Long-Term Benefits of 100 Push-Ups a Day

There’s no doubt that push-ups are a real hit bodyweight workout. And yes, they’re absolutely hard to handle as well, particularly if you’ve never done them before. Push-ups are an important functional movement to master. One study demonstrates that performing a push-up from the floor requires you to move up to 75% of your body weight (1) and being able to move your body weight is a key factor for improving your quality of life as you age. 

Let’s face it, that’s impressive. But what if you could jazz it up a bit and commit to 100 push-ups a day? Some people might say that’s far too much, while others, experienced trainees, highlight the actual perks of daily push-ups. 

Although a classic push-up can be an intimidating exercise, perhaps giving you flashbacks to gym classes where your teacher called you out for weakness, you can always change your perception. The aim of this review is to help you acknowledge the long-term benefits of 100 push-ups a day and to determine whether they can replace training at the gym. You’ll also find out how to split 100 daily push-ups for the best results. 

Does 100 Push-Ups a Day Make a Difference?

A 100 push-ups a day transformation isn’t a myth or another fad. In reality, you’ll see changes in your body, depending on how long you’ve been doing them and your current fitness level. 

If you’re a beginner, you may: 

• Notice an increase in muscle tone in your shoulders, triceps, and chest.
• Become more disciplined and consistent with your daily workouts.
• Increase your core stability.
• Improve your upper-body strength.

It’s also important to add rest days to avoid potential side effects as jumping straight to 100 push-ups without adequate experience can be too much for beginners’ muscles. 

If you’re a more advanced practitioner, you may: 

• Require more manipulations with your push-ups to increase muscle size (weighted, one-arm, and other advanced variations).
• Transform 100 push-ups into your maintenance routine.
• Maintain your definition, but not maximize muscle growth alone.

Are these differences enough alone? That’s for you to decide. People have different goals, and strengthening your entire body may require more versatile workouts than push-ups. 

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What Are the Benefits of 100 Push-Ups a Day?

Regarding the benefits of doing push-ups every day, it’s difficult to name the specific perks of completing 100 push-ups daily. However, there are a few studies that have demonstrated the positive impact of daily push-ups on your health. 

1. Your cardiovascular health gets better. A 2019 study investigated the link between the number of push-ups a person can complete and their risk of developing a cardiovascular health issue. 1,104 middle-aged males took part in the study and it was found that those who were able to perform more than 40 push-ups were 96% less likely to develop cardiovascular issues than men who performed fewer than 10 push-ups (2). This is one of the many examples of how performing push-ups can improve your quality of life as you age.
2. Your joints can work better. Doing push-ups daily can help you improve your joint support. These exercises effectively strengthen the muscles around your shoulder joints, which are responsible for keeping your upper arm bones in the shoulder sockets (3).
3. Your flexibility and posture improve. Committing to daily push-ups is good for your flexibility as you stretch your back muscles while lowering your body to the floor. You also stretch your bicep muscles when you’re lifting your body weight. Push-ups can also help correct poor posture, particularly in individuals who lead a more sedentary lifestyle or spend a lot of their time sitting. The exercise activates your core muscles, which leads to a corrected posture (4).
4. Your weight decreases through the relationship between calories burned and calories consumed. Fat loss occurs when the body is in a calorie deficit, which means that you’re burning more calories than you’re consuming. It’s no surprise that 100 push-ups a day can help you lose some weight due to their ability to create a calorie burn, but overall push-ups calories burned will depend on your age, body composition (weight), body temperature, workout intensity, and overall fitness levels. Some online calculators can show you how many calories you’ll burn. According to one source, a person who commits to 100 push-ups may burn around 32 calories (5). However, to reach your weight loss goals, you need to eat a balanced diet and consume fewer calories than you burn.
5. Your shoulders and back are better protected. According to WebMD, push-ups can help you protect your shoulders and lower back from injury (6).
6. Your muscle tone and strength increase. A small study confirmed that different push-up variations activate multiple muscle groups, which helps improve upper body strength (7).

Read more: Calisthenics Workout Plan for Men Who Want to Get Lean

What Muscles Do 100 Push-Ups Work?

