Achieving the 500 mark of push-ups a day is a significant accomplishment and not an easy task. There are many benefits to doing 500 push-ups a day, but there are also disadvantages.
First of all, doing 500 push-ups a day for a month can help you build considerable upper body strength, with visible muscle development, especially in the triceps, pectoral muscles, and shoulder areas.
It’s important to note that doing 500 push-ups will take time, depending on your current fitness level.
If you’re a beginner, it might be better to build up to 500 push-ups, starting lower, such as 200 push-ups a day, and adding 50 more each following day.
There are many factors to consider when aiming for 500 push-ups a day, including recommendations that can help you maximize muscle growth. Let’s dive deeper into the topic and explore what to expect from doing 500 push-ups a day.
500 Push-Ups a Day: Pros & Cons and Verdict
Depending on your current fitness level and capabilities, it might make sense to do 10 reps of 50 sets, with appropriate rests in between. If you’re more advanced, you can do 30 reps of 17 sets to reach the daily push-up goal.
If you’re doing this to complete a challenge, aim for a specific duration, such as 500 push-ups a day for a month. This will be a serious undertaking and a challenging activity that can yield positive physical and mental effects.
If your goal is to build muscle solely through 500 push-ups, there are some recommendations that can maximize your results. For the best outcome, it’s advisable to incorporate several push-up variations to enhance muscle growth. Examples include diamond push-ups, Russian push-ups, pike push-ups, incline and decline push-ups, and single-leg push-ups.
There are many more interesting variations that incorporate weights. To make the challenge even tougher, try incorporating these push-up variations to accelerate your progress.
What Kind of Results Can I Expect From 500 Push-Ups a Day?
First and foremost, doing 500 push-ups a day builds incredible endurance. However, in terms of muscle building, you can’t expect maximum results.
The issue is that after a certain point, additional reps become almost meaningless when it comes to increasing muscle mass.
Without a doubt, you’ll gain muscle from doing 500 push-ups a day over the course of a month. However, you could build the same amount of muscle by doing just 200 push-ups a day, and the remaining 300 reps could be allocated to exercises like squats and crunches to create a full-body workout experience.
If you do 500 push-ups a day for a month, your physique will surely improve, giving you a more athletic build, with broader shoulders and a more muscular appearance.
If you’re a beginner without an active workout routine, this push-up challenge can definitely get you started and sweating.
Importance of Doing the 500 Push-Up Challenge
You might have heard or asked others basic questions about fitness and workout routines, like how many reps should I do? How much weight? How many sets? How long should I rest? Which exercises are best?
The idea is to get started without overthinking it. As you stay consistent for several weeks or months, you will know naturally what to do and how much to do.
The key to completing a challenge, like doing 500 push-ups a day, is that it makes you feel amazing—you’re taking action for your health and undertaking a serious challenge.
As you complete a few days, weeks, or even a month, you become a battle-hardened person, ready to dive into your next challenge. The 500 push-up challenge builds discipline and resilience, and as you stick with it, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and bliss.
So get started any way you can, using the tools available to you, and build your foundation from there.
As a side note, you can download the Workit App to access professionally curated workout programs or request personalized ones, along with customized meal plans.
Workit also hosts fitness challenges where you can win Bitcoin by completing milestones.
500 Push-Up Challenge Results
The results will vary from person to person as many factors play a role, such as your current body weight, fitness level, diet, and sleep quality. Not to mention, genetics play a big role in how much muscle mass you can build.
To give you an idea of what to expect, watch this video uploaded by someone who attempted and completed the 500-push-up challenge every day for a month.
People who have tried the 500 push-up challenge note that it’s very hard to maintain consistently. The reps become especially difficult after you reach the 200 mark. So, make sure you have time, as completing 500 reps may take up a significant part of your day.
Side Effects of 500 Push-Ups a Day
You may experience significant fatigue and dizziness from the 500 push-up challenge, as it is quite difficult and taxing on your body, especially if you’re a beginner.
Another important point to consider is that doing 200 push-ups a day is already impressive, and the muscle-building difference between 200 and 500 reps won’t be substantial.
So, if you’re not set on doing 500 reps to prove something to yourself, you can still achieve great results with fewer reps—like 200 or 150. You can use the remaining reps for squats and crunches to get a full-body workout. Unless you’re already very fit, it’s not necessary to do the 500-rep challenge on top of your regular workouts.
There are no major health risks in doing 500 push-ups throughout the day, though you might experience fatigue, dizziness, or muscle soreness the next day.
In short, you can expect positive outcomes from completing this challenge.
Nutrition Recommendations
Since 500 push-ups are very taxing on your body, it’s important to eat properly and choose the right foods. Consuming adequate amounts of protein and healthy carbs will ensure that your body recovers well and that you’re getting enough protein to build muscle.
Ideally, you should be eating beef, chicken, fish, eggs, rice, potatoes, and bread (preferably sourdough) for the best results. Additionally, cottage cheese and yogurt make excellent snacks, as they are great sources of protein and essential vitamins.
Keep in mind that the 500 push-up challenge is quite tough, so it’s crucial to eat well during this time. Also, limit your alcohol intake, as it can interfere with your body’s recovery process.
General Tips and Recommendations
Break up your daily goal into several parts; for example, do 150 reps in the morning, 150 in the afternoon, and 200 in the evening. This ensures you give your body enough time to rest and recover.
Make sure you eat well during the day and don’t starve yourself—give your body enough protein to nourish itself.
After completing the first day, you might feel very sore the next day, which is totally normal. To avoid overloading your body, you can cut the reps in half for the next day or two to give yourself time to recover and adjust.
By the 3rd or 4th day, you can continue with the regular 500 reps, as your muscles will be more prepared to handle the challenge.
If you don’t complete all 500 reps on your first day, don’t get discouraged—this is normal. Even athletes in great shape can struggle with this challenge. If you get stuck midway or anywhere else, remember the number and pick up from there the next day.
The key is to build up to the desired number, and after a week or so, you’ll be hitting that daily 500-rep goal without any problems. Listen to your body and progress at your own pace.
Lastly, as we already said, if you don’t reach the 500-rep goal on your first day, don’t worry—you can definitely achieve it in the following days or even within two weeks. The key is to hit that number at some point during the challenge. So keep working, eat well, and remember that consistency is key.
Conclusion
Completing 500 push-ups in a day will take time. You might start at 8 a.m. and finish by 8 p.m., depending on your current fitness level. This is not an easy task.
If your goal isn’t specifically to complete 500 reps to prove something or for another reason, it’s perfectly fine to do 200 push-ups a day, as this will put less strain on your body.
Physically, if you can maintain the challenge for a month, or at least a few weeks, you will notice significant changes and become more athletic and fit.
Additionally, incorporating push-up variations into the challenge will show better results, as it will challenge your body in different and more intense ways.
Overall, the 500 push-up challenge is a great undertaking. It will help you grow as a person, teach you discipline and resilience, and help you build your ideal physique.
If you think you’re ready for it, get started as soon as possible—just be sure to eat enough and eat healthily.