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Doing 100 Push Ups Every Day? Here’s Why You Need To Stop Now

- Writen by: - Reviewed by April Edwards, MScPT Fact checked

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This article presents a subjective perspective on the topic, crafted by writers who specialize in medical writing. It may explore personal experiences with illness or medical conditions, compare products, discuss dietary considerations, or offer other health-related insights.

While the views expressed are those of the writer, they are grounded in their academic background and scientific research. A team of qualified medical experts fact-checks the content, ensuring its accuracy. The information is further supported by reputable sources linked within the article.

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We can date the history of the push up back to ancient times. Greek and Roman armies would use them in their training. Fast forward thousands of years, and the push-up remains a staple of many gymgoers’ programs. 

In simple terms, it involves bringing your body down while maintaining a straight line and pushing up again. Even with its simplicity, it offers several useful benefits which make it a worthwhile program addition. As with any exercise, certain considerations should be made when programming it correctly. 

Performing 100 push-ups provides a simple daily challenge that requires you to get down and start pushing — that’s it! While you might be seeing amazing results online, it’s not everything it’s marketed to be when considering the science.
To help you correctly navigate the wealth of information online, we’ve discussed the 100 push-up challenge in detail. So, how many pushups is too many? Read on to find out below.

Reasons Why You Should Stop Doing 100 Push-Ups Daily

The push-up is a versatile bodyweight exercise that requires no equipment and uses a simple movement pattern. However, it comes with certain risks when correct programming isn’t considered. These are the six main risks to consider when deciding how many pushups is too many:

  • Imbalanced muscle development.
  • Risk of injuries.
  • Lack of Progression.
  • Risk of overuse injuries.
  • Mental fatigue and boredom.
  • Insufficient recovery time. 

Use each of the risks above to inform better programming when adding push-ups to your training. Perform the 100 daily push-up challenge while bearing the foundational training principles in mind.

6 Risks You Should Know When Overtraining Push-Ups

The benefits of push ups are well documented. As with anything, a certain balance is needed when taking all factors into account. Here are six risks to be aware of. 

Imbalanced Muscle Development 

A well-rounded physique can be defined as a balanced body that’s functional and aesthetically pleasing. This refers to the upper body, lower body, and the core. During movement and exercise, these need to work together to perform functional movement patterns.  

Push-ups are an upper-body exercise that works the chest, shoulders, and arms. While this provides a good upper-body workout, it misses important lower-body and core muscles. These include the quads, hamstrings, and quads.

The lower body provides a foundation when stable and during movement. The core provides a vital link between the upper and lower limbs and helps with physical performance.

With this, performing 100 push-ups daily as the only exercise isn’t a practical way to ensure well-rounded muscular development. Doing just this may lead to muscular imbalances.

Risks Of Injuries

risk of injuries due to imbalanced muscle development
Push up only works the upper body, leading to risks of injuries in other muscles when training. Photo: The Yuri Arcurs Collection/Freepik

The prevalence of weightlifting injuries is high due to the physical demands it places on the body. Approximately 27% of weight-training study participants reported an injury within the last month. With this, care needs to be taken when performing exercises.

When still and during movement, the human body works to keep efficient activity patterns. The bones, muscles, and joints work together to provide support and ensure proper movement. This allows the body to be used according to its capabilities.

The legs and core provide a solid base for movement. When walking, running, or changing direction, they work to provide balance and stability. During resistance, they work together to ensure the muscles and joints work as intended.

As mentioned above, push-ups are mainly an upper-body exercise. They don’t provide a suitable exercise stimulus for the core and the legs. This is when they are performed in isolation and not as part of a workout routine. 

Because of this, using the daily push-up challenge as your only exercise may increase the risk of injuries occurring.

Lack Of Progression

Health and fitness training involves the manipulation of different training variables to achieve desired outcomes. The correct way to manipulate them depends on your training goals. 

A common training goal is to improve muscular strength. This refers to the ability of the body to respond to resistance while maintaining the correct movement. Muscle strength is a key factor in strength-based sports and exercises such as powerlifting, throwing events, and Olympic lifting.

For strength adaptations to occur, the body requires a suitable training stimulus. This allows it to adapt and respond better the next time it occurs. In resistance training, this is known as progressive overload

The push-up can only be progressed so far as a bodyweight movement, offering a limited intensity. Push-up variations and volume increases can be used to improve this. However, this can only provide a small stimulus for athletes and lifters.

