Week 2 Day 2

Ok, got a lot to cover today, so buckle up....

I went into today with a really good attitude, and determined I'd crush the push-ups. I did.

Program: 16,13,11,11, max (at least 15)
Actual: 16,13,11,11, 20
Daily Total: 69
Overall Total: 295

No problem. Just blew through them. Attitude helps so much. Truthfully it was a bit concerning starting out with 16 push up. I thought that might suck the life out of my arms, but I shook that out of my head and got started.

Halfway through the set 13 I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. Never felt that before while doing push ups. ?? I started having all sorts of thoughts about how my last blog entry would be about a hernia or something. Bad mojo. I felt it through the rest of the sets, but didn't let it stop me.

A personal "thank you" to the people who have left comments and traded emails. I keep thinking I can't let you see me fail. It's a good motivator. I'm going with the attitude that I'll just keep getting stronger and never miss a beat through the entire program (psst... don't look at weeks 5 & 6. Scary!).

Anyway, thanks to Tara, Jenny, and of course, Steve for your support. So far it's working :-)
Anyone else who wants to chime in is more than welcome.

Ok, here's over thinking a situation;
Various blogs have suggested week three is tough. We're also supposed to do another trial at the end of week 2. The last trial made me sore for a week. So if we put it all together it could go something like this;

• Complete week 2 - Yea!
• Do the second trial & complete 50 push ups (or some other wonderful number) - Yea!
• Realize at the start of week 3 that I'm too sore to complete day 1. - Boo!

Like I said, probably over thinking the situation, but it might be something to watch out for. It might be a good idea to do W2D3 on Friday morning and the 2nd trial Saturday morning (instead of PM). Get 12 hrs of extra time to rest & heal.

Of course when you're an awesome pushuper like me, you probably don't need to worry about it.

Ouch, my stomach still hurts...

Week 2 Day 1

I blew through today's workout without much trouble, so it appears the weekend rest helped.

Program: 12,12,9,7, max (at least 10)
Actual: 12,12,9,7, 15
Daily Total: 55
Overall Total: 226

I knew it wouldn't be a problem to complete the workout even before I started. After the 1st set my arms got pumped full of blood, and I just tore through each set.

Looking over the next couple of workouts, it doesn't look like it's going to be so easy. While I'm sure each day will be a challenge, by keeping my head in the right place, I should be able to get through week 2.

Week 1 Day 3

This brings us to the finish of week 1! The good news is that the overall soreness went away before having to start this workout.

There was a big reason to freak out, however. The requirement for the last rep was to do the maximum possible, but at least 15. In W1D2 I maxed out at only 13 push ups. During this workout not only was the max requirement more, but the total number of pushups is more too. Gack!

This raised a real challenge. After putting my head mentally around this I started to knock out the push ups. The last seven really had to be grunted out, but I did it.

Program: 15,13,10,10, max (at least 15)
Actual: 15,13,10,10, 17
Daily Total: 65
Overall Total: 171

There was NO FREAK'N WAY, I wasn't going to make it through Week 1.

Kind of highlights the importance of a good attitude & perspective. Even if everyone else is putting you down, or telling you "no, you can't do that!", it's really up to your own attitude.

That completes Week1. It was tougher than expected, but I was really out of shape. Now I'm lean, fit, tough, ripped, and have giant "guns".

I've looked over Week2 and it doesn't look too bad, so let's think happy thoughts.

Remember go to hundredpushups.com for the entire program.

Joe

Week1 Day 1 & Day 2

I'm going to combine two workouts in this update. I'm behind and it's probably not necessary to have two separate posts.

Day 1
I started week 1 on Monday.

Program: 10, 10, 8, 6, max (at least 7)
Actual: 10, 10, 8, 6, 15
Daily Total: 49
Overall Total: 49

I looked over week 1 and overall it looks pretty easy. There's no requirement for anything over 15 push-ups.

Wrong. I struggled with Week1 Day1 (W1D1 for short). It probably isn't really a statement of my own physical conditioning. Rather it simply reflects the way gravity changes immediately under anyone who tries to do a push up. Gravity goes up by like 4x due to the reduced proximity to the earth. Anyone buying any of this?

Anyway got through the first day.

Day 2
This catches us up to today.

Program: 12,12,10,10, max (at least 10)
Actual: 12,12,10,10, 13
Daily Total: 57
Overall Total: 106

I'm still sore, but not too bad, so it's a good thing. You can just hear those muscle fibers calling for their friends. I've got another day to rest and the next work out is on Friday. Figuring if I get through that one I'll have Saturday and Sunday to heal up. (Yea!)

Let's not get that far ahead. L8R.

The Initial Trial

I actually did the initial trial on 7/19, but there not much point in back dating.

30. Yep that's what I did. Thirty push ups for my initial trial.

OUCH!!

It's a decent amount of push ups, but left me damaged for a couple of days. I was quite sore on Sunday and still not completely over it by Monday.

Here's the thing about this workout schedule; it doesn't look too bad up front. The first couple of weeks have 10-15 push ups per set. Toward the end of the schedule the number required becomes jacked up BIG TIME.

So, they instruct you to "go back and redo earlier weeks". Ok, makes sense. But then it doesn't take 6 weeks to complete the schedule. It could go on for quite some time.

That's ok with me. I'm going to rely on tenacity. I've been know to bang my head on a wall until I finally figure out how to win, so I'm planning on doing that here too. I'll keep repeating week 4 (or whatever) until I can finally make it to week five.

One other note, I've searched the web and haven't found anyone who's said; "Yippee! I've completed the HundredPushup challenge!" Most blogs mention week 1 or 2, maybe a couple make it to week 5. Doesn't bode well. We'll see if this blog ends up dead after week 2. (think tenacity, remember?).

If you're that extra special person who's actually completed the program, or if you've ever done 100 consecutive pushups, let us know how it went for you.

Starting Out

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a site called: HundredPushups.com. It's essentially a workout program focused on accomplishing 100 push ups within 6 weeks.

From the site;

If you're serious about increasing your strength, follow this six week training program and you'll soon be on your way to completing 100 consecutive push ups!

Think there's no way you could do this? I think you can! All you need is a good plan, plenty of discipline and about 30 minutes a week to achive this goal!

No doubt some of you can already do 50 consecutive push ups, but let's face it, you're in a big minority. Most of you reading this won't even be able to manage 20 pushups. Actually, I'm sure many of you can't even do 10.

However, it really doesn't matter which group you fall into. If you follow the progressive push ups training program, I'm positive you'll soon be able to do 100 push ups!

Go to the site to learn more: Hundredpushups.com

Now, being able to do 100 push ups has been a goal of mine for some time, so that means I know it's not easy to do. A few years back I did a bootcamp style workout program that put me in pretty good shape. That only got me to 65 pushups. Respectable, but not 100.

So this blog will document my attempt to complete the program and hit my goal.

BTW. I'm blogging this as motivation for myself and anyone else who wants to join in. With that in mind, please post comments. Your comments would be appreciated.

Joe