Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Week 5 Day 1 - Repeat 4

I didn't do the trail/stress test this weekend. Even though I know it would be good to do routinely, I just didn't make myself do it.

Loving week 5... Let's do it again!
I almost completely forgot to do the workout. The day was hectic and I realized just before bed that I didn't do the pushups. Oops. Needless to say I wasn't highly motivated at that point.

Program: 40,32,30,25, max (at least 40)
Actual: 40,32,30,20, 18
Daily Total: 140
Overall Total: 3526

I should have crushed this workout, but didn't mostly because I had a poor mindset going into it.

The first two sets fell without much hassle. The next two sets each ended with me doing pushups one by one to grit them out. Ouch.
I did the final 18 before just bailing on the workout. Had I been more motivated I probably could have push out 5 more.

Whatever. Not a stellar workout, so I get to do week 5 a couple more times.

BTW. I broke 3500 total pushups. Think about it. That's alot.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Week 5 Day 3 - Repeat 3

Good workout tonight. Did it while watching "Invincible" staring Mark Wahlberg. Not that it helped much with pushups, but its a decent movie.

Program: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,max (at least 40)
Actual: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,41
Daily Total: 149
Overall Total: 3386

Going into this workout I had very little doubt that I'd complete it. After doing it three times I recalled that it was only 148 pushups. I've been crushing that. I keep my mind off the push ups and just knocked them out one set at a time.

I didn't even pause going through any of the individual sets.

The last 40 where definately a challenge. I got through the first 20 without pausing, but came to a halt at 25. I managed the next 5 and then worked one-by-one up to 41. Not easy, but I can't complain ;-) Not at all.

I haven't decided if I want to do another trial tomorrow, or just head straight into week 5 again. I'm really thinking it's going to be my last time through week 5. Hooray!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Week 5 Day 2 - Repeat 3

Another good workout. This is the first time I've actually completed one of the week 5 workouts. I'm hoping next week will be my last time through week 5. I just need to keep making progress!

Program: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,max (at least 40)
Actual: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,41
Daily Total: 161
Overall Total: 3237

This whole workout went down fairly easily. Once I got through the first four sets without slowing down my confidence went up considerably.

I slowed during the second set of 15. While I hurt a bit during the set of 14, it wasn't too bad. Only 14 after all.

Finally, I had to psych myself up for the final 40. I just thought, "only 4 sets of 10". Unfortunately, I started feeling it somewhere around 15, and had to pause in my twenties.

The final 10 I counted out one by one, but at that point there was "no way" I wasn't going to finish the workout.

And then, of course, I threw in one more for good measure.

161 pushups, my best workout yet!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Week 5 Day 1 - Repeat 3

So I've eaten pizza and cheese cake for two days in a row and have the gut to prove it (my kids bday). I wasn't feeling really well today, but managed to keep a good PMA.

Program: 40,32,30,25, max (at least 40)
Actual: 40,32,30,20, 28
Daily Total: 150
Overall Total: 3076

I cranked out a pretty good work out.

Like last week, I started slowing during the last ten of the1st set. However, this week I did a decent job knocking out the next 32. It went down a lot easier than last time, and that helped to keep me positive. I just didn't think about it too much and pushed them out.

The next 30 were tough. I ended up pushing them 1 by 1, and could only manage 20 on the next set.

I took a bit of extra rest for the final set, but only about 20 seconds extra. I'm always surprised at how much that matters. I knocked out 2 sets of 10 and then counted them out one at a time.

BTW, somewhere after the 2nd set my chest and arms got pumped full of blood and I looked huge. (or at least felt that way ;-)

I finally completed 150 in this workout. I'd been shooting to complete that many for a couple of weeks. It's nice to hit an interim goal.

Today I completed 36 more pushups than last week at this time, so it shows there's still a mental aspect to this whole thing. I'll shoot for 160 on the next workout.

I also crested over 3000 total pushups since I started this fit of insanity. Cool.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Week 5 Trial

Ouch. Good one. It might be good to do that more often.

Today: 65
Overall Total: 2926

So I knocked out 65. I moved through them fairly quickly, counting by 10's. The last five or 6 were counted one by one.

Just to point it out, this is 15 more pushups than I did in the week 4 trial in August. Just as noteworthy, it also ties the most pushups I've ever done. Had than been noted during the workout I would have likely pressed myself for at least one more. Several years back when I was working out routinely I did 65. So this is a decent accomplishment for an older, fatter me ;-)

Part of why it might be a good idea to do a trial more often is that it would get me "used to" doing long sets of continuous pushups. The whole thing, rythm, breathing, counting. It's all good practice for the hundred.

