Turns out those wimpy sets following the diagnostic were actually tuned down to meet my wimpy needs. They’ve been almost exactly as much as I can handle, though.

Trying to take the pushups outdoors has just reminded me how brutal the sun can be. Facing down 100+ degree weather is even less fun than it sounds when you’re lifting yourself off the ground and trying to avoid burning your hands and feet in the process.

Today reminded me of the importance of a daily schedule. The pushup program’s fatal flaw is that it doesn’t have one. Worse, it has a two-day gap reminiscent of goatse.cx (link goes to the Wikipedia page for the uninformed). This can randomly lead to total forgetfulness about the program, as nearly happened to me tonight. In fact, I jumped out of bed, slammed out some 59 big ones, and then hopped online to write about my near-miss.

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Day 6 was totally uneventful – I got more than halfway through each set before settling back and finishing the set from my knees.

Since there’s a two-day break at the end of the week, I decided to do some interim pushups to keep up through the long break. I devised a light day, 12-14-10-10-11, and was able to pull it off in good form by myself. Awesome!

Day 7 marks the beginning of the third week, and a diagnostic test to check on my progress. It was a max-out test, so I set right down to it and maxed out. I was able to pull off 18 without stopping (a nice step up from the 12 I was able to do just two weeks ago) but that left me in the sorrowful “under 20″ diagnostic bracket. Damn!

Today’s set is a light 10-12-7-7-9. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow whether the lightness is because my iPod has realized I’m the type of puny punk who uses an iPod to do this sort of thing, or whether it’s because I just did 18 without a break.

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Day Zero

Day One

Day Two

Mmm, pushups. I decided to take them outside today!

I carried a blanket out to the quad with me (bad choice here, as it ended up covered in grass – should have brought a yoga mat) and laid it out so I wouldn’t punish my hands on the stiff grass that seems to dominate this part of California. I made the mistake on Wednesday of not using any sort of padding, and came up with some serious red- and rawness.

The problem for me is that my wrists – puny little writer’s wrists – prevent me from doing proper pushups with all the padding that my palms have to offer. So I’m stuck out there on my fists like a monkey, with half of my weight resting on my knuckles. In other words, the padding really helps.

The whole time, though, I was wondering what the gardener thought. His work didn’t seem to be much more intellectual than mine, as he was watering some bushes around the perimeter as I alternately pushed-up and laid on my back for 90-second rest intervals. Must have looked weird.

One big mistake I made was not covering my poor little iPod. It was fated to watch while I did the number of pushups it asked, but little did I realize it didn’t enjoy the sun the same way I did. Its black face soaked up the rays, and when I went to grab it and move on to the next set, it was waaaaay hot. All I could do was tap at the screen and, when I had to pick it up, use the blanket Ove-Glove style .

Oddly, it felt like my arms were the limiting factor for the number of pushups I could do. I ended up doing the second half of each set from my knees – not because my chest was sore, but because my arms couldn’t keep up. I guess I’ll have to focus some more there to get through the next set; I saw a big bump-up today (from 63 to 71, broken down as 14-16-12-12-17) and had quite a bit of difficulty with the larger set sizes.

Looking forward to Saturday!

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Day One

Day Zero

Day 1.5

Damn, this is hard. It’s hard to keep yourself to a serious exercise schedule when life just keeps getting in the way. Of course, what that really means is that I was just too lazy to “force” myself to do the pushups when I ought to have. Friday was supposed to be the fourth day, but the weekend of the 4th had me running all around SoCal, and I used that as a great excuse.

Yesterday I was at the “real gym” doing arms and pecs, and of course I couldn’t bring myself to do pushups after that. So I bailed on the M-W-F thing and am going to see how T-Th-Sa works, since I happen to have more free time on those days. I’m worried about Saturday, but since the gym here doesn’t have Saturday hours, it’s probably a good thing to do something on the weekend. But boy did I suffer for my negligence today.

I can barely get my arms onto the keyboard to write this.  A solid 63 pushups (14-14-10-10-15) had me on my knees by the fourth set. Now, that doesn’t mean I didn’t finish them; instead I took a cue from yoga and did a pushup modification just to get through it. I stayed on my knees and lifted my upper body rather than my whole body. This helped me finish, but it didn’t make it significantly easier – I still barely completed the set.

I feel it, though. I cranked up the music to help my mood through the whole routine and made sure to dance in my underwear in front of the mirror during breaks to keep my energy level up. Boom – done.

Now it’s back to work.

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Day 5

Day Zero

Day 6 and 7

Yes, Day 3 should have been on Monday.  But I was on a plane all day (cross-country travel, you see) and the last thing I wanted was to throw things off and move days around.  So I hopped to it today, but encountered the same problem as last time… I just couldn’t finish the last set!

I powered through 11, then 15 (!), then 9, then 9, and by the beginning of the last set (a max-out), Natalie was holding me up by the belt and helping me through them.  I/we managed only 8 before she was doing all the work.

