I Did 250 Push-Ups Daily for 8 Years: Here's What Happened

Eight years ago, I made a decision that completely transformed my life. I committed to doing at least 250 push-ups every single day, no matter what. Rain or shine, tired or energized, hungover or healthy—I showed up.

Today, I've completed over one million push-ups. Yes, you read that right—one million push-ups across 2,922 consecutive days. And let me tell you, the journey has been nothing like what I expected.

I'm writing this because I've learned some brutal truths along the way. Some days I felt invincible. Other days, I wondered if I was destroying my body. I've made mistakes, pushed through pain I probably shouldn't have, and discovered things about consistency and discipline that changed how I approach everything in life.

So buckle up. This isn't one of those Instagram fitness stories where everything's perfect. This is the raw, unfiltered truth about what happens when you do hundreds of push-ups every day for years.

How It All Started: The First Day I Committed

I wasn't always the guy who could bang out 250 push-ups. Far from it, actually.

Back in 2017, I was doing push-ups pretty regularly but kept taking days off whenever I felt tired or busy. I'd skip workouts when I was hungover. I'd make excuses when work got stressful. You know the drill.

Then one day in mid-2017, I got tired of my own excuses. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought: what if I just committed? What if I forced myself to do this every single day, no matter what?

That day, I started tracking every single push-up in my phone's health app. I chose the category "Pushes" (I think it's meant for wheelchair pushes, but whatever). Seeing those orange bars fill up each day became addictive. I didn't want to see any gaps.

At first, I started with 250 push-ups because it felt challenging but doable. Some days I'd do 500. But 250 became my non-negotiable minimum.

Little did I know that this simple decision would lead me down a path that would completely reshape my body and my mind.

The First Three Months: When Things Got Real

I'm not going to lie to you—the first few months were rough.

My chest was constantly sore. My triceps felt like they were on fire. Some mornings I'd wake up and think, "There's no way I can do this today." But I did it anyway.

Here's what those early months looked like: I'd knock out at least 50 push-ups in my first set, then rest for 30 to 60 seconds. Then I'd do sets of 20 to 35 reps, resting between each set, until I hit 250. The whole session usually took me between 12 and 20 minutes, depending on how I felt that day.

I quickly learned that pushing close to failure on most sets was the key. Not literally every single set—that's impossible—but enough to keep my muscles challenged and growing.

Within the first month, I started noticing changes. My chest felt fuller. My arms looked more defined. My shoulders were broader. It wasn't dramatic yet, but I could see it happening.

By month three, people started commenting. "Have you been hitting the gym?" they'd ask. Nope, just me and my floor, having our daily date with gravity.

The Wake-Up Call: My First Injury Scare

Around month six, something happened that scared the hell out of me.

My right shoulder started clicking. Not just occasionally—every single time I raised my arm above my head. It didn't hurt at first, just this weird popping sensation that made me nervous.

I kept pushing through (stupid, I know), telling myself it was fine. Then one morning, I woke up and couldn't raise my arm without sharp pain shooting through my shoulder.

That's when I realized I'd made a critical mistake: I'd been doing hundreds of push-ups daily without balancing them with any pulling exercises. My chest muscles had gotten so tight that they were literally pulling my shoulders forward. My pectoralis minor—this small but mighty muscle that connects your ribs to your shoulder blade—was in a constant state of tension.

I had to take action. I bought a pull-up bar that day and started incorporating pull-ups into my routine. Not just a few—I'm talking serious volume to balance out all that pushing.

Within two weeks of adding pull-ups, my shoulder clicking reduced dramatically. Within a month, it was gone completely.

That was my first major lesson: you absolutely must balance pushing with pulling. Your body isn't designed to work in just one direction.

Year One Results: The Transformation Was Real

By the end of my first year, I'd done roughly 133,000 push-ups. My body had transformed in ways I never expected.

My chest had grown significantly. My arms were noticeably bigger—I'd gone from barely filling out medium t-shirts to having them feel snug around my shoulders and chest. My core was tight and defined, even though I wasn't doing dedicated ab work (push-ups, especially with elevated feet, work your core more than most people realize).

But here's what really surprised me: I'd stayed incredibly lean. Despite eating more than I ever had in my life—and I mean a LOT more—I maintained visible abs year-round.

