The most push ups in an hour

Posted onAuthorDavid Bradley

most push ups in an hour

The most push ups in an hour:  how many can you do?

That’s right.  How many push ups can you do in 60 minutes?   Putting a little perspective on that and according to Guinness, the most push ups in one hour is 2,298 and was achieved by David Escojido in Victoria, Texas, USA, on 2 April 2016.  Escojido, who is nicknamed “Popeye”, was 55 years old at the time of the attempt.

Once again, inspired by my man, David Goggins of Living With A SEAL fame (check out the RMG review of this awesome book), I started to wonder about my personal best when it came to push ups.  I love doing them.  I love where it takes my mind and the battle I get to fight with my body, mind and spirit.

How To Do The Most Push Ups In An Hour

most push ups in an hourSo one day I thought, I wonder if I can get 1,000 push ups done in an hour?  That’s like a big number right?  1,000.  If I did, what would that look like?  1,000 divided by 60 is 16.67.  That means I need to be doing sets of 15 – 20 on the minute for 60 minutes.  If I can do that, I’ll hit the 1,000 mark.  Probably more.

So one late afternoon, early evening I headed to my favorite spot near the ocean, found a wide park bench, put on my Training Montage playlist from Spotify and got after it.  20 seconds of push ups / 40 seconds of rest / 60 rounds.

First time I tried this I got 1,160.  Beat the target by 160 push ups.  7 sets of 25, 37 sets of 20 and 15 sets of 15.  Two weeks later I was at it again.  This time I hit 1304.

Two weeks after that, I wanted to see if I could hit 1500 and I failed miserably.  At minute 35, my body quit.  I hit failure and couldn’t even do 3 reps.  I made sure though that every minute I did something.  3, 8, 7, 9, 4, 12, 10, 12, then I got back in the game again.  Ended with only 1097.  I was totally disappointed.  Not sure what went wrong but wasn’t throwing in the towel either.  Had to beat my PR some how, have to get to 1500.

Next time I do this, I land 1285.  Never dropped below 15 reps per set.  We were heading back up.  On October 16th, 2016, I land 1,360 push ups.  2 sets of 30, 18 sets of 25, 25 sets of 22 and 15 sets of 15.

Most Push Ups In An Hour Lessons:

Here’s what I’ve figured out about doing the most Push Ups in an hour.  Number one most importantmost push ups in an hour thing is to NOT go to failure.  ALWAYS leave a rep or two in the tank on every set.  Push yourself but if you max out, you’re toast for 5 to 10 rounds and your volume will suffer.  The goal here is volume.  If you’re going to go all out, save it for the last 5 rounds.

Don’t try this every week.  Test yourself every 15 – 20 days or so.  In the time between do push ups supplementally that increase endurance.  This is where you rep out and work your max.

  • Try 20 sets of as many reps a possible
  • How fast can you do 500 push ups
  • Do sets of 30 every 90 seconds of 20 rounds

Living With A SEAL has some great push up routines in it and Google will as well.  Bottom line is between testing your 60 minute max, work on your push ups.

Also, consider the other elements.  Practice breathing and getting as much O2 in your blood.  The more oxygen you have, the more work you can do so take deep breaths between sets.  Work other bodyweight drills like pull ups and dips.  Keep your core toned and tight with sit ups, flutter kicks and shoulder bridges.  Also between tests, keep your cardio in check with kettlebell swings and running.

You will be surprised with all the little “what the heck” effects pushing your push ups will have.  My target, 2400…  not a type-o.  How long will that take?  Who knows, but stay tuned here and on Facebook for updates and progress.