Push-ups

I started Week 5 of my pushup program on Monday. I failed miserably. At the end of the 4th week, I did my exhaustion test and completed 43 push-ups. This is a big improvement from the 20 I did in my initial test or the 34 that I did at the end of week 2. However, to be 2/3s through the program and be less than half my way to 100… it hurts. Worse yet, I when I went to week 5, I found that by just more than 40, I was put into a column that made me start with 40… and then do another 32 after a minute of rest… and another 95 over the 3-4 minutes. Let’s not even get to day 2 and 3 when you have to three more levels added (and less time) – at least the repetitions go down. I’m at the point of being all push-upped out and the only thing that is the least been interesting to me is that I can more than twice as many as when I started.

Body Stats

When I measured myself today, I had the following stats:

• Weight: 170.5 pounds
• Body Fat: 19.8%

I think is pretty much in line with where I’ve been in the past. I’m pretty disappointed by this number as well, since I’ve been swimming and eating right for the most part.

Nutrition

I think I’ve been well in this area. It’s not perfect, and is far off from some my best weeks. However, after following the nearly 700 comments on my MonaVie article, I’ve realized that I should adds some pomegranite-blueberry-acai juice and other similar things. Since there are still a lot of liquid calories, I have 4 ounces in the morning and 4 ounces in the evening – mostly as a way to just boost my antioxidant levels. I also have a small piece of dark chocolate with it. I’ve been mixing in some good old fashioned fruit and a glass of red wine as well. The rest of my food I try to get from lean protein like chicken. I have slip-ups and they are usually in the form of one side dish a day.

Exercise

With the pushups really getting me down, I haven’t been doing them as much. I did get 60 laps of swimming in a couple of days this week. I usually do more, but one day the pool wasn’t heated. Another day it was just extremely cloudy and I wasn’t sure it was safe for swimming.

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1. Rushing through routines.

   No one really wants to spend five minutes doing a routine they don’t like. This can lead to pushing and rushing to get it over with. In fact, many people just rush through their entire workout, which can be very disastrous to your muscle and joint health. The key is to relax and take the time that it takes to get everything done. Don’t rush in without stretching and take the time to cool down afterwards. If you don’t like the routine you’re doing, look for a new one that is more enjoyable.

2. Doing your exercises wrong.

   From a simple sit-up to complex cardio and lifting routines, it is all too easy to get it wrong. If you don’t have someone helping you, the chances of performing an exercise wrong are very high. If you can’t afford the services of a personal trainer, we recommend getting at least one lesson to learn the proper form for your exercises. You can go back from time to time to make sure that you’re still doing it properly. This is the easiest way to work on your form and reduce the potential for injury.

3. Pushing way too hard.

   If you’re already working out and starting to see results, the natural inclination is too work harder to see more results. However, this makes it very easy to get injured. Use the 10% rule as a guide to how you should amp up your workout. For example, if you do 10 push-ups a day, you can start increasing this by adding 1 extra push up for two days, two extra after four, etc…

4. Too much repetition.

   If 10 reps are good, then 20 must be really good, right? Wrong! Repetitious exercise can be very dangerous if you are doing too many. Find out how many reps you should be doing and stick to it. Add to it slowly if necessary, but realize that there is a balance and overdoing it can only lead to injury.

5. Improper stretching.

   You wouldn’t think that something like a stretch could incapacitate you, but it is also too easy. One of the most common stretch related injuries is a hamstring pull. Make sure you are stretching slowly and never, ever bounce during your stretches. This can lead to various injuries that are quite painful and slow to heal. If you can’t quite make the stretch complete, don’t push it. Work on your flexibility instead and gradually get into stretching further.

While there are many ways to hurt yourself in a gym, there are just as many techniques to use that will prevent injury. If in doubt, always ask for help before going out on your own.

Photo Credits: 1

It started on Sunday night. My wife said, “Honey, I think I’d like to try that 100 pushups thing as well. We can do it together. Will you wait for me to do it?” I had suggested it to her way back when and this seemed to be a reasonable request, so I agreed. Monday came along, and I did my typical swimming routine in the morning. I got a little lost in my work and looked up to see my wife had come back from her Body Pump class at the gym. Now I knew she wasn’t going to be in any condition to do her push-ups, but I asked to make sure. I was right, she would have to start the program another day. As far as health goes, if you are going to skip exercise for more exercise, that’s hard to argue with.

So there was the change-up… I had switched my swim and push-up routine. That lead to the sinker… I had used up so much energy swimming that I couldn’t complete Day 7 of the program.