My metabolism had kicked into overdrive. I could eat massive meals, and my body just used it as fuel for recovery and growth. It was like I'd unlocked some cheat code for staying lean while building muscle.

People started asking me what program I was following, what supplements I was taking. The truth? Just push-ups, pull-ups, and eating enough to support the work I was doing.

The Brutal Truth About Daily Training

Let me address the elephant in the room: everyone says you need rest days for muscle growth. And for most people following most programs, that's absolutely true.

But here's what I discovered—your body adapts to the demands you place on it.

In the beginning, doing 250 push-ups daily was brutal. My muscles needed time to recover. But after months of consistent training, my body adapted. My recovery capacity increased dramatically. What once left me sore for days became my new normal.

That said, I'm not stupid about it. I vary my approach constantly:

Some days I do all flat push-ups with standard hand positioning. Other days I elevate my feet on a chair or bench to target my upper chest and shoulders more. Sometimes I put my feet way up on my kitchen counter (over three feet high) which absolutely murders my shoulders in the best way. Other times I use narrow hand positioning (much harder) or wide grip (targets chest differently).

This constant variation prevents overuse injuries and keeps my muscles guessing. I'm not just repeating the exact same movement thousands of times—I'm training my body through multiple angles and positions.

Year Two Crisis: When I Broke My Ankle

In late 2019, I had my streak seriously tested.

I was skateboarding (yeah, I'm one of those guys who never grew out of it) and took a nasty fall. Broke my ankle. Had to get surgery. Spent weeks in a cast.

Most people would see that as a perfect excuse to take a break. And honestly? Part of me wanted to.

But I'd come too far. My streak was over 800 days at that point. I couldn't let it die.

So I adapted. I did push-ups with one foot crossed over the other, keeping the weight off my injured ankle. It was awkward as hell, and my balance was terrible at first, but I made it work.

I even did my push-ups the day after surgery, still groggy from anesthesia, with my wife thinking I'd lost my mind. (She might have been right.)

That experience taught me something crucial: consistency isn't about perfect conditions. It's about showing up even when everything's working against you.

The mental toughness I built during those weeks carried over into every other area of my life. When things got hard at work or in my personal life, I reminded myself: "You did push-ups the day after breaking your ankle. You can handle this."

The Diet Secret That Changed Everything

For the first two years of my streak, I stayed super lean but didn't add much bulk. I was eating a normal amount of calories—my wife's healthy, delicious cooking, maybe 2,500 to 2,800 calories per day.

I looked good, don't get me wrong. Lean, defined, athletic. But I wanted more size.

So in year three, I started eating past the point of satiation. Like, uncomfortably full. I'd finish dinner and then eat another full meal an hour later. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and have a protein shake and a couple sandwiches.

That's when the real mass started coming on.

See, I have a naturally fast metabolism. I've always been the guy who could eat anything and stay lean. But to actually build significant muscle mass, I had to eat so much that it became uncomfortable.

I wasn't tracking macros or being super precise about it. I just ate a lot of protein, carbs, and healthy fats. Every day. Sometimes I'd eat until I felt sick.

And it worked. Over the next year, I put on about 15 pounds of solid muscle while maintaining my lean physique.

The lesson here? You can do all the push-ups in the world, but if you're not eating enough, you won't build the mass you want.

Adding Squats: Year Four Evolution

In late 2019, I decided my legs needed some love too. I'd always had decent leg mass from playing hockey and baseball growing up, but I wanted more.

So I started doing at least 250 air squats every single day, along with my push-ups.

At first, 250 squats felt like torture. My quads would burn, my lungs would scream. But just like with push-ups, my body adapted.

By year two of my squat streak (late 2021), I upped my daily minimum to 500 air squats. These days, I'll often do 400 of them in one continuous set, then knock out the final 100 throughout the day.

The results on my legs have been incredible. My quads are thick and defined. My glutes are solid. And the cardiovascular benefits? Insane. Doing 400 squats in a row gets your heart rate up like crazy—it's basically cardio and strength training combined.

People always ask me if I ever run or do traditional cardio. Nope. Between the push-ups (which I do at a pretty fast pace with short rest periods) and the squats, I'm getting all the cardiovascular work I need.

The Injuries I Couldn't Avoid

I wish I could tell you I made it through eight years without any problems. But that wouldn't be honest.

