9to5strength 9to5strength
This challenge involved doing 100 push ups and 50 pull ups for six days a week over a total of three weeks. The challenge looks like this:
The Exercises
- Push ups: chest to floor on every rep, performed at speed and a focus on pulling the shoulders apart at the top of the movement (optimal for shoulder health).
- Pull ups: Gripping the bar overhand, slightly wider than shoulder width, bringing the body right up to the bar and returning to full arm extension at the bottom of each rep.
Perform these two exercises as you see fit, I chose to have two minutes rest and complete 6-8 pull ups and 10-15 push ups per set. Don’t go to failure on any set.
Results
After completing the program the original article suggested taking five days off to allow the body to fully recover, and so my final measurements and pictures were taken on day 25 (the last set of exercises were day 20).
I made a point of activating my lats and chest before completing the exercises in order to maximise growth. I chose scap pull ups and simply pushed my hands together at different angles to activate the chest. I felt this made a difference and improved the mind-muscle connection, something many bodybuilders emphasise.
I thought the results were impressive considering my age (31) and training years (15). Someone younger with less experience could certainly see better results from the same effort. If you do this I recommend focusing on correct technique, and if you don’t have the initial strength level to complete a good set of 5 to 8 pull ups then this program is probably too advanced.