How Many Push Ups Can You Do In 1 HOUR?!

A couple weeks ago I caught wind of a UFC fight by the name of Movsar Evloev who claims to do 1,500 push-ups in an hour as part of his weekly training. He says this routine was inspired by boxer Kostya Tszyu, who originally did 1,000 push-ups in a session. But since he’s done it for so long he’s worked himself up to 1,500 in ONE hour once per week.

I saw a ton of hate coming from the internet — even fitness people who thought this wasn’t possible. I felt the complete opposite. At first I thought “yes! What a great idea and challenge. I love the simplicity as well. This will be great for the core too.. basically an hour on and off of planks!” I 100% believe that this guy is doing 1,500 push ups in 1 hour. The highest level UFC fighters are in my opinion the most well conditioned athletes on the earth. Not to mention the superior level of mental toughness that comes with the craft.

1,500 push ups in 1 hour is 25 push ups per minute. That’s… A LOT. The original approach is 1,000 push ups in 1 hour which is 16-17 per minute. This is not possible for a novice lifter/ athlete. The overall level of fatigue that will come after the first 30 mins is high. Not to mention when doing volume like this the fatigue is heavy and risk of injury naturally goes up.

A Question

What’s the quality of these reps? I didn’t see a video of him doing them but I’d assume he’s bagging out reps with a 7 to 8 out of 10 (10 being perfect form). He’s a professional— I’m sure he’s not half reppin for push ups clout. In my opinion with over 20 years of training at a high level… 7 to 8 out of 10 on volume reps is GREAT. That’s personally what I shoot for. Not every single rep my chest needs to touch the ground or elbows need to go into full extension. A 10 of 10 push up would look like— chest* touches ground. Slight pause. Full extension. Slight pause at top. In order to perfect the push up a slight pause must be used at top and bottom. Just the same as a bench press in competition. Not necessarily needed when doing volume work and chasing the pump.

Of course…

I was inspired to try it myself. I’ve been doing push ups for-ev-er. But more-so A LOT the past couple years. 3-4 weeks ago I mentioned I slipped a disc in my neck. It’s near 100% — I’m working out and running again. Typical recovery for this is 8-12+ weeks and many experience pain for months… years. All injuries are different. But I’m proud of the level of attention I put to get myself healthy. Nearly 3 hours a day of rehab (broken into 20-30 min blocks) over the course of 2 weeks and I was able to get back to (Normal fitness) I been back for a couple weeks and started doing a couple hundred push ups every other day to prep for this challenge. Also taking my own advice and “changing” the way I approach my fitness. Which really just looks like more extensive warm ups, stretching and intentionally recovering. The body’s feeling pretty good.

I went for it!

Since I was feeling alright and my mind loves a challenge I went for it. Set a timer and starting banging out push ups. I didn’t try to hit 15-20 reps per minute. Or take the challenge all that serious. I was in the middle of my day — helping out with the baby but had enough time and space to put some level of intention to the effort. This was my first test run at it. I had to see how my body responded. I didn’t want to force anything. I ended up with over 950 push ups in the hour— with plenty left in the tank at the end. And I loved the workout. The simplicity and natural challenge of trying to beat the clock. I’d give myself credit for 8 of 10 on quality of reps. No half reppin ass!

SORE

I tell ya what… I’m sore as hell from it. Very sore! And my neck needed a bit more stretching attention the next day. But overall— I loved the challenge and the workout and could see myself adding this in once a week. Especially during the summer. I’d like to see how far I can take it. But it’s still too soon to tell. I’ll keep you updated along the way.

DO HARD THINGS

Be up for the challenge