The push-up muscle groups are mostly upper-body muscles and include: 

• Upper and middle back muscles, including the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius muscles.
• Shoulder muscle group, including the deltoid major and deltoid minor.
• Chest muscle group, including the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.
• Serratus anterior, which sits on the side of the chest beneath the upper arm.
• Triceps, at the back of the upper arm.
• Biceps, at the front of the upper arm (8).

In addition to these muscle groups, push-ups activate other muscles in your body, including: 

• Abdominal, or core muscles.
• Lower back muscles.
• Leg muscles, which include the hamstrings, quadriceps, calf, and shin muscles.
• Gluteus maximus and medius, which are the buttock muscles (8).

Clearly, push-ups are an exercise that can get your entire body moving together. It will activate a majority of the muscles in the body, which makes it a valuable compound exercise movement. 

What Happens After 30 Days of 100 Push-Ups?

Doing 100 push-ups a day for a month can lead to noticeable changes, particularly regarding upper-body strength. 

First of all, you’ll improve your muscular endurance, especially in your chest, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. There’s a great chance that your body will perform push-ups more easily by the end of the month. One study on firefighters showed that doing push-ups frequently helped them perform 34 to 53 push-ups per minute. This means that their push-up capacity improved due to repetitive push-up training (9).

Secondly, you may notice changes in your muscle definition. 100 push-ups a day will lead to a greater calorie burn each day. When combined with a healthy calorie-controlled diet, fat loss can occur. A reduction in fat will work to show off muscle definition even further.  

Thirdly, after a month-long push-up challenge, you’ll improve your core strength and posture. 

Regarding weight loss, push-ups don’t burn a great deal of calories, but when you combine them with a balanced diet and calorie deficit, your body will likely lose a decent amount of fat. 

The fourth reason to do push-ups daily is the prevention of bone loss. The study, which was published in Biomed Research International, analyzed the most effective means to limit bone loss and encourage the building of new bone. It confirmed that resistance exercise is effective for both preventing bone loss and improving bone mass, compared to walking (10).

Finally, when people do push-ups and other physical activities, they start to feel better about themselves as exercising has a positive effect on their self-esteem (11).

However, there may be certain risks connected to a 100 push-ups daily challenge. They include: 

• Reaching a fitness plateau. When people repeat the same exercise daily, it becomes less challenging over time. This can result in a fitness plateau where your muscles are no longer developing. To avoid this, it’s advisable to integrate more diverse exercises or manipulate some aspect of the workout to continuously challenge your body.
• Having lower back pain. Some push-up variations, such as backward push-ups and forward push-ups, activate lower back muscles, which can cause discomfort or pain in this area (7). People with existing back conditions should talk to their doctor before doing push-ups.
• Overuse injuries. Performing the same moves daily without rest can cause tendon irritation (in the wrists, shoulders, and elbows) or joint strain.

Can 100 Push-Ups Replace a Gym Workout?

Doing push-ups alone cannot fully replace a gym workout. Even if you do 100 push-ups a day for a year, it’s not enough to reach specific goals. Push-ups offer loads of benefits, plus they’re free and require only your body weight, but a well-rounded fitness plan will work multiple muscles in the body throughout the week. Push-ups can activate a majority of your muscles, but they don’t do much for lower body strength. 

Gym workouts can activate more muscle groups, offering progression. However, push-ups focus on the same group of muscles and because of this, it can be more challenging to introduce progressive overload to this exercise. Progressive overload is the driving factor of hypertrophy (muscle mass increase). Without progressive overload, we would then go back to our previous point about reaching a fitness plateau.  

Does this mean that you still need to hit the gym to become stronger and toned? Not necessarily. You don’t need free weights or machines to develop strength.  Push-ups are one of the many exercises that are involved in calisthenics. Calisthenics is a bodyweight workout that can be used to make your body stronger and more toned. Calisthenics training involves different bodyweight exercises that engage a wide range of muscle groups, helping you build an athletic physique with balanced strength and agility. 