Beyond the shoulder clicking I mentioned earlier, I've dealt with:

Wrist pain: In 2019, I sprained my wrist skateboarding (sensing a pattern here?). For two months, I had to do knuckle push-ups while wearing a wrist brace. It was painful and awkward, but I adapted.

Here's a crazy story: my wife and I took a flight to Asia that kept us in the air for a full calendar day. To avoid missing a day of push-ups, I had to do them in the JFK airport lounge at 1am before our 2am departure. Knuckle push-ups on a dirty airport floor with a wrist brace on. That's dedication bordering on insanity.

Elbow tightness: There have been periods where my elbows felt tight and slightly inflamed. This usually happened when I was doing too many narrow-grip push-ups without enough variation. The fix? More variation and adding external rotation exercises to strengthen my rotator cuff.

Lower back tightness: When I first started doing 500 squats daily, my lower back would get tight and sore. I realized I wasn't engaging my core properly during the squats. Once I focused on keeping my core tight and maintaining proper form, the problem disappeared.

The biggest lesson from all these minor injuries? Listen to your body, but don't be soft. There's a difference between pain that signals injury and discomfort from pushing your limits. Learning to tell the difference is crucial.

Year Five Through Eight: Mastery and Maintenance

By year five, something interesting happened. The push-ups became almost meditative.

I no longer had to psych myself up for them. They'd become such an ingrained part of my daily routine that not doing them felt weirder than doing them.

Some days I'd wake up and knock out all 250 before breakfast. Other days I'd do them late at night before bed. Sometimes when I was stressed or anxious, I'd do them in the middle of the day as a way to clear my head.

The physical results plateaued somewhat—I wasn't getting dramatically bigger or stronger anymore. But I was maintaining an impressive physique with minimal time investment. Twenty minutes a day for push-ups, another 15 for squats. That's it.

No gym membership. No fancy equipment. No complicated programs. Just me, my body, and gravity.

At 38 years old now, I feel better than I did in my early twenties. I'm stronger, leaner, more disciplined, and more confident. My resting heart rate is in the low 50s. My blood pressure is perfect. My doctor is consistently impressed with my health markers.

The Mental Game: The Real Transformation

Here's something I didn't expect: the mental transformation has been even more profound than the physical one.

Doing push-ups every day for eight years has taught me more about discipline, consistency, and mental toughness than anything else in my life.

There have been so many days when I didn't feel like doing them. Days when I was exhausted, stressed, traveling, sick (well, not seriously sick—I do take those days off), hungover, injured, or just flat-out unmotivated.

But I showed up anyway. And every single time I pushed through when I didn't want to, I strengthened not just my muscles but my character.

I learned that motivation is bullshit. Motivation comes and goes. Discipline is what matters. Discipline is doing what needs to be done whether you feel like it or not.

This lesson has carried over into every area of my life. When I don't feel like working on a difficult project, I think: "You did 250 push-ups today when you really didn't want to. You can do this." When I'm tempted to quit something hard, I remember: "You've done push-ups for 2,922 consecutive days. You don't quit."

The streak itself became powerful. Breaking it would mean admitting defeat. So I protect it fiercely.

What I Learned About Rest and Recovery

People constantly tell me I'm overtraining. That I need rest days. That my muscles can't grow without recovery time.

Here's what I've learned: traditional rest day advice applies to people doing traditional programs. Heavy lifting with weights, true maximum effort, training to complete failure—that stuff requires significant recovery time.

But bodyweight exercises are different, especially once your body adapts to doing them daily.

Think about it: your body recovers for 23 hours and 40 minutes between push-up sessions. That's a lot of recovery time, even if you're technically training daily.

Plus, I'm not training to complete failure every single set. Some days I push really hard, getting close to failure on multiple sets. Other days I'm just maintaining, doing my sets at maybe 70 or 80 percent effort.

I also get plenty of sleep (7 to 8 hours most nights), eat well, stay hydrated, and manage stress. All of those factors contribute to recovery.

That said, I'm not recommending everyone train daily. I'm just sharing what's worked for me. Your recovery capacity might be different. Your goals might be different. Your body might respond differently.

The key is to experiment and find what works for you, not blindly follow what some expert or influencer says is "optimal."

The Importance of Pulling Exercises

I can't stress this enough: if you're going to do a lot of push-ups, you absolutely must do pulling exercises too.

