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Ah, the mythical and magical 100 push ups.

Many people have trouble doing even one proper push up, so just imagine the glory of being able to do 100 push ups… straight and without breaks.

It seems that as soon as people become proficient at doing push ups… being able to do 100 push ups becomes the goal.

Is there anything magical about the number 100… no.

But being able to do that many push ups will set you apart from the crowd.

The First Time I Did 100 Push Ups

The first time I did 100 straight push ups I couldn’t have been more than 10 years old.

At the time, I already had been wrestling for years, and considered myself to be strong for my age.

It was off season, and to stay busy, my parents signed me up for Karate Class.

One day, two of the Black Belt instructors were testing themselves… seeing who could do more push ups.

I was in awe of these guys, and their abilities, so naturally I was watching intently.

I think one guy did about 50 and the other about 60… well shy of the 100 push ups of legend.

Since they saw me standing there gawking, they invited me to join in the contest.

I had never really tested my push ups ability before, even though I regularly performed push ups and other bodyweight exercises.

When I hit about 75 I glanced up at their stunned faces.

When I hit 100 push ups they stopped me… “They didn’t want me to hurt myself.”

That was the first time I did 100 push ups straight… and I still remember the look on their faces.

The Last Time I Did 100 Push Ups

When I got the idea to write an article about 100 push ups, I asked myself… “I wonder if I can still do 100 push ups straight.”

So I dropped and cranked out… 100 push ups!

Ok… I still do a lot of push ups in my training, but I don’t usually test myself like this.

I was amazed I could still do that many. (I’m now 38 years old)

I have to admit, it sure seemed easier when I was 10 years old… but nonetheless, I did it!

Here is one interesting observation…

The first time I did 100 push ups, I was trying to do the most I could… and was stopped at 100.

I could have done more push ups at the time.

This time, I was trying to do 100 push ups… and as I approached my goal the movement became very difficult.

I don’t think I could have done 101 push ups.

It could be because 100 push ups is a lot of push ups… or it could have been my mind/body connection giving me exactly what I needed to achieve my goal.

If I didn’t set my goal at 100… could I have done more?

Anyway, that was the first and last time I did 100 push ups.

Conclusion

Push ups are an excellent upper body builder, and when they are part of a progressive bodyweight training program like Workout Without Weights… watch out!

I have to admit, the reason I could probably still do 100 push ups was the research and workouts I was doing to write the book… if I had been doing some other training method (weight lifting) I probably wouldn’t have been able to do half that amount

If you can’t do 100 push ups… don’t worry about.

Perform push ups properly, regularly and progressively… and who knows how many you can perform!