disappointment. As soon as I was finished with my 100 push-ups, I looked at my timer and did not expect it to be that high. Then I spent a good 10 minute looking at the video of my push-ups and found out I was “really slow” after my third rep. I took more time for the push-ups and took more and long breaks in between, which eventually messed up my total time. I was glad that I looked at the video there itself to figure out the problem, and could solve it.

I improved upon the maximum number of push-ups in one rep and jumped from 26 to 30. It was the first time that I could crack the 30 push-ups riddle in one rep. I was happy to see that number.

There was a lot to learn from today’s session.

1. 🟢 Improved the max push-ups from 26 to 30. Yay me! NOT. 👀 👎🏽
2. 🔴 I need to focus more on my breaks and the number of reps. If I could cut those down, I will be able to finish the 100 push-ups in much lesser time with less efforts. 🥱
3. 🟢 My chest and muscles are showing good progress; I could feel the increase in size for both the chest and left and right biceps. So, I think, the push-ups are working for me. 💪🏽
4. 🔴 Instead of talking about learnings, I should implement those and quickly, otherwise these 30 days will pass by before I know it. 🤐

Here’s the Time-Lapse from December 06, 2019. As always, there is a lot of room for improvements. With the first week almost coming to an end, I should quickly work on my strategy to improve both the time and the number of push-ups.

Here’s the tracker to document the progress.

This is the second disappointing day in a row for me. Having said that, I am the kind of person who looks for some positivity in the worst situations; therefore, I think these last two days have been a great learning experience, which will definitely benefit me in the long run.

Talking about the numbers, as you can see I failed miserably by taking more than a minute compared to yesterday. I cannot justify such a lackluster show by any excuse, so I will keep myself short. The only positive from today’s workout was increasing the maximum push-ups by 4, which is not great, but I will take it. And I will stop right here for today!

It’s time! Adiós!

Oh man! It was really hard to get out of the bed today! My legs and arms were sore from the previous day’s CrossFit workout. As soon as I opened my eyes, I asked myself, should I really do the push-ups today? It was hard to convince myself, and that’s why I was a little lazy in my attempt. I don’t remember what I told myself to get out of the bed for the push-ups, but before I know, I had already started with “ritual”. And, I was so glad I did that, because as soon as I was done with, I just crashed on my living room floor and stayed there for good five minutes. That’s when I realized, if I had started those push-ups even one minute later, I would not have finished those.

Starting off with the 100 push-ups, I did not have any plan in my mind. The only goal I was pursuing was to finish these 100 push-ups and kind of kick off the day. That might be the reason I did so poorly on the maximum push-ups in one rep. I could barely defeat the previous record just by one push-up. The last push-up was not that convincing; I remember Dwight Schrute calling it as a “GIRL PUSH-UP” in one of the cold opens of the office. That was a funny scene!

Getting back to my performance, I was surprised to find out I cut down roughly 40 seconds from the total time. It was an incredible feat; especially when I started off with no plan whatsoever. I think it might be because of the improved breathing technique; more so it was now a part of my push-up routine. I was happy with the way things were shaping up. I did not have to pay attention to my breaths as I was becoming more comfortable with the inhale and exhale part of it. Hooray to me! #selfbragging #humblebrag 😝

Shall we talk about the learnings from the Day 5 of the 100 push-ups.

1. 🟢 No problem with the breathing technique; I think, I have made myself comfortable with the part of it.
2. 🔴 Somedays, it is really hard to wake up. I think the only person that can help me overcome this is myself. 💪🏽
3. 🔴 I should really focus on the maximum push-ups in one repetition; without that, I will not be able to keep myself happy.
4. 🔴 I think I am taking more breaks after the first rep, so, I should work on either reducing those breaks or complete as many push-ups as I can in the first rep itself.

Here’s the Time-Lapse from December 05, 2019. There is a lot of room for improvements.

The below tracker is to document the progress.

As you can see, I improved the time by quite a margin; however, I could barely beat the maximum push-ups in one rep. I was disappointed with that, but, hey, on the bright side, I improved and that’s what matters, right?

Today was not a great day as per number of maximum push-ups are concerned. I am not feeling great about that. Let us see what’s in store for the next day.

Totsiens!

This was the fourth day of the 30-day 100 push-ups. By this time, I was used to waking up early and cracking 100 push-ups before hitting the bathroom. I guess, this was my schedule now for the next month or so. I must say, I liked it. I felt this confidence and energy going into work. I experienced better focus, energy, and enthusiasm at work, proving this exercise was really paying off in the first week itself.

I finally achieved my target of 25 unbroken push-ups in the first go. I paid special attention to what my body was telling me after the 20th workout, and surprisingly, it was not tired, so I could go for another 5 push-ups. This is where I failed miserably with my breathing technique. I should have kept my breath under check. If I would have done, I could have gotten more than 25 push-ups. But, again, it is a part of the learning curve and I am sure I would be able to cross this barrier of 25 push-ups soon. As far as the time was concerned, I did not have any problem beating my previous best performance.

Now, let us talk about the learnings from the Day 4 100 push-ups.

1. 🟢 My breathing technique further improved; this helped me achieve the 25 unbroken push-ups in one rep.
2. 🔴 I could feel that I lost my breath when it was required the most. It was definitely better than the previous attempt, but not up to the mark.
3. 🔴 Once you get tired from the push-ups, your body starts to shake. I think it is very critical to “listen” to you body at that particular instance. If you ignore, you might end up injuring yourself, which is the last thing you want.

Why don’t you take a look at the Time-Lapse from December 04, 2019. I found the breaks to be more confined, which was necessary, and full of good breathing techniques. However, this breathing technique needs more improvements, and I know, I can reduce the time if I improve it.

