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Featured Replies

Taking the trip down memory lane of 10,000 Burpees in 2023.

image.png.540158beb36aa67f32ca4f53e11ca8a9.png

 

For me, a side effect of this was that it made me really pay attention to wtf I was doing that was hurting my back. I ended up moving my xbox into my office with the aeron chair after realizing that sitting on the game room couch for any length of time was making my back sore. Past that, I didn't struggle with injuries, but the motivation to continue to do this every single day was hard. I did 15 in the morning and 15 in the evening, and even though it was only... under a minute? doing burpees sucks and it sucked every time. trying to finish my chores in the evening or get ready in the morning and the... oh fuck right, the burpees. I'll be curious if you have the same struggle - it seems like even if you get to where you can rattle off 100 pushups, it'll suck to have to do that.

  • Author

Its been getting easier, not gonna lie my body feels a lot better too.

Getting to 15/5 is gonna be a big milestone. Then when I cross the 55 a day mark will be a bigger one, then when I can do a full 50 set will be a huge one. After the 50 set everything is just bonus and about taking it slow. I'll likely add to the 2nd and 3rd sets and once a week try for a 60-70-80 type single set. 

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Author

Did 20 in a row today. Feeling good about the buildup. Gonna start super setting 20/5 when I feel good with 20 then go to 25/5 then 25/10.

I feel dramatically stronger/more stable than I did before I started. My core feels much better and my posture has improved quite a bit already. 

Unrelated to the pushups I'm gonna start doing lunges and wall sits in preparation for an April ski trip. Don't need the legs of steel I had when I was skiing 100 days a year but not feeling noodle legged after a run would be nice. 

3 minutes ago, immamac said:

Did 20 in a row today. Feeling good about the buildup. Gonna start super setting 20/5 when I feel good with 20 then go to 25/5 then 25/10.

I feel dramatically stronger/more stable than I did before I started. My core feels much better and my posture has improved quite a bit already. 

Unrelated to the pushups I'm gonna start doing lunges and wall sits in preparation for an April ski trip. Don't need the legs of steel I had when I was skiing 100 days a year but not feeling noodle legged after a run would be nice. 

Mix in Hindu squats every day. 

Is anyone else trying to keep pace with imma? In addition to the pushups I’m hammering out sets of squats, sit-ups, and flutter kicks. I wouldn’t be doing any of that but for this thread. Thanks, @immamac

3 hours ago, That Guy said:

Is anyone else trying to keep pace with imma? In addition to the pushups I’m hammering out sets of squats, sit-ups, and flutter kicks. I wouldn’t be doing any of that but for this thread. Thanks, @immamac

My inspiration too. Sounds odd to be saying that.

I just flew to Australia so I am a couple of days behind now due to the travel but will catch up.

On 1/28/2025 at 9:49 AM, That Guy said:

Is anyone else trying to keep pace with imma? In addition to the pushups I’m hammering out sets of squats, sit-ups, and flutter kicks. I wouldn’t be doing any of that but for this thread. Thanks, @immamac

Well, sorta. Recovering from Dec. 4 knee replacement, which I mentioned earlier on this thread. Reading it all got me thinking I needed to push myself a little harder than I did after my previous knee replacement (left in 2023, right last year).

Did my first pushups since December this afternoon -- two sets of 12 while I was doing my other stuff. Been down on the floor stretching for about 10 days now and finally got the gumption to do the pushups, which I remember hurting my left knee a lot more when I first started back on them last spring.

Felt briefly like my quad might seize up a bit but no real issues. I was surprised not to have lost as much strength in my upper body as I thought I would over the last couple of months. 

On 1/28/2025 at 8:49 AM, That Guy said:

Is anyone else trying to keep pace with imma? In addition to the pushups I’m hammering out sets of squats, sit-ups, and flutter kicks. I wouldn’t be doing any of that but for this thread. Thanks, @immamac

Yeah I posted a while back I liked the idea so I'm doing it as well. I work best when I have these tangible daily / weekly goals, so this works really well for me. 

On 1/28/2025 at 9:49 AM, That Guy said:

Is anyone else trying to keep pace with imma?

keep pace?  I can’t even see him in the rear-view mirror. 

Yeah I'm realizing I need a rest day every so often as well. My shoulder is not super happy lately. I have been doing 55 per day but I think I'll bump it up to 62 or 63 so I can take one day off per week without getting off track. I think I started at a different baseline than Imma -- these pushups are more maintenance than strength building for me -- but I still need to rest every so often. 