Maybe it wasn’t the swimming. When I look at the program I think there might be a flaw. At the end of week two, I did 34 push-ups in my exhaustion test. That set me up for a week three, where I start off with a set of 25. That 25 in the first set took it’s toll by the 4th set when I could barely do ten. There was no hope of me finishing off with another 25. It got me thinking. What if during my exhaustion test, I had been able to do 26 push-ups? That would have put me in the range to do 25 and the start end, pretty much the maximum effort I would give if I just had to do one set.

Where do I go from here?
It makes little sense for me to go to Day 8 today. Instead, I will repeat Day 7. If I get Day 7 down, I’ll move to Day 8 on Friday. Next week, I’ll restart this week again in hopes of doing days 7, 8, and 9. If successful, I’ll move onto Week 4.

I’m pretty disappointed have to repeat this week 3. At the same time, I realize the benefit of building up a stronger base that will help carry me through the rest of program.

Photo Credit: Doug Greenberg

I ran into a little hiccup this Friday. I missed my expected day 3 of one hundred push-ups. I lucked out that it was right before the two off-days of the weekend. I did my day 3 on Saturday and just completed Week 2 Day 1 a few minutes ago.

On Saturday I was only able to do the minimum on the push to exhaustion. I was a little disappointed with that result, especially after the extra day of rest. Then again, I think the unexpected heat wave in San Francisco that night left me a little dehydrated.

I was very happy with how today’s push-ups went. I was able to do 19 in the exhaustion round where I was just supposed to be able to do more than 15. At around 8 or 9, I thought I was done, but I found some adrenaline from somewhere.

Time for me to buckle down for an hour or writing or so and then I go for my first swim of the season.

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At least he wasn’t right about their being fish in the river behind my house. Since he’s a pretty good fisherman, perhaps he’s just as humbled to have not caught a fish whenever I’ve been around.

Here are some links I liked this week from the Fitness Health Network:

Idea: Going Vegetarian For One Week – Jim is going to try to be a vegetarian for a week. In the past, I’ve tried it for a few meals and failed.

100 Pushups: Week One, Day Three – J.D. is repeating the first week of one hundred pushups. I barely survived the first week. I may be repeating week two.

Master List of Unconventional Benefits of Weight Loss – Israel has a list of unconventional benefits to weight loss. I wouldn’t have thought donating clothes to charity as one of them. That would mean that I would have to buy all new clothes.

100 Push Ups Week 1 Day 1 – 42 Push Ups!!! – No. Calories needed has joined the 100 push-up craze.

The Karl Lagerfeld Diet – Weight Loss Journal reviews the book. I liked this line: “The main premise of the diet is to simply lower the amount of calories you’re taking in and exercise more.” It’s too bad, I was looking for a diet that requires no exercise and lots of eating.

Nonetheless, I gave it a shot. I finished the 5 sets of 12, 12, 10, 10 and 15 push-ups. That last set where you are supposed to do as many as you can is a killer. I didn’t think I’d get past ten, but I was able to keep it going once I got my breathing right.

As soon as I finished I looked at the chart to Friday’s Day 3. I didn’t notice it before, but I was supposed to wait 90 second today between each set. I thought it was a standard 60 second on all days. Perhaps that’s why I thought this was a little extra tough.

Day 3 has a killer 15+ 5th set… hopefully it won’t be that bad now that I know about the increased time in between sets.

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What is the 100 Pushup Program?

You can find out more about the 100 Pushup Program at the official website. I’m not 100% sure if it’s scientifically proven to work. However, I checked with my doctor and she says I’m fit enough to give it a shot. (I didn’t have any doubts, but I like to check anyway, you should think about it as well before you start a health-fitness program.) The idea is to start off with a small amount of pushups and over the span of six weeks gradually build up to the time where you can make a good run at 100 consecutive pushups. Where do I start? You start with an initial test to see how many pushups you can do to start the program. On my initial test, I got to 20 before I tired. My muscles weren’t particularly tired, but my breathing was off and I just had to stop and breathe better to continue. I think I probably could have done another 6 more, but I’m okay to start with 20. With that information I was ready for day one. Day one Yesterday was day one. I did 5 sets of push-ups. The sets had 10, 10, 8, 6, and 16 push-ups in them. The first four sets are dictated by the program, while the last one varies from person to person. That last one is supposed to be the most you can do before tiring. I was very happy to be able to hit that 16 number. It gives me confidence that I’ll be able to get through this week – though the end of the week looks difficult with repetitions of 15, 13, 10, 10, and 15+ on the docket. I will try to continue Monday, Wednesday, and Friday workouts. I will supplement that with some juggling for exercise, and follow that up with some Wii Fit.

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