100 push-ups in a row.  6 weeks. 3 days a week.

That is the plan.  Doing a prescribed set of push-ups 3 days a week for 6 weeks should allow you to complete 100 push-ups in a row.  That is the claim of the latestet Internet fitness revolution.  Bloggers (and non-bloggers) everywhere are taking part in the Hundred Push-Up Challenge created by Steve Speirs at Run Bulldog Run.

If you’ve been following my marathon training, then you know that I’m in the middle of Week 4 3.  I’m almost up to 100 push-ups total in one setting – but within 5 sets.  It can be pretty challenging some days.

I decided that I wanted to add a little something to my workout and started the challenge using a swiss ball. In addition to the regular benefits, I get a little extra benefits for my overall core.  During an exhaustion test at the end of Week 2 my arms felt great doing the push-ups but my abs couldn’t hold my legs on the ball anymore and I fell over.  My plan is that this will greatly strengthen my overall core and I’ll reap a little extra benefit for the marathon training.

It seems that pretty much everyone has had to repeat at least one week, including Steve himself.  If you fail to meet the required workouts you should repeat the entire week to make sure you get the strength needed later.  I repeated Week 2 because I skipped a workout! If you are thinking about starting it now, make sure that it fits in with your training schedule for fall races – you don’t want to try doing 100 push-ups the day before your marathon!

Are you one of the thousands doing the push-up challenge? Where are you at in the challenge and how does it feel?

[tags] push-ups, Hunderd Push-Up Challenge, Core [/tags]