Read more: This Is How A Toned Body For Men Looks Like, According To Science

How to Split 100 Push-Ups for the Best Results?

Here’s a smart way to split 100 push-ups depending on your fitness level:

Beginners’ split: 

• Figure out how many push-ups you can do consecutively with proper form, then take this number and try to hit it multiple times throughout the day.
• For example, if you can do 10 push-ups in a row with proper form and without resting, aim to do 10 push-ups every 15 minutes until you reach 100 push-ups.
• This will allow your body time to rest between repetitions and ultimately reduce your likelihood of injury.

Performing 10 push-ups every 15 minutes will help you form a habit and avoid injuries. Beginners may find it extremely difficult or even impossible to do more than 10 push-ups in one attempt, which is why spreading them throughout the day is more attainable. 

Intermediate Split

• You do 4 sets of 25 repetitions.
• Either do it in one workout with 60-90 seconds of rest between sets or do 2 sets during one hour, and then the following two during the next hour.
• Feel free to add different push-up variations per set.

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Time-Based Split

Do as many push-ups as you can for 1 minute, then rest for 1 minute and repeat until you reach 100. 

Hybrid Split

Set 1: 25 classic push-ups
Set 2: 20 wide-stance push-ups
Set 3: 20 diamond push-ups
Set 4: 20 decline push-ups
Set 5: 15 fast push-ups

As you can see, there are many options for you to split your 100 push-up routine. Remember that each person’s body differs. It’s important not to push yourself through pain or fatigue as this increases the risk of injury. 

Endurance and strength take time and practice. Beginners should consider this and not get frustrated when completing even 10 push-ups seems difficult. 

A good idea is to start with easier versions of push-ups: on an elevated surface or wall push-ups are great low-impact alternatives for people who haven’t worked out for a while.  

Frequently Asked Questions

• How many push-ups do I need to do to get ripped?

Doing push-ups alone to get ripped isn’t enough. Individuals who aim to get ripped should plan their diet: emphasize fueling their bodies with proper nutrients while also taking a look at the relationship between daily calories consumed and daily calories burned. Fat loss occurs when you’re burning more calories than you’re consuming. Becoming “ripped” happens with a low body fat percentage and a high muscle mass. In summary, people should consider adding total body strength training activities to their fitness schedules in addition to push-ups to achieve their desired results. 

• Can 100 push-ups a day build muscle?

Doing 100 push-ups a day in good form and with progression can lead to noticeable gains in your chest, shoulders, and triceps. One study showed the efficacy of push-ups on muscle hypertrophy (12). If muscle growth is your main goal, you could consider adding resistance training with challenging exercises that use both your body weight and free weights. Push-ups can absolutely be included in this, but they shouldn’t be your main exercise for gaining muscle throughout your entire body. 

• Will 100 push-ups a day tone my arms?

Yes, doing one hundred push-ups a day will tone your arms, particularly when you’re a beginner. They’ll develop your triceps, shoulder muscles, and pecs. To activate other arm muscles, feel free to add another exercise, such as bicep curls with weights, chin-ups, and more difficult push-up variations such as diamond or archer. 

• Is 100 push-ups a day safe for beginners?

Performing 100 push-ups a day can be relatively safe for beginners, but only when done with good form and gradually. Beginners should build up first by performing more sets with fewer reps, spreading them out throughout the day, and resting when needed. Some people may find it difficult to complete even a few push-ups, which makes 100 too many for newbies. Alternate days for recovery can be helpful here. Strength gains come from consistent training with proper form and you should never sacrifice form in order to reach a certain number of repetitions.

The Bottom Line

Generally, performing 100 push-ups daily may improve your heart health, flexibility, and posture, and even increase your strength and muscle tone. 

Push-ups may also reduce body fat when combined with a balanced diet and calorie deficit. This exercise is also good for joint support and endurance. 

Push-ups cannot completely replace gym training. To get stronger and work more diverse muscle groups without the gym, calisthenics is an incredible option and push-ups are included in this form of exercise. To reduce your likelihood of injury, it’s important to warm up, start slow, and move to your fitness goals gradually without neglecting any pain in your body.