100 Push-Ups a Day Challenge FAQs

Supporters raise money for Cancer Research UK by challenging themselves to do 100 push-ups a day across the month of September.  

Once you’ve signed up, join the Facebook Group dedicated to this challenge and click 'Join Group'. Once you're in, you can complete a form to get your free t-shirt, get tips for completing your push-ups, be inspired by other fundraisers and find out anything you want to know about the challenge.    

Yes! If you don’t have Facebook, you can set up a Cancer Research UK online Giving Page and collect sponsorship for your 100 Push-Ups a Day Challenge.  

There’s no entry fee for this challenge, but we do ask that you fundraise for Cancer Research UK through your online Giving Page. All donations to the page will automatically be sent to us.  

While we encourage everyone to complete this challenge in September, this is a personal challenge and you can start and finish at a time that’s convenient for you.  

You can complete the challenge in any way that suits you. There are people of all levels of fitness doing this challenge, so everyone will complete it differently. The important thing is that you’re doing something that challenges you – it should be tough, but doable. However you choose to complete the challenge and raise money, you’ll be helping us beat cancer.   

In the UK, the sun is often strong enough to cause skin damage between mid-March and mid-October, even if it’s cold or cloudy. 

The UV index on weather reports tells us how strong the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are. If it is 3 (moderate) or above, you need to think about protecting your skin by:

• Spending time in the shade – take a break under umbrellas, parasols or trees, or go inside, especially between 11am and 3pm in the UK.
• Covering up – wear loose clothing that covers your shoulders. The more skin that’s covered, the better. Pair with a wide brimmed hat and UV protection sunglasses.
• Using sunscreen – on bits that you can’t cover with clothes or shade. Apply sunscreen with at least SPF 30 and 4 or 5 stars regularly and generously.

For more information, visit cruk.org/sun

Don’t worry! You can make up the number of push-ups on another day or extend your challenge into the following month if needed. Complete the challenge in a way that suits you.   

The only thing that matters is that you try your best to complete as much of the challenge as you can. Whether that’s completing all 100 push-ups a day for the whole of September or not, the money you raise will help us to keep funding life-saving research. Whatever you manage to achieve, we can’t thank you enough.    

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We trust you! You don’t need to provide evidence that you’ve completed the challenge to us, but your friends and family will want some updates. Make sure you keep them posted on your progress and share videos, photos and your online Giving Page throughout September– the more updates the better. Supporters who regularly post about their progress raise 40% more on average.   

We recommend using our push-up calendar to keep track of your progress. Tick off each day you’ve completed your push-ups and track the number of push-ups you’ve done so you can see your total.  

There are many ways you can complete a push-up correctly. Below is the traditional method, but there are easier ways to do it too (see question below).

1. First, get into the starting plank position. Keep your legs together, with the balls of your feet and toes planted firmly on the floor. Your arms should be straight, with your hands placed just wider than shoulder-width apart.   

2. In this starting position, your fingers should be spread out and pointed forwards. Most importantly, your body should form a straight line from your heels to your shoulders, with your head up.   

3. Start lowering yourself down towards the floor, concentrating on maintaining your straight body position. If you pull in your glutes (the muscles in your backside) and your abs (stomach muscles), this will help you maintain a rigid body position throughout.   

4. Keep lowering yourself until your chest almost touches the floor. Pause before pushing back up until your arms are straight. That’s one repetition – you should be doing at least 10 in a set. Go slowly at first, concentrating on perfecting the correct body position.   

Read more tips, tricks and variations on how to do push-ups.

There are many variations of push-ups that can accommodate each individual's level of strength. Here are two you can try:  
   
Knee push-ups   
1. Kneel on the floor.   
2. Extend your arms and put your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor in front of you.   
3. Tighten your abs while you bend your arms, lowering your torso until your chest grazes the floor.   
4. Push your torso back up by straightening your arms – go slow and steady.   
5. Repeat!    

Read more tips and guidance on knee push-ups.

Wall push-ups  
1. Stand at arm’s length from the wall. Place your hands flat against the wall at chest level, with your fingers pointing upwards.   
2. With your back straight, slowly bend your arms, keeping your elbows by your sides. Aim to close the gap between you and the wall as much as you can.   
3. Slowly return to the start.   

Read more NHS advice on wall push-ups.

Complete this form to receive your free tech top in the post. Once completed, please allow 10 working days for your t-shirt to arrive. 

If you haven’t received your t-shirt after this time, please contact supporter.services@cancer.org.uk.