  • Author
5 minutes ago, honolulu horn said:

Yeah I'm realizing I need a rest day every so often as well. My shoulder is not super happy lately. I have been doing 55 per day but I think I'll bump it up to 62 or 63 so I can take one day off per week without getting off track. I think I started at a different baseline than Imma -- these pushups are more maintenance than strength building for me -- but I still need to rest every so often. 

Are you single setting them or multiple sets? 

On 1/27/2025 at 9:20 PM, immamac said:

Unrelated to the pushups I'm gonna start doing lunges and wall sits in preparation for an April ski trip. Don't need the legs of steel I had when I was skiing 100 days a year but not feeling noodle legged after a run would be nice. 

Thats the way to do it. Last time I went skiing, I was not in skiing shape and I legit had to get off the slopes by 2PM every day for fear that I would seriously hurt myself. After a few hours, the legs just didnt do what I wanted them to do. Was actually bummed I couldnt cram in full days, but no way was I risking knee surgery, which seemed likely every afternoon. 

5 minutes ago, immamac said:

Are you single setting them or multiple sets? 

Single setting. I have to take a breath and rest a bit after 30-40, but I just keep at it until they are done. I'm sure you know by now that some days are easier than others, for whatever reason. 

Edited by honolulu horn

I am trying to keep up but have been traveling a lot lately. I stretch a bit before I knock out a set of 25. The last 2 or 3 gets a bit rough finishing though. After a few minutes of rest I do my second set of 25 with relative ease. I work the third set when I get a chance.

39 minutes ago, immamac said:

25 set with a quick 5 after today. So far the schedule has been pretty good. 

Not bad for 5 being really hard Jan 1.

I forgot about this thread. I need to keep up because my current job isn't helping my upper-body workout. 

25 means you did 25 straight? 

42 minutes ago, immamac said:

25 set with a quick 5 after today. So far the schedule has been pretty good. 

Not bad for 5 being really hard Jan 1.

hey, I’m proud of you. 

3 hours ago, immamac said:

25 set with a quick 5 after today. So far the schedule has been pretty good. 

Not bad for 5 being really hard Jan 1.

One time in my 30's I got drunk and was like, "you weak wimps, let's do push ups right now. I'll knock out 50!" I did like 25 and thought dang, I'm a wuss. If you haven't attempted 25 push ups in a row in a decade and drop down and crank out 25 it's not as easy as you will remember.

That story was like 25 years ago now though, dang.

To mix it up a bit and hit different areas-particularly triceps- try them with your feet elevated 18" or so...much harder but better overall development 

On 2/12/2025 at 3:37 PM, Dennis Taylor said:

To mix it up a bit and hit different areas-particularly triceps- try them with your feet elevated 18" or so...much harder but better overall development 

I thought for triceps you moved your hands closer together

12 minutes ago, futureman said:

I thought for triceps you moved your hands closer together

That's true but elevating your feet will also.  Hands about shoulder width and raised feet will really hit the tris. 

  • 3 weeks later...
5 hours ago, immamac said:

Today is first day of set 1 30 set 2 15 been doing 25/15 for a bit now have taken 4 rest days the whole year so far. 

1309 done 18941 to go!

Once I get to the 50 + 25 and 50 + 50 range it'll start burning down the number pretty quick. 

It’s cool that you’re doing this! You’ll hit your number well ahead of time because the more you can do in one set will push you to keep doing more. I think you’ll at the very least double your goal for the year and probably go well past that.
 

I can recall the summer after my first year of college (1999) coming back home and deciding I was going to Herschel Walker my way into doing a bunch of pushups to keep in shape. I was headed to a small school to play some foosball in the fall so I was doing sprints (Not exactly Xavier Worthy here, but I was running as fast as a middling athlete could go) as well in the blazing Texas heat. Anyhow I wound up doing between 1500-2k a day that summer. I would do them on commercial breaks and tried to keep the sets to 50 reps. I think the best memory out of the whole thing was being up late watching reruns of Are You Being Served? 
 

Look forward to seeing the updates throughout the year and your progress. Good on you for putting forth the effort on this!
 

 

Good job sir! I started my weight loss journey about 8 months ago. Down 47lbs so far. Would like to drop another 10 and I’d be pretty happy. Move more, eat less has worked for me. 

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Author

First day of 35 single set with a bit of rest and 20 second set. Failed at 17 but pushed last 3 out as soon as I could. 

