8 weeks

Do 20 push-ups in a row in 8 weeks

3 sessions a week, 15–20 minutes

Eight weeks is the right timeframe if you're starting from one or two push-ups, or from none at all. The thirty-day version assumes you already have a base. This one builds it, which means the first three weeks happen with your hands on a raised surface and you should make peace with that now.

The trap in this goal is form drifting as fatigue arrives. Hips sag, elbows flare, and the range of motion quietly shrinks until you're doing twenty of something that isn't a push-up. This plan trains fewer, better reps and then adds volume on top of them — three sessions a week, with real rest days, because pressing strength is built in the gap between sessions.

The protocol

  1. Weeks 1–2

    Pick a height you can own

    • Find an incline (kitchen counter, desk, stair) where you can do 8 strict reps and stop with 2 left in the tank.
    • Three sessions: 4 sets of 8 at that height, 90 seconds rest. Chest touches the surface every rep.
    • Add 3 sets of 30-second planks after each session. Sagging hips under fatigue is a core problem, not a chest problem.
  2. Weeks 3–4

    Lower the surface

    • Drop the incline one step each week — counter to chair, chair to sofa, sofa to a single stair.
    • 4 sets of 8 at the new height. If you can't get 8, go back up a level. There is no prize for suffering at floor level.
    • One session a week: 3 sets of 5 slow negatives from the floor, 4 seconds down, knees to reset.
  3. Week 5

    Floor level, small sets

    • 5 sets of 5 strict floor push-ups, 90 seconds rest. Every rep full range, every rep clean.
    • If 5 sets of 5 isn't there, do 6 sets of 3. Total reps matter more than set size right now.
    • Keep the planks. 3 sets of 45 seconds.
  4. Week 6

    Tempo and pyramids

    • Session A: 4 sets of 6 with a 3-second lower and a 1-second pause at the bottom.
    • Session B: pyramid — 4, 6, 8, 6, 4 with 60 seconds between sets.
    • Session C: 5 sets of 6 at normal speed, stopping every set 2 reps short.
  5. Week 7

    Density, then back off

    • First two sessions: as many quality sets of 8 as you can manage in 10 minutes, resting 60 seconds.
    • Third session is a deload: 3 sets of 6, nothing hard, then stop.
    • No max testing this week. The urge to check will be strong. Don't.
  6. Week 8

    Test it

    • Monday: 3 easy sets of 6. Tuesday and Wednesday: rest completely.
    • Thursday: warm up with 5 reps, rest 3 minutes, then go for 20. Count out loud and breathe out on the way up.
    • Whatever the number, keep two push-up sessions a week afterwards. Twenty is easier to hold than it is to get.

How you'll know it's working

  • You stop needing to think about your hips halfway through a set.
  • Dropping the incline a level costs you two reps instead of five.
  • A 3-second lower stops turning into a 1-second collapse on the last rep.

When you miss a day

Miss a session and you do it next — the week stretches, it doesn't disappear. If a whole week goes missing, repeat the last block you finished rather than jumping back in where you left off, and you'll lose about four days, not a month.

How Mosey helps

You don't have to hold the plan in your head.

Reading a protocol is the easy part. Mosey turns this one into scheduled days, adjusts it when your week falls apart, and keeps the streak alive while it does.

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Questions

Can I skip the incline weeks if I can already do 5 floor push-ups?

Yes. Start at week 5 and keep the deload in week 7. The incline weeks exist to build volume you can't yet get from the floor.

How much rest between sets, really?

Enough that the next set is nearly as good as the last one. For most people that's 60 to 90 seconds. If your rep count is falling off a cliff, you're resting too little.

Does chest touching the floor matter?

Chest within a fist of the floor is the standard, and full range is what makes the strength real. Half reps inflate your number and stop transferring the moment you need the strength for anything else.

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