repsify blog
guides, science, and benchmarks for pushups, squats, pullups, and situps. one topic per post. no filler.
Diamond pushups hit your triceps about 30% harder than regular pushups, but build less chest. Here's the EMG data, form breakdown, and how to program both.
The 5x5 desk worker program: 5 pushups, 5 times a day, 5 days a week. 125 reps a week with zero scheduled workout time. Built for back-to-back calendars.
A 10-minute daily posture-fix workout for remote workers. Reverses rounded shoulders, tight hips, and forward head posture from sitting at a laptop all day.
A 5-minute wall pushup routine designed for standing desk users. No floor, no equipment, no excuse. Build pressing strength in the spot you already work in.
Two-minute sets scattered through the day build real strength. Here is the science of exercise snacks, greasing the groove, and a sample WFH micro-workout plan.
A 7-minute desk-break workout you can do in the gap between two meetings. Five moves, no equipment, no sweat. Unstick your hips and wake up your shoulders.
A 10-minute pushup routine built for remote workers. No equipment, no floor mat, no gym clothes. Just five moves between meetings to stay strong.
Knees collapsing inward on squats stresses the ACL and medial knee. Fix it with the spread-the-floor cue, banded squats, and glute medius drills.
Flared elbows on pushups grind the front of your shoulder. Fix it with the 45-degree elbow cue, hand-stagger drill, and the right setup. Step-by-step here.
The pistol squat in seven progressions. Ankle mobility, assisted reps, box pistols, and the single-leg strength that gets you a clean rep on both sides.
A step-by-step bodyweight squat form guide. Stance, depth, knee tracking, and the four mistakes that turn a perfect squat into a knee-grinder.
A complete progression to your first strict pullup. Learn the dead hang, scapular pulls, negatives, and band-assisted reps that build pulling strength fast.
Learn how to do a perfect pushup with step-by-step cues, common mistakes, and fixes. Build chest, shoulder, and core strength with textbook form.
The Fighter Pullup Program by Pavel Tsatsouline uses a 5-day rep ladder to roughly double your pullup max in 30 days. Schedule, rules, what to expect each week.
100 bodyweight squats a day for 30 days. Expect firmer glutes, better knee tracking, and a ~25 rep jump in max-set capacity. Schedule, what to expect, mistakes.
The 1-10-1 pushup pyramid totals 100 reps in one session and builds both strength and endurance. Schedule, climb-down rules, what to expect after 4 weeks.
A 28-day calisthenics challenge for total beginners: pushups, squats, planks, rows. Four sessions per week, full schedule, expect 30% strength gains by day 28.
Greasing the groove, Pavel Tsatsouline's method, uses many sub-max sets across the day to add 15 to 25 pushup reps in 4 to 6 weeks. Schedule, rules, and pitfalls.
Get your first strict pullup in 8 to 12 weeks. Dead hang, scapular pull, negatives, band-assisted, then the real thing. Weekly schedule and what to expect.
Go from zero pushups to 50 strict reps in 12 weeks. Weekly schedule, regression-to-progression ladder, what to expect each phase, and the mistakes that stall you.
100 pushups a day for 30 days realistically adds 10 to 15 reps to your max set. Here is the day-by-day schedule, what to expect each week, and the common mistakes.
Average pushup counts by occupation, from firefighters and military to office workers. Job-based fitness benchmarks and where you stand against your field.
Military fitness standards across all US branches: ACFT, USMC PFT, Navy PRT, USAF PT. Pushup, situp, pullup, and run requirements in one chart.
A pushup max scaled by your bodyweight is the truest test of relative pressing strength. See the standard by weight class for men and women here.
The situp test breakdown by age and gender, using ACSM and US military scoring. See where your one-minute situp count places you, untrained to elite.
Average bodyweight squat reps by age and gender, based on ACSM and military fitness norms. Find your bracket from untrained to elite in one chart.
How many pullups should you be able to do for your age, gender, and bodyweight? Strength standards from untrained to elite, with target numbers.
Pushup strength standards from untrained to elite, with target rep counts for each level by age and gender. Find your bracket and your next goal.
The average pushup count by age and gender, based on ACSM and military fitness data. See where you stand for your age group in one chart.
Pseudo planche pushups load the front delts harder than decline pushups by shifting the body's center of mass forward of the hands. Form notes and programming.
Regular pushups build more pressing strength; Hindu pushups train shoulder mobility and full-body flow. Here's how the two patterns differ and when to use each.
Incline pushups beat knee pushups as a beginner regression because they preserve the full-body plank position and progress more cleanly to a full pushup.
Archer pushups are the standard bridge to a one-arm pushup, loading roughly 70% of bodyweight per arm. Here's how to use them as a progression.
Barbell squats build more max leg strength; pistol squats build single-leg strength, balance, and ankle mobility. Here's how to use both effectively.
Overhead press builds bigger shoulders past the novice phase because you can load it heavier. Pike pushups are the best bodyweight shoulder builder.
Decline pushups (feet elevated) build the upper chest and front delts; incline pushups are an easier regression for lower chest. EMG data and programming.
Crunches isolate the rectus abdominis better; situps train the hip flexors as much as the abs. Here's the EMG data, injury notes, and how to program both.
Barbell squats build meaningfully more leg muscle past the beginner phase; bodyweight squats win on accessibility and endurance. Here's how to use both.
Chinups build bigger biceps and let you move more weight; pullups build a wider back and hit the lats harder. Here's the EMG data and how to program both.
Wide-grip pushups recruit the chest about 20% harder; close-grip pushups hammer the triceps. Here's the EMG data, form notes, and how to program both.