I've been trying change from counting by sets of five to sets of 10. It's part of getting my head in order to think bigger numbers. When the goal is to complete 20 pushups it's ok to think "it's only four sets of 5." It's a different story when your shooting for 60-80, or 100. "It's only 12 sets of 5" doesn't work as well for me.

Think of it like this;
  1. Aiming for 150 pushups each day
  2. Counting by 10's instead of 5's
  3. Consciously focusing on cardio and continuous, rythmic breathing
These are all things I'm doing to try to mentally set myself up for doing more pushups. Of course the muscle development has to get there.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Week 5 Day 3 - Repeat 2

I really hammered this one out. I just kept looking at the number of pushups in each set and individually they're not that much. Mindset; It should be easy.

Program: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,max (at least 40)
Actual: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,30
Daily Total: 138
Overall Total: 2861

I burned through the entire workout a lot easier today than last week.

The first four sets were a slam dunk, although I did feel it a little in the last set of 16.
From there I just had to knock out 14, 14, and 12. No problem. I did slow a bit during the last set of 14, and the final 12 were a bit tougher.

After that, I needed to psych myself up for 40. I've been approaching each workout this week with the goal of hitting 150. To complete the full final 40 would bring me to 148. Also, I did 141 yesterday right? All of that PMA only got me to 30 pushups for the final set.

But that was a 9 push up increase from last week. The last two workouts this week (day 2 & 3) have been pretty good (141 & 138). I'm fairly pleased with that. They're two of the top 4 workouts I've accomplished. I was feeling that I started leveling off, which is not good.

I think I will do a push up to failure trail tomorrow. I haven't done one since completing week 4 at the end of August, so it'll be nice to see where I end up. I did fifty in August, so I should be able to do at least 60 (90% confident). I'm shooting for 70. We'll see. That's a lot of pushups.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Week 5 Day 2 - Repeat 2

I've been traveling for the last two days, so I'm really wiped out. For some reason that seems to translate into a pretty good workout. Who knows...

Program: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,max (at least 40)
Actual: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,21
Daily Total: 141
Overall Total: 2723

I didn't get the 150 I was shooting for, but I'm please with the 141. I thought I was going to get there, but my arms were zapped with the last 21.

Everything else was pretty straight forward. I knocked down the 4 sets without to much trouble, and grunted out the rest.

I've already determined that this has got to be the most boring blog ever. Particularly if you're not doing pushups. I'm contemplating writing another. "Watching grass grow; a day by day account."

Obviously I'm really tired, that's why I'm typing all this stupid stuff. G'night.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Week 5 Day 1 - Repeat 2

The frustration is definitely there. A few weeks ago I managed 150 pushups during one workout. So I set my mind to doing it again today. I'd hit the 150 mark again.

I did this as a way of trying to get "break through" improvement instead of one to two pushups better.

Didn't help.

Program: 40,32,30,25, max (at least 40)
Actual: 40,32,15,21, 16
Daily Total: 124

Only two pushups more than last week. Arg. While I had hoped to get through week 5 this week, I'm not even close to finishing this workout. Oh well, I'll shoot for 150 tomorrow.

The run down;
  • The first 40 fell fairly quickly, but again this week I started slowing down on the last 10. I also felt the stress (slight pain) in my right shoulder.
  • The next 32 were really tough, and I ended the set by counting them out one-by-one.
  • My arms were burnt out at this point, so I did a wimpy 15 pushups.
  • I rested a bit more between sets and managed 21 on the third. This saved me from having a really low count for the day.
  • Only managed 16 on the last set before my arms just gave out (face plant).
So, again, it's kind of sad that I didn't make much progress since last week.

I'll blame part of it on this cold. I'm not completely out of it, but I'm much better. It'll serve as my excuse anyway; "I'm sure the cold is sapping huge amounts of energy from my pushup capabilities."

I'll wait a couple of weeks, but I'm already thinking that I'll need to supplement the program if I don't start making a couple of good breakthrough workouts.

This one hurt my arms enough that I should get some benefit out of it. Ouch.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Week 5 Day 3 - Repeat

Forget all that other stuff I typed, I quit. This sucks. (Just kidding...)

So I came down with a cold last night and feel like crap today. I decided to ignore it and do the pushups anyway.

Program: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,max (at least 40)
Actual: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,21
Daily Total: 129
Overall Total: 2458

That 30 seconds of rest really makes this workout tough. It gets the heart pounding.

It also cleared my nose momentarily. In case you didn't know it, cardio workouts create some sort of natural decongestant. Freak'n cold. :-(

The workout started pretty good and I burned through the first three sets without much effort, and the forth set was a bit tougher but still not too bad. All of this really got my heart rate up.

