As someone who travels the world, exercising on the go is vital for me to stay in shape. If you’ve been to a different country, you’ll understand the struggles of getting a daily pass to a decent gym.

So why am I telling you this? Well, for the last ten years, the push-up has been my go-to exercise when traveling. It requires no equipment, no gym access, and offers several versatile variations. 

My current goal is simple: Perform 100 push-ups split into manageable sets throughout the day when I can. This might be in my hotel room, in the park, or somewhere completely random. The benefits of push-ups are well-known, but their biggest benefit is their versatility. 

As with anything, there is such a thing as too many push-ups. I’ve spoken about this in a previous article. One of the ways I get around this is by integrating other versatile bodyweight exercises, such as pull-ups and dips.

I decided to perform 100 push-ups every day alongside my normal routine to see what would happen. Here are my results. 

6 Amazing Benefits That I Got From Training Push Up Everyday

Today, I’m going to share with you six amazing benefits that I got from training push-ups every day for a week. After this, I’ll end by sharing my verdict as a traveler, personal trainer, and health and fitness writer. 

It Felt Like They Would Improve My Upper Body

Push-ups target the chest, triceps, and shoulder muscles. They use the core as secondary movers, helping to support a straight body position.

After one week of 100 push-ups, I could feel myself becoming more confident that my body could better handle the extra 100 push-ups with ease. 

Performing them regularly is one thing, but doing them every day with the rest of my training was a lot harder than I thought. It added the extra volume I felt I needed to stay in shape and fit nicely around my travel schedule. 

Because of this, I felt like my upper body would get better. Of course, it takes longer than one week for actual hypertrophy increases to occur. Adding in the 100 push-ups for the extra training volume would definitely help. 

With this, note that I am classed as an advanced lifter and can handle the extra lifting volume. I didn’t train every bodyweight movement every day. With only push-ups, I split them into manageable sets across the day to avoid injury risks when overtraining push-ups.

Everyday Tasks Seemed So Much Easier

Functional strength is the ability of your body to handle everyday tasks and activities. Having good functional strength is important for overall mobility and quality of life. 

Examples of everyday tasks that require this include picking up the shopping and carrying the children around. Now, I don’t have children yet, but I definitely carry bags around!

As I mentioned above, I’m not a stranger to push-ups. I have a good idea of the correct form and how to perform multiple repetitions. 

Performing them every day with my other training was a lot. However, it definitely gave me a better awareness of the correct movement patterns and how to efficiently perform them. Note that I tried variations such as the diamond push-up, spider push-up, and clap push-up.

Mentally and physically, I felt like adding push-ups to my routine would improve my functional strength. Pushing up from the floor felt a lot easier. I also felt like I could push open doors with more control.

Again, it’s important to note that functional strength gains take longer than a week. It would be amazing if they didn’t! However, the familiarity with the movement patterns definitely made me feel more functional. 

My Metabolism Would Increase If I Kept Them Up

Metabolism can be defined as the sum of chemical reactions that occur in the body to allow normal functioning. This includes caloric expenditure, which is the amount of energy we use to maintain function, including exercise and activity. 

The more you move, the more energy you use and calories you burn. While 100 push-ups isn’t that high-intensity for me, it’s a lot of added volume, especially over a week. Extra volume requires extra energy to perform.

For me, I felt that the daily push-ups alongside my usual training would boost my metabolism. Over time, this could provide a small difference to help with my body composition and overall health. 

My Postural Awareness Started To Improve

Posture refers to the position of the body in space. It’s determined by factors such as positional awareness, muscle strength, coordination, and balance. We need posture for everything we do, even when sitting around or standing still.

My posture has always been an issue. Lots of sitting down to work and on transport when traveling has led to some bad postural habits developing. 

Upper-body issues in those who sit at a desk for long periods are reported to be around 50%. Because of this, I always make sure I’m actively working to improve my posture. I regularly stretch and try to be more aware of my body position. 

When performing push-ups daily, I felt more aware of my back and shoulder positions during general life activities. Maybe this was because of the technique cue to maintain a straight body position when performing each push-up.

Whatever the reason is, I definitely felt an improvement in my postural awareness. 

My Core Stability Felt Stronger

Core stability refers to the capacity of the muscles to maintain good posture and balance during movement and activity. It’s vital for the performance of daily tasks and exercise. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to function properly, increasing injury risk. 

Push-ups engage the core muscles to maintain better form. They work to keep a straight body position, preventing the hips from dropping.

Adding daily push-ups into my routine provides a great way to add more secondary core training volume. At the end of the week, I felt more comfortable when using my abs during daily activities and movements. I became more aware of how to activate my core better when carrying my bag around when moving from place to place.

Like strength, developing core stability happens over a much longer period. But I can safely say that adding push-ups into my routine could help to improve this. 

I Felt Like I Was Working On My Cardiovascular Health

Cardiovascular health is the ability of your heart and your blood vessels to function as intended. Good cardiovascular health means that our heart can pump blood efficiently, allowing oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles.

Push-ups are a strength-based bodyweight exercise. When performing the harder variations, I felt a noticeable elevation in my heart rate. Over time, this could improve my cardiovascular health and muscular endurance. 

For me, repeated repetitions at a high volume would provide a small but important beneficial effect on my cardiovascular health.

How To Do Push-Up

The push-up is a versatile bodyweight exercise that uses a simple movement pattern. You start in a prone position and lower your body weight to the floor by flexing your elbows. After this, you push back to the starting position by extending your elbows.

The primary movers are your pectoralis major, triceps brachii, and anterior deltoids. Your core musculature performs important secondary roles. The activation of each of these muscle groups depends on the push up variations you perform. 

Despite its simplicity, the push-up offers several workout benefits. It improves muscle endurance, promotes muscle growth, and increases functional movement. This makes it a great bodyweight exercise to program as part of a well-organized workout routine. 

How To Do

1. Find a suitable padded area or gym mat if possible. Assume a tabletop position with your hands and knees contacting the ground. 
2. Assume a high plank position by bringing your legs directly behind you. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders. There should be a straight line from your head to your heels when you’re on the balls of your feet.
3. Inhale and engage your core. Exhale and flex your elbows to lower your body towards the floor. Pause briefly at the bottom position before your body makes contact. 
4. Inhale and extend your elbows to lift your body back to the starting position. This means that the angle between your forearms and upper arms increases.
5. Ensure you maintain a stable position, keeping your hips up and head facing down. Perform each repetition using a controlled movement pattern.

Tips

• Different variations can be used to increase or decrease the difficulty. These can be changed depending on your exercise goals and target muscle groups.
• For the normal push-up, keep your hands shoulder-width apart with your hands facing slightly out. 
• Perform each repetition using a controlled movement pattern. To maintain balance, ensure that your body does not touch the ground at any point. This also keeps the focus on the target muscle.

My Verdict After Doing Push-Ups Everyday For A Week

Honestly speaking, performing push-ups every day for a week won’t turn you into a powerlifting world champion. But that’s not really what they’re for. Their main benefits stem from their role as a versatile bodyweight exercise that can be performed anywhere at any time. 

At the end of the week, I felt the extra training would make a difference to my health and fitness. However, even for me, the volume did feel like a lot on top of my other bodyweight exercises. Because of this, I will be implementing them for 3–4 days a week going forward with some integrated rest days. 

Adding 100 daily push-ups to my routine was harder than I thought, but I really enjoyed the extra challenge. If you’re looking for a simple exercise with several useful variations, push-ups are a great choice.

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