Having a fitness goal or multiple fitness goals help to keep you focused and motivated. Right now I am loving running and I will be focused on that aspect of my fitness for the next two more months. Once I run the marathon though I will be able to focus more on strength and increasing muscle mass.
Yesterday one of my fellow gym rates commented that I was getting my running body back, by which she meant my upper body is getting smaller. That is the first place that I loose mass when I increase my cardio. I love having a strong, muscular and defined upper body though so I don't like it when that happens. I really can't do more weight training because there is just not enough time in the day to do my training runs and heavy lifting so when I came upon this challenge I was definitely interested.
100 push ups is a lot, but it is also do-able with due diligence. I have very narrow shoulders and I am convinced that this makes pushups and pull ups more difficult for me - just don't ask me about the science of that claim:) In any case I have to work a lot harder on gaining strength in my upper body than my legs. I however see people doing push ups and pull ups at the gym and I look at them with awe and jealousy. I can do pushups, but probably no more than 30 at a time, if that. I want to bust them out like a bad ass though! And pull ups, ugh, maybe 3 if I am lucky. But one thing at a time, before I tackle the pull ups I am doing the 100 push up challenge!
"Push ups are one of the basic and most common exercises for the human body. Push ups are not only great for your chest, but do a tremendous job of defining your abs, triceps, shoulders and torso." Indeed! It is a 6 week program of 30 minutes a week and at the end you should be able to do 100 push ups at once.
March 1st will be my final test date. If anyone wants to join me in this challenge, go to the link and get your push up on!
I read not long ago in the NYT that push ups were a true test of someone's fitness. Maybe I should try this test out. Do girl ones count?
ReplyDeleteThe website says that if you can only do 1 full push up then start with girl ones, you will build up enough strength to start doing full pushups. However I think 100 girl push ups without stopping is still a challenge in itself. Just don't sell yourself short:)
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't- I used to do the regular ones all the time when I had a trainer. She wouldn't let us do girl push-ups, even if we could only do one regular. It's just been a while and I'd need a starting place.
ReplyDeleteHmm...now I feel like I need to see where I'm at when I go home. I figure I could probably do 20 or 30, maybe 35.
ReplyDeleteI mean really (and I didn't click on the link), it seems like you could just do push-ups every morning and just keep upping the amount by a few each day and you could get there pretty quickly.
I don't think they are trying to say that this is some super complicated plan or anything. It gives you a guide to go off of and a tangible time period to do it in. When people have a specific plan and small goals to reach a larger goal, they are generally more accountable to sticking to it than just saying I am going to do 100 push ups in 6 weeks.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't criticizing it for being uncomplicated. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOooh, my bad!
ReplyDeleteSo are you going to do the pushup challenge with Carrie and I? We could all have a pushup off;)
Even when I was in the best shape of my life I still could never do a push-up.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school I baby sat two little boys who nicknamed me Weak-arms.
Funniest thing is Ed taught one of them at his class at Pacfic and when he discovered the connection he said "Make sure to say 'Hi' to Weak-arms"