For the first four or five years of my streak, I did thousands of pull-ups. Not daily like my push-ups, but several times per week with serious volume.

Then I moved to an apartment where none of the doorways work with a pull-up bar. I stopped doing pull-ups consistently, and my back development has suffered somewhat as a result.

These days, I occasionally go to the gym (my company covers the membership) and do lat pull-downs to compensate. But it's not the same as pull-ups.

I've found that I can maintain decent back development by focusing on scapular movement during my push-ups—really squeezing and contracting the muscles between my shoulder blades at the bottom of each rep. But I'm not building new back mass like I was when I was doing heavy pull-up volume.

My advice? If you're going to commit to daily push-ups, commit to regular pull-ups too. Even if it's just 50 or 100 pull-ups three times per week, that's enough to keep things balanced and prevent the shoulder issues I experienced early on.

Your body is designed to push and pull. Train it that way.

The Thanksgiving Tradition: 1,000 Push-Ups

Every Thanksgiving morning for the past six years, I've done 1,000 push-ups.

Why? Partly because it's a fun challenge. Partly because I know I'm going to eat an absolutely massive amount of food that day and I want to earn it. Partly because it's become a tradition that I look forward to.

One thousand push-ups takes me about an hour. I'll do sets of 30 to 50, resting for a minute or two between sets, grinding through until I hit 1,000.

After I'm done, I do 1,000 squats too (this year I'll probably do 2,000 since my daily number is now 500).

The crazy thing? I never feel destroyed afterward. Sure, I'm tired and pumped, but I don't experience any negative consequences the next day. No excessive soreness, no joint pain, nothing.

This tells me that my body has truly adapted to high-volume bodyweight training. What would completely wreck most people has become manageable for me.

That's the power of consistent, progressive adaptation over years.

The Variations That Keep It Interesting

One of the keys to my longevity with this routine is constant variation.

I never just do the same push-up every single day. That would be boring as hell and probably lead to overuse injuries.

Here are the main variations I rotate through:

Standard push-ups: Hands shoulder-width apart, body straight, full range of motion.

Wide grip push-ups: Hands positioned wider than shoulders, targeting the outer chest more.

Narrow grip push-ups: Hands close together, absolutely brutal for the triceps. These are significantly harder than standard push-ups.

Elevated feet push-ups: Feet on a chair or bench, shifting emphasis to upper chest and shoulders.

High elevation push-ups: Feet on my kitchen counter (about 3.5 feet high), turning it into almost a decline pike push-up that hammers the shoulders.

Slow tempo push-ups: Taking 3 to 4 seconds on the descent, pausing at the bottom, then pushing up explosively.

Explosive push-ups: Pushing up fast enough that my hands leave the ground slightly.

I'll typically do a mix of these variations within a single session. Maybe I'll start with 50 standard push-ups, then do 30 narrow grip, then 40 with elevated feet, and so on until I hit 250.

This constant variation keeps my muscles guessing, prevents boredom, and ensures I'm developing balanced strength across my entire chest, shoulders, and triceps.

What About Supplements?

People always assume I'm taking a bunch of supplements to support this kind of training volume. The truth? I'm pretty minimal with it.

I've gone through phases where I drank a lot of protein shakes, especially when I was trying to bulk up in years three and four. But these days, I rarely drink them.

I get most of my protein from whole foods: chicken, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, beans, and whatever my wife cooks (she's an incredible cook and always includes plenty of protein).

I do take a basic multivitamin most days, just to cover any nutritional gaps. And I drink a ton of water—probably close to a gallon per day.

That's it. No pre-workout. No BCAAs. No creatine (though creatine is actually legit if you want to use it). No testosterone boosters or any of that garbage.

Just real food, plenty of it, and water. That's been enough to support over a million push-ups and build a physique I'm proud of.

The Social Aspect: How People React

The reactions I get when I tell people about my streak are hilarious and varied.

Some people are incredibly impressed and inspired. They ask detailed questions about how I do it, what results I've seen, how they can start their own streak.

Others think I'm completely insane. They tell me I'm overtraining, that I'm going to hurt myself, that what I'm doing is stupid and inefficient.

And you know what? I don't really care either way.