That's 55 in a day. After the next move up I'm officially playing catchup for the first 2 1/2 months of the year with nearly 9 left to go. 

  • Author

Was out for my birthday with friends and it was pushup time so I did them at the bar. A bunch of randos started counting and laughing thinking I would fail after 5-10. They stopped counting after 25 with a lot of "holy shit he's still going" comments. Not gonna lie, felt pretty good. 

Was thinking about this just this evening. Good for you. Late March is better than 99% of New Year’s resolutions. 

On 1/2/2025 at 10:56 AM, immamac said:

Started yesterday slow. Only did 5

20245 left to go. 

You know that will cause baldness right??

 

My doc several years ago said aim for 200 a day. Depending on how I feel I usually get in between 150 to 200 in sets that will range anywhere between 15 and 40 spread throughout the day. 

2 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

My doc several years ago said aim for 200 a day.

cigarettes?

On 3/18/2025 at 9:18 PM, immamac said:

Was out for my birthday with friends and it was pushup time so I did them at the bar. A bunch of randos started counting and laughing thinking I would fail after 5-10. They stopped counting after 25 with a lot of "holy shit he's still going" comments. Not gonna lie, felt pretty good. 

God I Admire You - Fletch - Chevy Chase on Make a GIF

  • 1 month later...
25 minutes ago, immamac said:

April has been shitty, I've missed like 10 days, but I am at 40/20 so 60 a day. Next week I'm going to move up to 45/20 

Any noticed health improvements?

Hadn't seen this.  Good on everyone for supporting one another.  I do quite a bit of bodywork stuff and it helps.  Augmenting pushups with pullups helps quite a bit along with bodyweight squats and rucking + normal gym stuff.  

11 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Augmenting pushups with pullups helps quite a bit along

I've been dealing with a shoulder impingement for the first time in my life due to over training of pecs, deltoids and lack of training of the smaller back muscles.  Basically my form on rows wasn't full-range.  I knew that imbalance in muscle groups can be a source of pain, but hadn't experienced this one.

Went to the PT and couldn't raise my arm above my shoulder.  He showed me the anatomically correct physical motion to raise your arm(which includes lowering of the bottom of your shoulder blade) and said do it this way... arm above head without pain.  black fucking magic.  So now I get to spend 20min each day working on strengthening those muscles.    Human body is an amazing and mysterious thing.

4 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

I've been dealing with a shoulder impingement for the first time in my life due to over training of pecs, deltoids and lack of training of the smaller back muscles.  Basically my form on rows wasn't full-range.  I knew that imbalance in muscle groups can be a source of pain, but hadn't experienced this one.

Went to the PT and couldn't raise my arm above my shoulder.  He showed me the anatomically correct physical motion to raise your arm(which includes lowering of the bottom of your shoulder blade) and said do it this way... arm above head without pain.  black fucking magic.  So now I get to spend 20min each day working on strengthening those muscles.    Human body is an amazing and mysterious thing.

I rehabbed what I was told was a torn rotator.  Fuck that surgery and year PT.  I did the same, worked around the impacted area and strengthened everything to the point that the only issue I have with that arm is range of motion.

The reason why pushups/pullups are so universally beneficial is that they are compound exercises.  Same with squats, rucking, etc.  Stuck inside all day yesterday and on calls, so I'd go on mute and banged out 10 sets of 20 pushups and 10 sets of 20 dips.  Sore this morning so I know I did something worth recovering from.  

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Update @immamac? Every time I do pushups I think about this thread. 

2 hours ago, immamac said:

Took a bit of a pivot and focused on losing weight. May try to close the year strong though. I'm down close to 45lbs. 

Outstanding. Keep it up. Your thread was thought-provoking and inspirational.

I went strict keto in Feb, and pivoted from running being my base fitness (since I was about 5 yo), to strength training being the base, supplemented with HIIT, running and swimming. My fitness has been up and down over the decades, and I was definitely at a low point in Jan.  

The keto has dramatically helped my mental outlook, which was at a crisis point in Jan.  My lifelong mild/moderate claustrophobia became acute and I couldn’t fly or sit on a ski chairlift. All the physical stuff, combined with exposure therapy and particularly the keto, has really turned everything around. Keto brings down total inflammation, which contributes to all sorts of bad things, including anxiety disorders. 

Your results may vary. 

Good on you, Imma. That's badass. 

I still appreciate the challenge of 20,250 and am still on track for that. I'll surpass 12,500 after I knock out today's reps. Wife also appreciates the results, so that's a bonus. 

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