The tracker is below to document the progress.

As you can see, I improved both the time and number of push-ups during this session. I cut down the time by 30 seconds and improved the max reps by 5 (now, four times in a row). I am happy with the progress and the things that are going in the first week. I am becoming happier now, yay me! Hopefully, my progress goes UP NORTH. 😂 It is a joke for the Michiganders! 😝

Hope you find this effort useful.

Au revoir!

The third day had its own challenge. The first thing that I remember after waking up is to capture the Time-Lapse of the 100 push-ups, which I missed the previous day. I think this was motivating enough for me to go for the 100 push-ups, and did not need more convincing to push me.

I started the push-ups with the target of 25 unbroken push-ups in the first go. I know it was an ambitious goal for me, but still, wanted to see how far I can go without breaking a sweat. As I started, I reached 15 push-ups in no time and when I was on 17, I could not manage my breathing right, therefore, I had to stop at 20 push-ups; falling short of my target by 5 push-ups. I did not let that deter me, because, it was better than my previous performance.

After finishing the first rep, my goal was to go for a maximum of 5 push-ups per rep for the remaining 80 push-ups. This was again an ambitious goal, but had to go for it. I found out as I reached 50 I could not do 5 continuous push-ups in 1 rep, so I had to reduce it down to either 3 or 4 push-ups. This was my damage control strategy to keep up with the time, and surprisingly it worked. This was the third day of the workout, so I think, I was developing a pretty solid base and strategy for days to come to nail the 100 push-ups. I was proud of myself. 👼🏽

Now, let us talk about the Day 3 100 push-ups outcome.

1. 🟢 My breathing technique improved; helping to reduce time by 3 minutes. This is the biggest gain for me in terms of time.
2. 🔴 I could not stick to my target of 25 push-ups as max rep. No complaints here, but I know I could have done better.
3. 🟢 I developed a good strategy and breathing technique to go after remaining push-ups after finishing the first rep. It helped a lot to reduce the time.
4. 🔴 It is okay to take longer breaks between reps. I did take some shorter breaks between the reps, so I could not keep with the target of 5 push-ups per rep for the remaining 80 push-ups.

Here’s the Time-Lapse from December 03, 2019. You can notice my breath and pauses have improved by a little margin. There is still a lot of room for improvements. And, as always, suggestions are welcome. Hope, you enjoy the video.

The tracker is below to document the progress.

As you can see, I took notes from the previous day and significantly improved my time for 100 push-ups, also increasing the maximum number of reps by 5. I see an improving pattern here and hope it goes on like this and if it does, I will be one happy man! Stay tune for further updates.

Hope you find this effort useful.

Tata!

The second day came with more challenges, mentally! 🤯 The time I opened my eyes in the morning, I wanted to go back to bed again. It was cold 🥶 and cozy in the morning, and thought of myself as a fool to give it up and do some 100 push-ups. But, in that very moment, I convinced myself to get out off the bed and just start with the first 10 push-ups, similar strategy I used for Day 1, and surprisingly, it worked this time too. I think, waking up from a sound sleep and getting off my bed was the hardest thing I did that day.

I was so motivated to do push-ups that I forgot to turn my camera on and started doing push-ups. I was after the 100th push-up that I realized my mistake. Nevertheless, it was a good effort from a personal stand-point.

I think, for Day 2, I was more focused on increasing the number of maximum repetitions, so I was not paying more attention to the time, hence, resulting in taking more time. Also, one thing that I noticed, I did not have a good rhythm or technique for my push-ups, so that also added up some extra time. I am not complaining, but I could have done better. Anyway, I am happy that I could increase the max rep by 5.

A few things I noticed during 100 push-ups going in Day 2 –

1. I did not have a proper technique to focus more on my core, abs, biceps. 🛑
2. I could have taken longer breaks between reps to come stronger and finish in lesser time. 🛑
3. I could have pushed myself and increase the max reps by at least 1 or 2. 🛑
4. Positive – increasing max rep by 5. ✅
5. Improvement – proper technique and more focus on result-oriented efforts. 🛑

Unfortunately, I could not capture the Time-Lapse of the second day 100 push-ups. So, here’s the video from Day 1 again! Sorry to bore you! 🤮

The progress tracker to document the progress.

As you can see, it took me a minute more to finish the 100 push-ups, however, increasing the maximum number of reps by 5 (I think it is huge deal for the second day). More to come on that!

Hope you find this effort useful.

Alavida!

I know the title of this post sounds daunting, but trust me, it is not harder to do 100 push-ups every day for a month.

The motivation for doing this challenge came from an unexpected YouTube video suggestion. I was scrolling through the feed to watch a random YouTube video, when suddenly the following video popped up.

I was blown away by the incredible results the guy in the video experienced, without doing anything else; I thought “🆒”, let’s do this.

I did not use the equipment that he has used in this video. I am sure that might be useful, but I thought I would go ahead with natural means, and to be quite honest, I enjoyed it!

The first day is always the hardest. I remember waking up early in the morning and convincing, rather forcing myself to at least with the first ten push-ups. As soon as I finished the first 10 push-ups, the rest 90 push-ups fell into place.

The one thing that CrossFit has taught me over the last year is that it is important to take the first, the rest of it falls into place!

A few things I remember at the end of these 100 push-ups are –

1. My biceps were on fire and could see some bulge in those.
2. I could feel more strength in my chest.
3. I was a little out of breath at the end of the 100 push-ups.

It is very important to document this journey, as I would be able to see the final effects on January 1st, 2020. I will keep you guys posted.

Till then, please enjoy the Time-Lapse of my December 01, 2019 100 push-ups.

I will use the following format to track my progress.

Hope you find this effort useful.

Ciao!