I'm not doing this to impress anyone or to prove anything to anyone else. I'm doing it because it works for me. It's given me the physique I want, the discipline I value, and the mental toughness I needed.

If someone wants to criticize my approach while they're sitting on their couch making excuses about why they can't work out, that's their problem, not mine.

The people whose opinions I value—my wife, close friends, my doctor—have all been supportive. My wife thinks I'm a bit obsessive about it (she's not wrong), but she also sees how much it means to me and respects that.

My doctor has told me repeatedly that I'm in exceptional health for my age. My resting heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, inflammation markers—everything looks great.

So yeah, I'll keep doing my thing regardless of what random internet experts think I should be doing.

The Biggest Mistakes I Made

Looking back on eight years, there are definitely things I would have done differently:

I should have started pulling exercises from day one. Waiting until I had shoulder issues was stupid. If I could do it over, I'd match my push-ups with pull-ups from the beginning.

I should have filmed my form earlier. I didn't start recording myself until year three, and when I did, I realized my form wasn't as good as I thought. Recording yourself is humbling but essential.

I should have been more strategic about variation. In the early years, I did a lot of the same type of push-up day after day. Now I'm much more intentional about rotating through different variations.

I should have been more careful with skateboarding. Two injuries (wrist sprain and broken ankle) both came from skateboarding. I've since toned that down significantly. At 38, I need to be smarter about risk.

I should have added squats sooner. Waiting until year three to start daily squats was a missed opportunity. My legs could have been even more developed.

But honestly? Even with these mistakes, I wouldn't change much. The journey has been incredible, and the mistakes taught me valuable lessons.

Advice for Anyone Starting Their Own Streak

If you're inspired to start your own daily push-up routine, here's my honest advice:

Start smaller than you think you should. Don't try to do 250 push-ups on day one if you can currently max out at 20. Start with 50 or even 25. Build gradually.

Track everything. Use an app, a notebook, whatever. But track your reps daily. It keeps you accountable and motivated.

Balance it with pulling from day one. For every push-up, you should eventually work up to doing at least one pull-up or rowing movement. Don't make my early mistake.

Vary your approach constantly. Don't do the exact same push-up every day. Mix up hand positions, foot elevation, tempo, etc.

Listen to your body, not your excuses. Learn the difference between legitimate pain (sharp, getting worse, signals injury) and discomfort (burning muscles, fatigue, soreness). Push through discomfort. Stop for pain.

Don't obsess over perfection. Some days will be harder than others. Some days your form won't be perfect. That's okay. Just show up and do the work.

Focus on the mental game. The physical results are great, but the mental toughness you'll build is even more valuable.

Be patient. This isn't a six-week transformation program. It's a lifestyle. Results come from consistency over months and years, not days and weeks.

Don't let anyone talk you out of it. People will tell you you're doing it wrong. That you need rest days. That it's not optimal. Ignore them. Do what works for you.

The Bottom Line: Was It Worth It?

Absolutely, 100 percent yes.

These eight years of daily push-ups have given me so much more than just a good physique. They've taught me about discipline, consistency, mental toughness, and what I'm truly capable of when I commit to something fully.

I'm 38 years old and in the best shape of my life. I'm stronger, leaner, and healthier than I was at 25. I can eat massive amounts of food without gaining fat. I have visible abs year-round. My cardiovascular health is excellent.

But beyond the physical results, I've built unshakeable confidence. When challenges come up in other areas of my life, I remind myself: I've done push-ups every single day for over 2,900 consecutive days. If I can do that, I can do anything.

That mindset has carried over into my career, my relationships, my personal goals. I've become someone who finishes what they start, who shows up even when it's hard, who doesn't make excuses.

Is this approach right for everyone? Probably not. Some people need more variety. Some people need more rest. Some people don't want to commit to something every single day for years.

And that's totally fine. There's no one right way to train.

But for me? This has been transformative in ways I never expected.

So here I am, over one million push-ups later, writing this to inspire maybe just one person to commit to something similar. To show that consistency over time produces results that no "optimal" program can match if you don't stick with it.

Will I keep going? Absolutely. My goal now is to hit 2 million push-ups. At my current pace, that'll happen around 2033. I'll be 46 years old.

And you know what? I can't wait to see what my body and mind look like then.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got my daily 250 to knock out. My body's waiting, and after eight years, it knows exactly what's coming.

Let's go.