The 10,000 push up challenge is an annual event every February where you complete 10,000 push ups in the month — about 345 a day — and you conquer it by starting now, scaling the movement, adding a little daily, spreading the reps out, and committing publicly. We have run this for years, and it is simple: do 10,000 push ups in February and you win. In this Physical Friday I count down five ways to make sure you finish.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
It is an annual challenge we have run for years on the podcast: complete 10,000 push ups during the month of February and you win. That works out to 345 push ups a day. It is simple by design and open to all fitness levels because you can scale the movement. The whole point is to commit to a big number, break it into daily work, and prove to yourself you can finish something hard.
It is 345 push ups per day across February to reach 10,000. That sounds like a lot, but 345 is only about four sets of 86. When you break the daily number into smaller chunks and spread it across the day, it becomes very manageable — especially if you have trained up to it in the months before February rather than starting cold on day one.
You scale the movement, and every variation counts. You can do push ups against a wall while standing, elevated push ups on a chair or table, or push ups on your knees. All of them count toward your total, and all of them will progress you toward a full push up pretty quickly. Scaling is not failure — it is the on-ramp that lets anyone start the challenge at their current level.
It is adding a single push up to your daily total each day. I know a guy who added one push up a day until he could do 400 in a day. We are about 83 days out from February 1, so if you started today doing one push up and added one daily, you would reach 83 push ups by the start — and 345 a day is only four sets of 86. You will likely find you can add more than one a day along the way.
Spread them out and commit publicly. Do some at breakfast, some at lunch, some at dinner, or every hour on the hour rather than all at once, which keeps your form clean and the volume sustainable. Then make your commitment public and find an accountability partner to do it with you. Public commitment plus a partner is the number one driver of actually finishing the challenge.
I make Physical Friday for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen who want to stay strong and capable for life. I walk through the full breakdown in the audio above, so press play and listen along.
Every February we run the 10,000 push up challenge, and the rules could not be simpler: do 10,000 push ups in the month and you win. That is 345 a day. We have been doing it for years, and it is a favorite tradition because it is accessible to everyone and proves you can finish something that sounds impossible. I explain how the number breaks down in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The biggest mistake is waiting until February 1 to do your first push up. Start now to warm up and build strength. If you cannot do a full push up yet, scale it — wall push ups, elevated push ups on a chair, or knee push ups all count and all progress you fast. I walk through how to pick your scale in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Consistency beats intensity here. I know someone who added one push up a day until he hit 400 in a day. We are about 83 days out, so adding one daily from today builds you to 83 reps before the challenge even starts, and 345 a day is just four sets of 86. You will probably add more than one a day along the way. I share how to ramp it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
To make 345 a day sustainable, spread them across the day — breakfast, lunch, dinner, or hourly — instead of grinding them all at once. Then make your commitment public and grab an accountability partner, because that public commitment is the number one reason people actually finish. I explain how to set that up in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Press play in the player above to get the full breakdown.
The 10,000 push up challenge is simple, accessible, and it works. Break a number that sounds impossible into daily reps, show up consistently, and you will finish.
Start now, scale smart, add a little daily, spread the volume, and tell someone you are doing it. Listen to the full breakdown by pressing play in the player above.
10,000 push up challenge · push ups · scaling · wall push ups · knee push ups · accountability partner · New Year’s resolutions · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I am Tom Rowland — a Florida Keys fishing guide for more than 30 years, a competitive angler, a lifelong CrossFit athlete, and the host of the Tom Rowland Podcast. I started Physical Friday because staying strong, mobile, and durable is what lets all of us keep hunting, fishing, and chasing the outdoors for life. I train the same way I want you to: simple, consistent, repeatable.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 831: Conquer the 10k Pushup Challenge (Physical Friday)
In this episode: how the annual 10,000 push-up challenge works at 345 a day in February, why you should start now, how to scale the movement, adding a little every day, spreading push-ups across the day, and making a public commitment with an accountability partner.
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Tom Rowland: Hey, everybody. It is Physical Friday, and this Friday, we're talking about the 10,000 push-up challenge. Last week, we talked about how we could start on our New Year's resolutions to make sure that we did it. And for some of you, the 10,000 push-up challenge is your New Year's resolution. It's a fun challenge. If you're a fan of the podcast, you've been listening for a while. We've been doing this for years. And every February, we have the 10,000 push-up challenge.
Tom Rowland: It's very simple. You do 10,000 push-ups in the month of February and you win. It's a challenge. That's exactly what it is. Turns out it's 345 push-ups a day. So here are five ways that you can make sure you're successful in the 10,000 push-up challenge.
Tom Rowland: Number five is to start now. Don't wait until February 1 to start doing your first push-up. Start now, do some push-ups, get warmed up, get stronger, get used to doing the push-ups.
Tom Rowland: Number four is to scale. Maybe you're not capable of doing 10,000 push-ups really fast right now. Maybe you can't even do one push-up. But there are ways that you can scale back the movement or the numbers so that you can be successful in this challenge. One, you could go up against a wall. You stand and just do a push-up up against a wall. Another would be an elevated push-up on a chair or a table. Third, you could go and do push-ups on your knees. All of those count, and all of those will progress you to being able to do a full push-up pretty quickly.
Tom Rowland: Number three is to add just a little bit every day. I know a guy that added one push-up a day until he could do 400 push-ups in a day. We are eighty-three days out from the 10,000 challenge starting on February 1. If you were to start today and do one push-up, add a push-up every single day until we get to February, you would be able to do 83 push-ups. 345 push-ups in a day is only four sets of 86. So you will have trained yourself to take a small step, and I'll bet you that along the way, you're gonna find that you can add more than one push-up a day. Be consistent and add just a little bit every day.
Tom Rowland: Number two is to spread them out. Spread your push-ups out across the day. Do some at breakfast, do some at lunch, do some at dinner, or spread them out every hour on the hour, any way you wanna do them. If you are new to push-ups or you are just trying to build your fitness to where you can be able to do 345 push-ups, spread them out across the day rather than trying to get them all at once.
Tom Rowland: And the number one way that you can be successful with the 10,000 push-up challenge coming up in February is to make a commitment. Make that commitment public and find an accountability partner that can do it with you to hold each other accountable so that you actually have a partner in this.
Tom Rowland: That's it. I hope to see you doing and completing the 10,000 push-up challenge in February.
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