Training push-ups every day as your only training movement can therefore lead to a lack of strength progression. The push-up can be incorporated into your training, but it shouldn’t be the only movement.

Risk of Overuse Injuries

too much pushup leads to shoulder injuries
Doing too many push up can lead to shoulder injuries. Photo: The Yuri Arcurs Collection/Freepik

Overuse injuries are caused by repetitively using the same parts of the body during movement and exercise. These are commonly seen when overtraining. Negative effects may include pain, inflammation, and reduced mobility. 

The chest and shoulders are heavily involved in most pushing and pressing movements. This includes the exercise at the center of this article — the push-up. 

Performing 100 daily push-ups focuses on training volume. This refers to the amount of work performed using a certain movement or muscle. 

While volume is a key determinant of hypertrophy, it should be managed appropriately to limit the risk of overtraining. Performing a high volume of daily push-ups using common muscle groups may lead to overuse injuries. This is especially true when using a high training volume for multiple exercises.

Common issues can include pain and inflammation in the chest, shoulders, elbows, and wrists.

Mental Fatigue And Boredom

Most people focus on the main determinants of training. These include intensity, volume, and rest. While these are important, other things such as exercise variation play important, often overlooked roles.

As with most things in life, doing the same thing repeatedly can lead to mental fatigue and boredom. When applying this to health and fitness, exercise and dietary adherence are vital to consider for long-term success. Exercise and dietary methods become useless over a long period if they can’t be correctly applied.

The push-up is a great exercise when programmed appropriately. However, using it as your only source of exercise can become boring and lead to mental fatigue. Proper exercise variation is a great way to increase training motivation, leading to better chances of long-term success.

Exercise variety is just as important as the other variables when taking a holistic approach to health and wellness.

Insufficient Recovery Time

Proper recovery and rest time are important determinants of resistance training. For optimal adaptations to take place, a balance of fatigue, stress, and recovery is needed.

During the rest period, the body works to reduce fatigue and adapt to the exercise demands. It allows vital oxygen and nutrients to be delivered during the healing process. Alongside this, muscle tissue breaks down and rebuilds stronger as part of its adaptive training response. 

Once these processes are completed, the body can be used for the next resistance session or sporting event. This ensures sustained performance and reduces the risk of injuries occurring.

A minimum rest period of 48–72 hours is suggested when working the same muscle groups. This ensures adequate time for the processes listed above.

Performing 100 push-ups per day doesn’t allow for sufficient rest. This can become a bigger issue when programming other pushing or pressing movements. Poor volume management and insufficient recovery time may lead to overtraining.

How Many Pushups Should You Do A Day?

With the information above, you might be thinking how many push-ups should I do daily? 

The correct amount of push-ups depends on your training goals and stage of training. Someone training for endurance or hypertrophy will perform more sets and repetitions than someone training for strength and power. Furthermore, a beginner gymgoer will perform fewer push-ups than an advanced lifter.

Generally speaking, the correct range should be between 50–100 push-ups per day. As a beginner lifter, you can aim for 3–5 sets of 5–10 repetitions putting you near the bottom range. As an advanced lifter, performing 3–5 sets of 15–20 repetitions would put you near the top of the suggested range.

If you’re an intermediate athlete, this range may fall in between these. Spacing the sets evenly across the day can help avoid fatigue and provide recovery between sets. This can be done at home, at work, or on the go if needed. 

The main goal should be to prioritize good technique over the quantity of repetitions. If you can’t use the correct form detailed below as an advanced lifter, perform the beginner ranges and reassess.

Master Push-Ups Form To Avoid Injuries

Push-Up Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

Follow the form guide and tips below to master the push-up form. This helps to provide a targeted exercise stimulus and reduce injury risk.

  1. Kneel on all fours with your knees and hands contacting the floor. Place your hands shoulder-width apart with your hands pointed slightly out.
  2. Bring both your legs back until they’re straight behind you. They should be in a straight line with your feet together. 
  3. Inhale and engage your core. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders with your head looking down. Ensure a straight line from your heels to your neck.
  4. Exhale and bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor. Keep a straight body position at all times, ensuring that your hips don’t sag.
  5. Pause briefly before your chest touches the floor. Exhale and extend your elbows to come back to the starting position. 

