The follow is more information on using the "Double Max" method of Push Up training as found in the book The Ultimate Guide To Pushups by David Nordmark. Hopefully this will help you in using Push100 to reach your goal!
Being able to perform 100 push ups in a row is a tremendous accomplishment. Most people out there, even when they're in shape, can barely perform 30, much less 100. The reasons for wanting to get to the 100 push up level are many. Some people need to perform a certain number of push ups as a requirement for getting a black belt in a martial art they are taking. Others may need it to pass a certain minimal requirement to get into the Army, Navy, Marines, police or some kind of elite special forces unit. For still others there, is no outside reason for doing it. Rather, the desire comes from the inner satisfaction of setting a goal and accomplishing it - being able to do something that few can. Whatever the reasons, setting a 100-pushup goal for yourself is a worthy one. But having set this goal how do you achieve it? What is the roadmap?
From my experience, one of the quickest ways to achieve your goal of 100 consecutive push ups is what I call the "double max" method. It is incredibly simple to understand yet very effective. In order to employ this training strategy, you need to perform 4 sets of push ups at least 3 times week. Here's how the double max method works.
First of all, perform as many push ups as you can without taking a break. This will your 'max baseline" for the week. Now what you do is take that number, double it, and divide it by 3. These numbers become the maximum number of reps for your next three sets. Let me illustrate this technique with some real numbers.
Set One - You pick the "Classic"
push up as your pushup variation and perform as many
as you can at once. As you are just a beginner, the maximum number you can achieve is 10. Ten is now the maximum number of reps you are going to be performing all this week.
Set Two - Doubling 10 makes 20. Dividing 20 by 3 gives us a number of 6.6. You only want to deal with round numbers so you make the next set 7.
Set Three - You perform 7 again.
Set Four - Your perform 6. See how this works? 7+7+6 = 20. (Sorry about the math. Maybe l should have put a warning in the front of the book?)
Let me illustrate this further by showing you a sample double max push up program for 3 weeks.
Week 1
Set 1 - 10 push ups
Set 2 - 7 push ups
Set 3 - 7 push ups
Set 4 - 6 push ups
This workout is performed 3 times this week.
Week 2
Set 1 - 14 push ups (new max for the week)
Set 2 - 10 push ups
Set 3 - 9 push ups
Set 4 - 9 push ups
This workout is performed 3 times this week.
Week 3
Set 1 - 20 push ups (new max for the week)
Set 2 - 14 push ups
Set 3 - 13 push ups
Set 4 - 13 push ups
This workout is performed 3 times this week.
There is one final wrinkle in the Double Max Method. Once your weekly max passes 33 the total number of the 4 sets will exceed 100. As your goal is to be able to perform 100 pushups consecutively you can now start to lower the number of reps and sets you are doing. Here are some examples of what I mean by this:
Week 1
Set 1 - 40 push ups (new weekly max)
Set 2 - 27 push ups
Set 3 - 27 push ups
Set 4 - 6 push ups - Only 6 pushups need to be performed here as 40 + 27 + 27 + 6 = 100.
This Workout is performed 3 times this week.
Week 2
Set 1 - 50 pushups (new weekly max)
Set 2 - 33 pushups
Set 3 - 27 pushups
Set 4 - ELIMINATED - No need to perform as first 3 sets equal ultimate goal of 100
This workout is performed 3 times this week.
Week 3
Set 1 - 60 pushups (new weekly max)
Set 2 - 40 pushups
Set 3 - ELIMINATED - No need to perform as first 2 sets equal ultimate goal of 100
Set 4 - ELIMINATED - No need to perform as first 2 sets equal ultiuiate goal of 100
By moving forward in this manner you will keep reducing the number of sets and until you reach your goal of performing 100 push ups consecutively. Of course if you wish, you don't have to reduce the number of sets or reps at all. The legendary Jack La Lanne could perform over 1000 push ups in an hour. Perhaps this could be a goal for you? Plus once you reach 1000 push ups it will be time for you to write a book on push ups!
All material copyright ©2010 - David Nordmark.
Please purchase The Ultimate Guide To Pushups by David Nordmark for all the details about reaching your goal of 100 push ups.