100 Push-ups a Day – Macho or Mad?

This is an era where physical fitness is getting prioritized over fashion & beauty. Thankfully, people have understood the importance of regular exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle, resulting in a sprouting number of fitness clubs, gyms, and special trainers.

From the above two statements, everything might seem perfect to you. Isn't it? But, do you know Gen Z is taking crazy 100 Push up a day challenges?

While many youngsters are falling into the gimmicks, they aren't aware of the long-term consequences of such activities. To some extent, it might be beneficial, but it can probably do more harm than benefit. This article is thus going to inform you about both sides of the coin. Continue reading!

Long-term effects of 100-pushups a day

Unfortunately, lured by vague fitness images, social media posts, or peer pressure, many youngsters, indulge themselves in 200 sit-ups or 100 push-up challenges. But, in reality, "too many cooks spoil the broth" --- this aged-old maxim perfectly depicts the long-term effects of 100-pushups.

Let's figure out what positive or negative effects one might suffer from such blind daily fitness activities.

You get proficient in push-ups

Just like when you practice a dance move for a long-time, you master it; the same thing applies here as well!

Once you started doing 100 strength exercises like push-ups and sit-ups every day, you started building perfection in it. Push-up is one such exercise you should never expect to learn in one day; it requires constant practice to do it perfectly.

However, 100 push-ups are a lot that can make you master it, nothing else! Because if you think it will bring magical effects for the upper body, let's clear one basic concept first. Our body performs in such a way that it will get adaptive for prolonged muscle stress happening while practicing 100 push-ups. Although you might notice growing, bigger muscles in the initial phases, you wouldn't see any exciting changes after a while.

Your muscles are now over-trained

When you start doing 100 push-ups daily, your body and muscles undergo prolonged stressful phases. So, sometimes you might find it hard to do it. In such a scenario, your body is over-trained with muscle stress. It's better to stop it for a while and take some rest.

If you're really willing to evidence amazing results, take a break for at least 48 hours to let your muscles recover. It will help you to gain better strength. Otherwise, if you're able to perform 100 push-ups without any muscle pains, it's actually acting like a short warm-up for you. Therefore, don't waste your time; try building muscle strength gradually with light to moderate strength exercises.

It might cause muscular imbalance!

Another alarming thing that can happen when you focus on only one single exercise is muscular imbalance. When you sit in front of a laptop for a long time, it causes back aches. Just like this, indulging in only push-ups can disrupt the process of muscle development. It may prevent normal functioning, and in extreme cases, you may even notice hampered muscle functioning as well.

A good workout session focuses on all major muscles of your body. Thus, it combines different activities or comprehensive upper body fitness. 

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The mechanics of over-using muscles

Undoubtedly, your ultimate aim is to build better upper body strength. That's great! But to gradually develop this, you need to clearly understand muscle mechanics. Therefore, read the following pointer to study the underlying concepts in muscle functioning and to achieve better results.

Let's consider the anatomy first!

In the human body, two types of muscle are involved: The pectoral muscle on the frontier side and the deltoid muscle on the anterior side. All these muscles are important for normal movement and posture. However, the rhomboids and the trapezius (located on the back side of the body) help in muscle contraction. These muscles act in the opposite direction of the pectoral one.

• In order to function our body normally, the antagonist's muscles get contracted while the agonist one gets stretched. Hence, the ultimate motto is here to synchronize the body while relaxing the muscles into their original state.
• Now, as you're doing 100 push-ups a day, you're stressing the pectoral muscles, resulting in stronger pectorals. Meanwhile, the rhomboid muscles are getting weaker gradually due to taut and stress.
• Do you think the situation is normal? Obviously not! When you only focus on the pectoral muscles located on the chest during push-ups, you're actually neglecting back muscles. As a result, your chest will become fuller and tight, but the back side of your body will result in poor posture.
• Generally, the agonist and antagonist muscles work simultaneously and pull against each other to support the bone structure. If you're causing imbalance due to prolonged strength exercises, it will end up with reduced mobility, bone injury, bad posture, or any unprecedented effect.

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What can you do instead?

Now that you're aware of the pros and cons of 100 push-ups a day, you might be wondering about the right suggestions. Well, you can follow simple things to get the best benefits of push-ups soon.

• First, you must master four major exercises: Push-ups, dips, Pull-ups, and Squats. If you combine all these four exercises perfectly, you'll be able to activate the muscles fast. Hence, better progress is guaranteed every day.
• Instead of reducing weight from one body part, you must emphasize full-body workouts. Pick just 3 to 5 exercises and practice them for a few weeks. Once you get used to it, shift to more advanced options.

Get slow yet steady results

You wouldn't ever notice famous bodybuilders or fitness trainers targeting one exercise every day. If you follow their 15-mins or 30-mins workout sessions, you might notice how they give importance to each muscle.

Therefore, you can focus on basic exercises to hit bigger results without falling into the trap of a 15-day weight loss challenge or 100 push-ups a day. Even if you really want to do push-ups or other power exercises, remember that correct push-up posture is crucial to avoid injuries or body pains. Don't count the numbers; keep practicing!