I had to pause to complete each set of fourteen and the set of 12 was really tough. Ouch.

So going through all that just left me with that big 'ole whopping 40 set to do. It's really tough to hit that 40 after getting wiped out by the first part of the work out.

After working my way through ten I ended up counting them out 1 by 1. It really hurt, but I was determined to at least match last week's workout. Then I forced myself to do 1 more pushup today just to beat it.

BTW. I was right. Between knocking out the pushups, and the brief rest between sets, the entire workout took less than 10 minutes. Can't beat that.

...I'm going to go lay down on the couch with a tissue box and a blanket and watch football all weekend. (that's NFL Steve, different ball & with armor - Go Bears).

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Week 5 Day 2 - Repeat

Ok workout today. Nothing too special. I didn't match the 150 from last week, but I cranked out 140. That's not to shabby.

Program: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,max (at least 40)
Actual: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,20
Daily Total: 140
Overall Total: 2329

  • The first three sets(20,20,18) fell without much difficulty, but it made me think about my breathing again.
  • The next three sets(18,15,15) were more challenging and a little tough, but not too bad. I did have to pause during the first set of 15.
  • After nine pushups into the set of 14 I ended up counting them out 1 by 1.
  • The last twenty were really painful, but it felt good to get to 20.

That last set of 40 is going to be a challenge throughout all of the week 5 workouts.

think of it this way...

The Pain Train is coming! Woo! Woo!


Just having fun...

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Can I do one hundred pushups?

Is this all really worth it? I'm 8 weeks into a 6 week program and have only done 50 so far.

I started typing a simple response to a couple of comments and thought that it's a big enough topic that it needs to be addressed with a full post.

So, here's my take on it. I understood a lot of this going into it. (ref: Starting Out)

1. Did I really think I could do it?
I did a bootcamp style workout a couple years ago for 6 months. During that time I ran around and did a lot of push ups, sit ups, dips, squat thrusts, and so on. It was a really strong workout program that probably put me in the best shape of my live since college. After six months I managed 65 consecutive pushups.

Well short of 100 pushups. Did I really expect to get to 100 after only 6 weeks? NFW.

2. Achieving a goal
But, as I mentioned, being able to do one hundred pushups has been a goal of mine for a long time. Seriously, I got the idea in mind my head some time ago (like 10-15 years ago). I thought I'd get there with bootcamp, but I ended up stopping that program for a number of reasons.

After going through week 5 once I'm certain I could get up to 60 consecutive and I'm still doing better each workout.

3. Other Considerations
Here are a couple of other more simple points;
  • Time: It's a pretty good workout for the time required. I'm not sure if it takes even 30 minutes. Probably more like 15 or 20.
  • No Equipment: It's simple. Just drop and give me 40,32,30,25, max (at least 40).
  • No health club: I did some of week 3 in Mexico City, and Kansas City hotel rooms.
  • Why not?: What else do I have to do? It's only a few minutes of pushups. Why not keep going.
4. Boredom & Frustration
Am I getting bored? Not really. I was getting really frustrated in week 3 after repeating it a number of times, but I get it now. It just took the workout program up a notch, and my abilities up as well.

Look at that W3D1 workout. It was such a challenge for me back then but I could do it easily now. That's a feel good.

So I'm going through the same thing for week 5. It may take a while, but eventually I'll be able to knock out the 167 pushups required for W5D1. I'm still improving with almost every workout. With documented visibility to that kind of improvement it's not at all boring.

5. Tenacity
Sooo... What happens if I complete week 6 and still can only do 90 pushups? What happens if I level off and stop improving? Well, if I get to that point I'll figure out how to add more pushups into the program. Either do the program twice a day, or pile on extra sets, or something. I intend to keep making it harder until I hit that 100.

The main key to this, in my perspective, is tenacity. I've briefly mentioned it in a couple of posts (ref; initial trial, Week 2 Trial). If I can't do it, I'll change tactics and figure out how to do it. It's kind of a psychotic fixation with achieving my goal.

A friend once called me a pitbull because I tend to grab a hold of a problem and not stop trying different tactics until I've licked it. (or maybe he was just saying I'm ugly;-)

6. The Best Benefit
Not everyone really cares so much about doing the push ups. Maybe they get a few weeks out of it and move on to something else. I get that and it's ok.

I noted early that very few of the blogs went past week 2, and fewer still passed week 5. It's a hard program in a few different ways.

I've developed some nice relationships from the readers of this blog and I suspect others have too. That's been a really cool part of all this.

Me, I'm going to keep at it and I hope they'll stop by and read my blog when I hit the hundred. Even if it is three years from now after I finally complete W5D1 successfully.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Week 5 Day 1 - Repeat

Look's like I could be in stuck in week 5 for sometime... Imagine a blog post entitled "Week 5 Day 1 - Repeat 17". Could happen.

