Gyms and swimming pools are closed, club sports are also cancelled: the lockdown leaves many at a loss. You can also train without any equipment. With daily push-ups, for example. A well-known fitness youtuber calls for the «Push-ups till failure» challenge. In the course of a year, the physical exercise is said to have completely changed his life. In a video he shares the amazing results.
Doing as many push-ups as you can once a day – that doesn’t sound like a big challenge, but it doesn’t necessarily sound like a special result either, does it? But the opposite is true if toned fitness youtuber Troy Adashun is to be believed. In a current video, he praises the advantages of the simple bodyweight challenge: Anyone who does as many push-ups as possible once a day and over a long period of time would change their life completely.
He tried the experiment himself when he was 17: For a year, Troy Adashun, he explains in the video, did as many push-ups as he could every day. He calls it “push-ups til failure”, i.e. push-ups until the muscles fail. So the tactic is not to stop after five or ten push-ups, but really repeat the exercise until the body gives up.
Also interesting: Do push-ups correctly! How to avoid mistakes in push-ups
Daily push-ups – physical changes through the challenge
The Youtuber emphasizes that it doesn’t matter how many push-ups you can do at the beginning of the challenge. Because regardless of how fit you are at the beginning, you would slowly improve with the daily repetitions. Adashun emphasizes that the experiment would have enabled him to do more than 100 push-ups in a row. And he proudly adds that his pecs are the largest muscle group in his body ever since. However, he could not prove whether this is due to his genes or really to the exercise. But the physical change is not the most important thing, emphasizes the sports enthusiast.
Mental changes through the challenge
It is much more important what the exercise does to the psyche. For one thing, it’s an easy way to bring structure to your fitness routine. Instead of training wildly one day and doing nothing the next, you would have a tiny task to accomplish every day. Once this is completed, a tick can be placed on your own to-do list. What remains is the feeling of having achieved something. This could be motivation for a subsequent training program, for example, explains the strength athlete.
On the other hand, the exercise is a good way to push and drive yourself: If you do as many push-ups as possible, you would above all strengthen your stamina. Also, do the exercise to see what simple steps you can take to increase self-control. The «Push-up til failure» challenge would also show that even small steps can be effective.
Also interesting: man walked 31,000 steps a day! How his body has changed
What can you learn from the push-up challenge?
Whether you are a sports enthusiast or a couch potato, the mental benefits that Troy Adashun addresses in his video are helpful for everyone. Does the daily exercise routine have to be push-ups? Not necessarily. Finally, the principle can be applied to a daily set of sit-ups or pull-ups. The main thing is that the exercise is carried out regularly and consistently. And it doesn’t have to be a whole year as a goal to start with. For example, anyone who decides to go through such a challenge for a month will experience a similar sense of achievement – and will then probably have the motivation to continue for a month or two.
Anyone who has tasted blood and wants to do the push-up challenge should first take a look at our article, which explains the typical mistakes made when doing push-ups. Have fun!
FITBOOK seeks the best lockdown transformations
Many fitness fans have been struggling with motivation problems since the first lockdown and feel completely thrown off balance due to canceled team training sessions or closed gyms, swimming pools and the like. But there are also other examples of people who have created a new routine and have even achieved positive visual and mental changes for themselves. Do you belong? Then send us your story or video to info@. We will publish the best transformations as part of a post to motivate other people.