When filling out your sign-up form, select ‘no’ where it asks if you’d like to receive a tech top. You’ll still receive an online Giving Page, be able to join the challenge group and take part!  

Sign up to the challenge

If you have any further questions, please email supporter.services@cancer.org.uk or call 0300 1231022 (lines open 8am–8pm, Monday to Friday and 9am–5pm at weekends)     

Unfortunately, returning tech top comes at a cost to us, so we ask that you keep hold of it for personal use (you could wear it in bed, at the gym or give it to a friend). If you’d like a replacement, you can purchase one from our online shop. 

Sending out your tech top comes at a cost to us, so please only order one tech top per fundraiser to make sure as much money as possible goes towards our life-saving work. We ask that everyone requesting a tech top donates something to their fundraising page.  

Alternatively, you can purchase additional tech tops our online shop.   

You’ll be sent a certificate in your completion email at the end of your challenge. You can also access downloadable digital badges to shout about your achievement on social media.  

Unfortunately, medals would cost us a significant amount, so we won’t be sending these out so we can spend more on our life-saving work.  

Yes, under-18s can take part in this challenge, but we don’t market to them and any third-party platform forums (such as Facebook forums) are only available to people over 18.  

If under-18s are taking part, their parent or guardian must consent to the child’s participation, supervise the challenge and accept responsibility for complying with the challenge rules. The child’s parent or guardian must register on the child’s behalf and if a child wants to raise money online and/or join a forum, their parent or guardian must register for an online Giving Page and/or join the forum on the child’s behalf.

Participants must register as individuals, but you can then set up a team Giving Page to take on the challenge and raise money together. Here’s how: 

1. All your team will need to sign up to the 100 Push-ups a Day in September Challenge, so you each have your own online Giving Page.  

2. Once everyone has signed up, log into your account.  

3. Hit the 'Create new team' button and follow the instructions.  

4. Once you've created your team, you can send the team page URL to friends and family so they can join too!  

Find more information about setting up a team.  

Once you’ve created your team, you can either split up your push-ups between the group, or you can all complete 100 push-ups a day across the month. 

Using our Online Fundraising Platform is the easiest way to raise money. You’ll receive an online Giving Page once you’ve registered here: https://activities.cancerresearchuk.org/push-up-challenge-sep-2025 

You can then share the page with your friends and family to gather sponsorship for your challenge.   

We don’t set a fundraising target for participants, but we recommend that supporters set themselves a reasonable target of raising £150 or more.   

We have plenty of fundraising materials and ideas to help you raise life-saving donations. Visit our fundraising hub for everything you need for your challenge.  

You can use our sponsorship form to raise money rather than using an online Giving Page. Simply download the form, print it off and record all your collected or pledged sponsorships. Once you’ve completed your fundraising, please send the form with a cheque to:    

100 Push-ups a Day Challenge in September, Cancer Research UK, PO BOX 1561, Oxford, OX4 9GZ.   

Why has my Facebook fundraiser ended early?    
Facebook Fundraisers are automatically set up to only stay open for ten days. To make the most of your fundraising efforts, you need to change the end date to keep your fundraiser open throughout and after the challenge. To change the end date simply, click ‘More’ under the invite button, then click ‘Edit Fundraiser’. We recommend setting this date to at least a month after your challenge has ended so you can continue to collect vital donations for your efforts!    

If my Facebook Fundraiser has closed, can I reactivate it?    
Unfortunately, once your Facebook Fundraiser has finished you cannot reopen the same fundraising page. However, you can create a new one and set the end date for past your challenge, so that you can continue receiving donations once you’ve finished your challenge: http://www.facebook.com/fund/cancerresearchuk/    

How do I find previous Facebook Fundraisers?    
To see your past fundraisers, go to the Facebook home page on a desktop and look underneath your name on the left-hand side - click fundraisers > your activity > scroll down the page until you reach "your past fundraisers"    

Is it safe to donate to Facebook? Or if you have noticed any unusual charges.    
Donating on Facebook is safe and secure and there is no fee taken from Facebook to set up a Facebook Fundraiser. If you have any suspicious charges, we recommend speaking directly to your bank. If you have any questions about your Facebook Fundraiser please contact Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/help   

This challenge is a fundraising initiative specifically developed by us, therefore all money raised must go solely to Cancer Research UK.    

Gift Aid is a tax relief allowing UK charities to reclaim an extra 25% on every eligible donation made by a UK taxpayer. This means Cancer Research UK can claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated, without it costing you or your sponsors an extra penny. For a donation to be eligible for Gift Aid, sponsors need to fill out the sponsorship form following the instructions at the top of the page.