The 10,000 push-up challenge is my annual February event where you do ten thousand push-ups in one month — and the trick to managing it is breaking that huge number down. Ten thousand divided by 28 days is about 358 push-ups a day, and split across ten waking hours that is only 35 or 36 an hour. In this Physical Friday I show you how I front-load the day, stack push-ups around every meal, scale the movement to your level, and track every rep so you actually get it done.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You break the number down. Ten thousand divided by 28 days is about 358 push-ups a day, and if you spread that across ten waking hours it is only 35 or 36 push-ups an hour. The number sounds impossible as one block, but as a daily and then hourly target it is very attainable. I front-load mine in the morning workout, then add small sets before and after every meal and one set before bed. Some people set an hourly alarm and knock out 35 every time it goes off.
About 358 push-ups a day gets you to 10,000 across the 28 days of February. I usually do 50 in my warmup and another 50 right after, so I am at 100 early in the morning, then pick up another 100 or so during the workout, which can put me at 200 or 300 before lunch. From there I add a few before and after each meal and a set before bed, which keeps me ahead of pace every single day.
No. You do the challenge at your own level. If full push-ups are too much, put your hands on a desk, a park bench, or a wall — the closer you are to standing upright, the easier they are, and that is a perfectly good place to start. If standard push-ups are too easy, put your feet up on a bench for elevated push-ups, do handstand push-ups, or go for 20,000 or 30,000 in the month. The point is to do something you did not think you could do.
Any way you want, as long as you actually keep track. A scratch piece of paper, a journal, an Excel spreadsheet, or an app all work. There is a downloadable spreadsheet on the challenge page that subtracts your daily reps from the monthly total so you always know how many you have left. To get the certificate, you send me your completed sheet at the end of the month showing you hit 10,000.
Register at tomrowlandpodcast.com/pushups, or just go to tomrowlandpodcast.com and you will see it right on the front page. The sign-up includes the tracking spreadsheet you can download. Once you are in, use the hashtag TRPfitnesschallenge or the 10,000 push-up hashtag so we can all follow along, and tag me on Instagram at Tom_Rowland or Tom_Rowland_Podcast and I will repost what comes across my story.
You catch up — falling behind is completely fine. You can front-load the month, get ahead early, or make up reps later, and I honestly do not mind if it takes you a little past the month to finish. The goal is to chase 10,000 in February, but the real win is proving to yourself you can do something you did not think you could. Break it back down by the hour and the day, and you are just eating the elephant one bite at a time.
Here is the approach I use to manage the 10,000 push-up challenge. I cover the details and stories in the episode.
I walk through the details in the episode. Press play in the player above.
The reason 10,000 push-ups works as a challenge is that it sounds impossible. That is the whole point. When you stop staring at the big number and turn it into a daily target, then an hourly one, the wall disappears. Bob Kulig, a software consultant and charter captain, sent me exactly this math and it is the cleanest way I have heard it put. I unpack his approach and how I build my own day around it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I front-load as much as I can in my morning workout and substitute push-ups for things like burpees or mountain climbers for the month. By the end of my morning I might be at 200 or 300, then I add small sets before lunch, after lunch, before dinner, after dinner, and one before bed. That keeps me getting ahead a little every day instead of grinding one enormous block. I walk through my exact rhythm in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Everybody starts somewhere. Elevated push-ups against a wall or desk still count, and by the end of the month you will be doing full reps. The non-negotiable is tracking — paper, spreadsheet, or app — because the sheet is what earns your certificate and keeps you honest. I explain how to register and track at tomrowlandpodcast.com/pushups in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The 10,000 push-up challenge looks impossible until you break it into bites. Do that, scale the movement to where you are today, and track every rep, and you will surprise yourself by the end of February.
If you are in, use the hashtag TRPfitnesschallenge and tag me on Instagram so I can cheer you on, and if you start to fall behind, do not quit — just catch up one set at a time. Press play in the player above.
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.
10,000 Push-Up Challenge · Bob Kulig · Boss Fishing Company · Kevin Burns · Captains for Clean Water · Instagram · Physical Friday · Saltwater Experience
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 where I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong enough to keep doing what they love for life.
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