Can you do 100 pushups a day?
Yes, if you split them up and build to it. 100 pushups (or press-ups) in a day is a popular goal because it's big enough to build real strength and endurance, but small enough to fit in without a gym or equipment. The trick is treating it as daily volume, not a single max-effort set.
How to split 100 pushups
- 10 × 10 on an interval. One set of 10 every 10 minutes. Each set is short and you recover fully in between. This is the method the PushUp Challenge interval timer is built around: it alarms for each set and counts it for you.
- 10 × 10 as one session.Ten sets with 60–90 seconds of rest. It takes about 12 to 15 minutes, which suits people who'd rather get it done in one go.
- Grease the groove. A set every time you pass a doorway, finish a meeting or boil the kettle, spread through the day.
- Bigger sets. Once you can do 20 in a row, 5 × 20 gets 100 done in five sets.
What if I can't do 100 yet?
Start from what you can do now. Do one set of as many good pushups as you can, then use it to pick a starting daily target. These are the starting points the PushUp Challenge app suggests: sets of about 60% of your max, and a daily total of five to eight times it.
| Best single set | Daily target | Set size |
|---|---|---|
| 5 pushups | 30 a day | sets of 3 |
| 8 pushups | 50 a day | sets of 5 |
| 10 pushups | 60 a day | sets of 6 |
| 12 pushups | 80 a day | sets of 7 |
| 15 pushups | 100 a day | sets of 10 |
| 20 pushups | 150 a day | sets of 10 |
| 25 pushups | 200 a day | sets of 15 |
If you can do 15 in a row, 100 a day in sets of 10 is already a sensible target. Below that, hit your target consistently for a week or two, retest your max, and raise the target. Can't do five? Start with knee or incline pushups (see pushups for beginners), or follow the 12-level Trainer, which ends with a 105-pushup session.
Do I need rest days?
Plan them. Plenty of people do 100 pushups every day, but a schedule with one or two rest days a week is easier to keep up for months, and it gives sore joints time to settle. In PushUp Challenge you pick your training days, such as every day, weekdays only or a custom schedule, and rest days never break your streak.
How to track 100 pushups a day
Counting in your head works until you lose track at set six. A pushup tracker keeps the running total: in PushUp Challenge you set your daily target and set size, tap once per set (or let the timer log each set), and the ring closes at 100. Your streak, completion rate and full history build up from there.
Questions
Is it OK to do 100 pushups every day?
For most healthy people who can already do 15 or more in a row, 100 pushups a day split into sets is a manageable daily volume. If your shoulders, elbows or wrists ache rather than just your muscles feeling tired, take a rest day or drop the target. Scheduled rest days are normal, and they don't break your streak in PushUp Challenge.
How long does it take to do 100 pushups?
As 10 sets of 10 with a minute's rest between them, about 12 to 15 minutes. As one set every 10 minutes, it's spread over about an hour and a half while you do other things. Spread across the whole day, each set takes well under a minute.
Should I do 100 pushups at once or spread them out?
Spread them out. Sets you can finish with a rep or two in reserve let you train every day without failing partway through. Doing all 100 in a row is a separate goal, built by gradually raising your best single set.
General fitness information, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, check with a professional before starting a new exercise routine.
