The goal was 3,000 pushups in February. My buddy Dave and I decided we’d do 120 a day over 25 of the month’s 28 days. However, when we were 15 days in and hadn’t missed a day, I upped the ante and said let’s do 3,500. Only a couple days later I missed my 120-a-day goal, and then missed it again the next 2 days as well. So I made up the deficit all in one day by doing 9 sets of 30.

Here is the final tally:

1. 25+25+25+25+20 = 120
2. 30+30+30+20+10 = 120
3. 30+30+30+15+15 = 120
4. 4*30 = 120
5. 4*30 = 120
6. 20+25+25+25+25 = 120
7. 3*40 = 120
8. 3*40 = 120
9. 20+20+20+30+30 = 120
10. 50+35+35 = 120
11. 20+50+25+25 = 120
12. 40+40+20+20 = 120
13. 4*30 = 120
14. 50+20+50 = 120
15. 3*40 = 120
16. 3*40 = 120
17. 2*30 = 60
18. 3*30 = 90
19. 2*30 = 60
20. 9*30 = 270
21. 40+30+25+25 = 120
22. 2*60 = 120
23. 3*40 = 120
24. 3*40 = 120
25. 6*30 = 180
26. 5*30 = 150
27. 5*30 = 150
28. 35+3*25+30 = 140

3,500 pushups in 28 days.

My goal this morning was to do 4 sets of 35 to get my last 140 done. (Since 28*120 is only 3,360, I had a few more than 120 to do the last few days). However, I did the first 35 in the gym after doing my warmup and stretching, then Dave and I did a heavy chest workout. I hit a PB (personal best) on bench press. Then we did heavy incline press, and finished with a superset of chest fly machine and push-ups, and the 3 sets of 25 that I did today were easily the hardest sets I did for the entire month. The last 30 were easy again, I only just did them with a nice long break after my workout.

It’s great to have small goals like this in addition to regular workouts. This is especially rewarding when I’ve had to put training for ‘Everesting the Crunch’ on hold due to sciatica pain in my leg. I’m doing my physio, taking painkillers, and following up with doctor visits, but standing for more than 3 minutes triggers the pain, and it’s hard to go through a day not standing. That said, pushups don’t require standing and so they have been a great goal, fully achieved with no pain.

I’m not sure what our next small goal will be, but if I don’t come up with one, I know my buddy Dave will.

My buddy Dave and I have done the February 2,000 push up challenge for a couple years now and this year I suggested bumping it up. The actual challenge is 2,000 push in 20 days, but we were doing it over the full month. Last year I did 75-80 push ups daily in sets, sometimes just doing 4 sets of 20 or 3 sets of 25, sometimes less sets with more reps… With rest days.

This year I plan to do 120 a day. I only need to do that 25 days to hit 3k, so I’ve got 3 rest days if I need them. Yesterday I did 4 sets of 25 and one set of 20. Today I plan to do 4 sets of 30. This isn’t hard, it’s a fun challenge, and my buddy and I keep each other motivated to do them. Having small, fun goals like this keeps me focused, and gives me small incremental goals to do a few more per set as the month progresses.

I think challenges like this are great. Even if you struggle to do 5 pushups, you can spread sets out throughout the day and shoot for 1,000 pushups in the month. That would be 7-8 sets of 5 in a day, but the thing is that within a week your new maximum will be close to 10 and you’ll need less than 4 sets a day at that point. In fact, if you struggle with pushups, you’ll see more gains than someone who already does them easily.

It’s a fun challenge, find an accountability partner or just track your progress quietly… either way, go for it. You’ll love the gains and have nothing to lose.