Follow these tips below to avoid injuries and common mistakes when programming the push-up.

  • Keep your core engaged at all times throughout both phases. This ensures a straight body position for targeted muscle activation.
  • Maintain a controlled movement tempo throughout each repetition. Avoid touching the floor at the bottom of the movement to maintain exercise focus. This provides you with a stable and balanced lifting position.
  • Place your hands at a slight angle before performing the push-up to limit potential wrist stress. If you feel any restriction, adjust your wrist position slightly. 
  • Ensure that your head and neck stay neutral throughout the exercise. This limits potential neck strain.

If You Still Wanna Train Push Ups Daily, Do This Instead 

Push-ups can be performed daily if you want to stick to this training method. However, using smart programming can help limit the possibility of negative effects occurring. If you’re still wondering how many pushups should I do a day, use the information below. 

Instead of doing 100 push-ups in a row, split them into manageable sets. These should be based on your training goals. The programming table and example workout below can be used as general guides.
These are the suggested sets and repetitions to perform according to your training style. These can be used as general guidelines rather than absolute values to hit. Your training may also consist of a mix of different ranges depending on the exercise.

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training3–53–5 (Weighted)
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training3–412–20
Power Training3–51–3 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Push-Ups

Ten weekly working sets is the suggested minimum volume for hypertrophy. Your hypertrophy training program may look something like this when applied to a 3 day workout split.

Exercise

Sets x Reps

Rest (between sets)
Flat Bench Press4 x 6-101 minute
Dumbbell Bench Flys4 x 6-101 minute
Decline Cable Crossovers4 x 6-101 minute
Bodyweight Push-Ups4 x 6-101 minute
Sample Push Workout Routine

The main idea is to apply the training principles to your training to correctly use them. The points raised above can help to inform better volume prescriptions. 

Look to add them into your training program rather than as a stand-alone exercise for one set. For example, use them as part of a bodyweight home workout, push day workout, or upper body routine. 

They can be programmed as part of a superset or normal workout depending on your goals and ability. A superset is where you perform two exercises in a row with no rest.

This way of programming ensures more exercise variety. It allows you to lower the repetitions while using different exercises to keep the same training volume. This different exercise focus also helps to limit the possibility of overtraining occurring. 

Different push-up variations can be added to change the target muscle group focus. Alongside offering more variety, this also helps to give certain muscle groups a rest when needed. Example variations include the wide grip push-up and push-up burpees. 

If you find yourself stuck on how to correctly program your training, use the help of a qualified professional. They can help to provide exercise guidance and explain the why behind the exercises you’re performing.

Conclusion

While the push-up remains a training staple, ensure you consider the risks above when deciding on your programming. The push-up challenge is a great idea to improve fitness and get people to exercise. However, certain considerations need to be made when taking a wider view of your health. 

We’re not saying you shouldn’t perform the push-up. We’re actually saying quite the opposite. Just make sure to think about the different training determinants and consider your wider training goals before beginning.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pushups a day is too much?

The correct amount of daily push-ups depends on your training goals and recovery periods. Training for endurance and hypertrophy will require more daily volume than strength and power. Make sure to manage this appropriately to avoid overtraining.

What will 100 pushups a day do?

Doing 100 push-ups a day provides a bodyweight movement that helps to build upper-body muscles, including the chest, shoulders, and triceps. However, it fails to take into account adequate rest and recovery periods.

Why do I stop seeing progress with 100 push-ups daily?

The amount of progress depends on many factors. These include your overall training routine, dietary intake, and genetics. If you stop seeing progress with 100 daily push-ups, you may need to look at your overall volume and rest periods.

Can doing 100 push-ups daily cause shoulder pain?

When performed with the correct form, doing 100 push-ups daily should not cause shoulder pain. However, incorrect form or overtraining may increase exercise stress and lead to injury. The extent of the shoulder pain depends on several other factors.

Resources

Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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About the Author

Chris is a seasoned health and wellness writer with a passion for empowering individuals to achieve optimal health and well-being through making meaningful lifestyle changes. He aims to use his background in fitness training and nutrition to deliver evidence-based, informative content to educate and inspire others. Alongside health and wellness.. See more

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