Program: 40,32,30,25, max (at least 40)
Actual: 40,32,17,16, 17
Daily Total: 122
Overall Total: 2189

Ok, I did better this week than last, but it progressed pretty much the same way.
  • The first forty went ok, but I slowed down around number 30.
  • The next 32; Ouch! Really tough.
  • The next 30 just wasn't going to happen. I face planted at seventeen. Literally. It kind of hurt.
  • The next set; 16 "ouch, ouch, ouch"
  • and ditto for the final 17.

Overall I did seven more pushups than last week. A bit disappointing but it's still an improvement. I need to do 167 to complete the workout. So if I'm improving at a rate of 7 pushups per week, I should only need (167-122=45/7=6.5) seven more weeks.

Hmm... might be best not to over think these things.

BTW. I went jogging 3 times last week. It's pretty short distance, just loping around, but I figure that it'll help if I can get my cardio-endurance up and my fat gut down. I'm going to keep this blog focused on the push ups only.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Week 5 Day 3

Holy cow. Good freak'n workout... I'm winded and tired. While I didn't quite complete the schedule, at least I didn't screw up the workout today:-).

Program: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,max (at least 40)
Actual: 18,18,16,16,14,14,12,20
Daily Total: 128
Overall Total: 2067

Today was really tough, so I'm wondering how I did 150 yesterday. Maybe I screwed something up, or maybe I was just so awesome yesterday that I rocked! I'm going with option 2.

So looking at this workout, I first noticed it was actually less then yesterday's requirements. That felt good, but i was quick to learn that the 30 sec break really matters. We used to get 120 seconds (those were the good old days).

After doing the first three sets(18,18,16), I had to pause on the second set of 16. The first set of 14 was tough, and I had to pause there too.

The next two sets (14 & 12) were really hard. I ended up having to count them one by one, after about half way through. Almost didn't finish the last of the 12. (come on, it's only 12 right?)

I took a little bit longer than the 30 seconds to rest before attempting the 40 and managed to get half of them. Ouch were my arms screaming.

You know what I struggle with? Breathing. I know. It shouldn't be that complicated with the "breath in" and "breath out" thing. But I have a heck of a time not holding my breath, and I struggle with a rhythm. Generally I breath out going down and in pushing up, but it's not a comfortable paced breathing. (gasping for air)

I think that in order to do a hundred pushups, breathing comfortably is something I've got to get better at. Today's workout helped. The lack of rest introduced a cardio aspect to the workout. Give me a few more weeks repeating week 5 and maybe I'll figure it out.

Suggestions welcome.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Week 5 Day 2

I was right. The change in frequency/pace of this workout made it interesting. So did the fact that I did it outdoors, on my deck, while I grilled chicken. You'd be surprised at all of the little things that have fallen through the slats of my deck. ;-)

Program: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,max (at least 40)
Actual: 20,20,18,18,15,15,14,14,16
Daily Total: 150
Overall Total: 1939

I got through the first three sets fairly unscathed, although I slowed a bit at the end of the 1st set of 18.

I had to pause during the second set of 18 and again during the first set of 15. Then things got really tough. I had to really grit out the next set of 15.

I managed to get through the next two sets by telling myself "it's only 14". It was still hard. And in case you haven't noticed; I'm such a dork. I did two sets of 14 instead of only the one required.

There was no confidence in heading into the final set of 40, for good reason. I was wiped out. Sure, now I realize it might have been because of the extra set. I only managed 16.

But overall it was a really good workout. I completed a lot of pushups today, and blew away my previous best. Hopefully I can keep that up on Friday and again as I try for W5 repeat.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Week 5 Day 1

Yeah, well... umm... I gave it a good shot anyway.

Program: 40,32,30,25, max (at least 40)
Actual: 40,32,11,15, 17
Daily Total: 115
Overall Total: 1789

I went through the first set of 40 fairly easily. It was tough, but not too bad.
The set of 32 I really had to grunt out. Particularly the last two.
And, as you can see, I completely bombed my third set. Only 11 pushups.
I finished the remainder of the workout as best as I was able.

The good news is that it was an excellent workout. I was sweating up a storm and my arms and chest are zapped. I'm sure this will help me in the future.

I also think I probably let this work out get the best of me. That set of 11 is really surprising and disappointing based on everything else I've accomplished.

The total for today falls in line with expectations. It was the third highest I've ever completed. Unfortunately I was hoping to reach a peak.

The next couple of days should be interesting. The lower sets with reduced rest times change the game a bit. I'm looking forward to it.