Recovering from the 10,000 Pushup Challenge comes down to moving through the soreness, drinking plenty of water, and getting carbohydrates and protein into your body right after a big set. We are well into this year's challenge for Captains For Clean Water, and a lot of you are feeling those first few days in your chest and arms. In this Physical Friday I cover exactly how I manage soreness, why an email from Brian Sabo made my week, and how to keep the mission of the challenge front and center.
Watch now: press play on the video above and follow along.
You recover by moving, not by stopping. Soreness comes from lactic acid building up as your muscles break down, and the way to clear it is to move, stretch, and keep doing pushups, even if you have to slow down or break the work into smaller sets. Drink plenty of water, and replenish carbohydrates and protein soon after a big block of pushups. By the end of the month your body adapts, clears lactic acid more efficiently, and you simply stop getting as sore.
Get carbohydrates and protein into your body soon after you finish. You have a window after a hard workout, somewhere around forty five minutes, where replenishing your muscles makes a real difference in how sore you feel the next day. A recovery product with carbs and protein works, or you can do what I do and blend a shake with a banana and a protein powder that mixes well and does not upset your stomach. Even a good bar beats going empty.
Delayed onset muscle soreness is when the soreness from a workout does not show up until a day or two later. You do a big block of pushups, feel fine the next morning, and then two days later your chest and triceps are screaming. That is completely normal during the 10,000 Pushup Challenge. The fix is the same as regular soreness: move, stretch, hydrate, and keep flexing and using the muscles so the lactic acid clears out.
Do your pushups on dumbbells instead of flat palms. Holding a pair of dumbbells in a neutral grip, like you are holding bicycle handlebars or doing a hammer curl, takes the extension out of your wrists and makes the position far more comfortable. There are also products built for this, including rotating pushup handles, that can help if your wrists are not used to spending this much time in the pushup position. If your wrists feel fine, just keep pushing them out.
Absolutely. The whole point this year is education and participation, so recruiting a friend, a family member, or a coworker for the whole challenge or even a single day is perfectly fine. If someone sees you doing pushups at lunch and asks what you are doing, invite them to knock out a couple hundred for you. That conversation is exactly the opportunity to tell them about Captains For Clean Water and the Florida water issues we are raising awareness for.
The challenge is an awareness campaign. Ten thousand pushups in a month is strange enough that people ask why you are doing it, and that question is your opening to talk about Florida's water issues and the work Captains For Clean Water is doing. The more people who join the mailing list and understand the issues, the bigger the army we have when it is time to take action. This week an entire firm signed up with a goal of more than 30,000 pushups.
Here is the routine I follow to manage soreness and stay on pace through a month of pushups.
I walk through each of these in the episode. Press play above.
Brian Sabo wrote to tell me his entire firm signed up for the challenge, with thirty percent of the company registered and a goal of exceeding 30,000 pushups. He has fished Southwest Florida for twenty years and watched red tide and fish kills wreck trips and family vacations. He saw the challenge as a way to get the word out through his whole network, and that is exactly what this is all about. I read his full email and explain why it matters in the episode, so press play above.
The soreness you feel in week one does not last. Your body recognizes that the pushups are coming every day and gets more efficient at clearing lactic acid, and the muscle that breaks down builds back stronger. By the end of the month most people are doing volume they never thought possible and barely feeling it. I explain how that adaptation works and how to work with it instead of against it in the episode, so press play above.
Somebody is going to ask why in the world you are doing 10,000 pushups. That question is the entire point. It is your opening to talk about the Florida water issues and the work Captains For Clean Water is doing, and to get one more person on the mailing list. Post your group doing pushups with the hashtag TRPFitnessChallenge or 10000PushupChallenge and tag me. I walk through how to use the challenge as an education tool in the episode, so press play above.
The first days of the 10,000 Pushup Challenge are the hardest, and the soreness you feel right now is temporary. Move, hydrate, eat right after your big sets, and the volume gets easier every week.
Most of all, remember why we are doing this. Every set of pushups is a chance to bring one more person into the fight for clean water in Florida. Press play above and let's get after it.
10,000 Pushup Challenge · Captains For Clean Water · Brian Sabo · Captain Chuck Eichner · Charlotte Harbor · Gulf of Mexico · red tide · lactic acid · delayed onset muscle soreness · post-workout nutrition · #TRPFitnessChallenge
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'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen, where I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep me ready to fish, hunt, and live hard for the rest of my life.
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