From tears when I couldn’t finish even one push-up to 500 a day

A story of how life’s biggest challenges have simple solutions.

Things got worse for me and finally I shed my skepticism about gyms. Though I am active and athletic, my shoulder seemed to lose strength when doing repetitive tasks. I joined a gym for the first time, the year was 2016.

I underwent a shoulder surgery 3 years back, after nursing the pain for over a decade. My shoulder began popping out every time I lifted my hand to wear a t-shirt, it was high time! Moreover, I could no longer play badminton, my favorite sport. During the game whenever I hit a smash, my shoulder subluxated. I needed to adjust and put back my shoulder before the next shot. It was very painful, but that’s how I tried to squeeze in a few more games before being advised to stop. It took multiple MRIs and four doctors to finally agree that it was a torn ligament that wouldn’t heal on its own. Post-surgery and six months of recovery, I was able to wear a t-shirt without fear and get back to playing badminton. However, my shoulder still lacked a certain strength. It fatigued out soon when I do repetitive tasks. That’s when I finally decided to go to the gym. I wanted to improve myself and strengthen my body so that few years down the line, an older me wouldn’t have to struggle or depend on anyone.

The gym was close to my home and there was ample time before I had to go to the office. It was owned by a future friend! He explained the exercises I had to do every day, targeting a different group of muscles each day. Day one, I did arm exercises, which wasn’t too tough for me. Over the next couple of days, chest and legs all went well.

On day four, came the turn for shoulder exercise. The first one was to lift some weight over my head on an assisted equipment. Looking at my physique, the trainer put in just two blocks for me to warm up. I tried to lift it, but just couldn’t manage to get it past my shoulders and above the head. The machine was tougher than it impressed upon me. Then the trainer removed one block. I tried to lift again, but again I just couldn’t do it!

Finally, he removed both the additional blocks and there was only the bare minimum weight possible on that equipment. I somehow managed to lift that with much effort, all of which I tried to hide. I could barely do three reps and my shoulder was completely fatigued. It was evident that the issue was not the equipment. I felt so embarrassed and disappointed.

Then, I was asked to do pushups to build core strength. I swiftly took position and tried to lift myself up without success. The trainer explained how my posture was incorrect and set it right. He explained the right way to do it. I tried again but failed. The trainer also gave up on me by now. He quietly went to attend to others asking me to keep trying.

My jolly-self turned serious, I tried myself a few more times, with all my strength and focus but I just couldn’t do one fucking pushup. The emotions I felt that moment cannot be translated into words. I felt disappointed, I was angry, embarrassed, tired, hopeless… my face turned pale, and tears flooded my eyes.

I went back home with that emotion and disappointment thinking I will never be able to do pushups.

Between that moment and the next day, the spirit of never giving up took hold in my mind. Next day when I went to the gym, I was determined to do at least one push-up or even half of it. I kept trying irrespective of the embarrassment and stares of the fellow gym goers. I came back to trying pushup between every exercise. I didn't succeed and I would come back and fail again. I don’t know about my arms or shoulders, but every day my determination grew stronger. I no longer bothered about the people around.

After more than a week, I was able to do ONE push-up properly and completely. In the coming days I just focused on and continued to do just one pushup. Not long from that day, I was able to do 2–3 continuous push-ups.

After more than a month of training and paining, I was able to do a set of TEN push-ups! A normal feat for an average Joe but a big achievement for me! I continued this trend consistently. Every week with renewed determination and making small progressions. After about 6 months, I was able to hit sixty continuous pushup and the feeling was as if I had conquered the world!

Later, I had another shoulder injury and had to stop going to the gym and that streak was lost. While I went back to gym, in a few months, I did not get back into the rhythm of doing daily push-ups.

That was until I saw a YouTube challenge of doing 100 push-ups a day. It was about body transformation after doing 100 push-ups a day for a month. It sounded interesting and aroused my curiosity. I noted it in my mind to do pushups every day. But it was not easy to do something every day regularly. I would often not find the time or lose motivation.

After a few failed streaks, I downloaded and printed out a 30-day calendar. I put it up on my door prominently so that I cannot miss it during the day. I started again, this time tracking my daily pushups in the calendar.

Of course, I couldn’t start directly with 100 push-ups a day, but also my previous hard work meant that I was also not struggling to do one push-up for weeks. This time around it was not difficult for me to do a set of ten. I started with doing 25–30 pushups a day. I also made sure that I do proper warm-up before the pushups, at least all the injuries had taught me that by now. Soon I finished the first month being able to do 50–60 pushups.

After this I printed out another calendar and was ready to do 100 pushups every day. At times, work or other commitments wouldn’t let me spend enough time on this goal. For such days I made sure that even if I had to split it 50–50 between morning and evening, I would still do 100 pushups in a day no matter what. There were days when I completed it at midnight! This was made possible only because of the prominently visible calendar on my door, I just couldn’t go past that to bed without paying my dues.

The calendar played a significant role

In couple of weeks 100 pushups seemed too less, and I started bumping it up to 150, 200, and soon 300 was like a daily thing. I was not doing 100 pushups in one go. But I had a goal, and I was determined to get to that goal. On some days I can do sixty in one go and rest ten at a time. But the important thing is that I had a goal, I was tracking it, and I had to achieve that somehow! Just a note that, I am not a fitness freak and mostly an average guy when it comes to exercises.

Once again, determination and making small progressions paid off. I finally did 500 pushups in a day!

For many fitness freaks none of what I experienced might seem like a big deal. It might be a regular day’s work for them. But I know that on the other side of the spectrum there are many people out there who still struggle with fitness. Not necessarily pushups but something similar. In my case it was some weak muscles and shoulder injuries, for others it could be injuries, instead of weak muscles it could be weak determination, lack of motivation, fatigue, or obesity etc.

What are my important learnings from the whole journey?

• No matter how hard your target, have faith in yourself.
• Never lose sight of your goals.
• Make small progressions daily.
• Track your progress (Having a calendar was a game-changer).
• And most importantly, Never Give Up.

What is the big picture?

While this story was about fitness and a health issue, the same concepts apply for anything you want to achieve.

If you can’t solve a big problem, break it down into smaller problems and nibble away. The big problem will solve itself.

Many of life’s biggest challenges have simple solutions. With time, patience, and persistence you can achieve any goal!

Just keep an open mind.