But the soreness continues, and with it the promise of Gerard-Butler-in-300-quality pecs.  Despite the fact that he seems to have traded in the machismo for a smiling, winking girly man in several simultaneous upcoming movies, as evidenced by previews and popups all over the theater.

Oy.

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Day 4

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Today’s program had me doing pushups in my bedroom in my underwear.  Cool.  But it also had me sweating and shaking as I tried to push from yesterday’s 45 total to today’s 50, in sets of 10-12-8-8-12.

Unfortunately on the last set I just couldn’t make it.  I lied there on the floor, practically naked, giving intermittent groans and grunts while trying to get off the floor for pushup number nine.  Damn.  But the sets are getting bigger, and I did bump up by one total to 46.  Hooray.

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Days 8, 9, and 10

Day 4

Day One

I wouldn’t have expected it, but I’m actually rather sore today!  I didn’t realize it until I sat down here and started typing, but I have a nice soreness right in the muscle area where the pectorals start reaching for my shoulders.  How promising!

I’ve also started taking an iron supplement at the recommendation of a physical trainer.  It ought to boost my energy, especially in combination with the multivitamin I already take.

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The real difficulty here was keeping the proper form for the whole routine. A proper pushup – one that works the pectorals – requires that your hands are level with your chest. It’s easy to let yourself slide back, leveling your face with your hands. I caught myself falling into bad form a few times today, but was able to pull it together and do them right.

I faced 5 sets today: 10, 12, 7, 7, and 9. With a minute break in between each, the whole routine took about fifteen minutes, but my arms were exhausted afterwards. Maybe this will work after all!

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Day 6 and 7

Day Two

Day 5

hundredpushups.com has promised me that I can do 100 pushups after just seven weeks – practicing just three times a week! I’m not sure if I believe them, but since I already shelled out $1.99 for their iPod App that substitutes for a pencil and paper, I suppose it doesn’t matter.
The first day was an initial test. I racked up a couple solid pushups before finding my arms trembling at the thought of lifting me off the ground one more time. So I used the rest of my energy to reach the iPod sitting next to me and entered the final count: twelve.

I’m going to start the serious training on Wednesday – sticking with the program’s recommended Monday, Wednesday, Friday workouts – and make it happen.

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Day 6 and 7

Day 5

Day 4

Stretching is one of the most important parts of any exercise routine, and of course it’s the very heart of a good yoga practice. But taking it too far can shatter your mindset, throw you off balance, or even hurt you. But when you stay within your limits and keep it comfortable, you may even be able to fall asleep in some poses! Here’s how to keep it within your boundaries.

1. Know your pain levels.

Stretching, like most exercises, will hurt. In order to strengthen muscles, the body goes through a process of breaking and repairing muscle fibers as you push them to their capacity. But there is definitely a point past the normal “good burn” of a stretch where you risk hurting yourself. If there is an unusually sharp pain during a stretch, let off a little. It seems obvious, but there are many times when someone tries to just push through it and can’t. Enjoy that good burn, and back off if it starts to hurt.

2. Don’t be intimidated by those around you.

Looking at someone else, especially during an “all levels” yoga class, can be really intimidating. Some of those people look like they belong in the circus by the way they twist their bodies into unnatural-looking postures. Keep your own pace and your own level of flexibility. Like #1, this tactic will help prevent injury, but it will also help your mindset. If you’re focusing on someone else, giving them the “sideways eyes” to see just how much farther you think you could go, then you’re not focusing on you. When you lose that self-awareness, your ability to gain mentally and spiritually from any sort of stretch declines. It will no longer be a relaxing connection with your own body, but instead a stressful contest.

3. Stay comfortable when possible.

Stretching should be a totally comfortable and enjoyable experience. If you’ve ever tried a Vinyasa Flow yoga class, you’ll know that one of the most feared-by-beginners stretches, the Downward-Facing Dog, is actually a resting pose. If you’re straining yourself here, you’ll never make it through an hour of “hard” poses. For other kinds of yoga, there are other resting stretches, and for many pre-workout routines, very few of the stretches should be really vigorous. So settle yourself into the stretch in a way that is right for you. If you can’t touch your toes, that’s fine. If you can’t get a leg in the air while bent over backwards, that’s fine too. If you can’t hold exactly this 90-degree angle or that half-twist, it’s still fine. I know I can’t do any of those things (yet!), but the best way to continue stretching is to let yourself keep reaching at your limit without pushing past it.

4. Keep breathing.

Some stretches will not be comfortable, no matter what, because they’re not designed to be. Many are a challenge to the limits of your body, but designed to allow you to breathe through the discomfort. If you ever find yourself in a stretch where breathing is a difficult task or has become painful, this is a sure sign you are taking it way too far. Breathing is a vital part of stretching – it keeps oxygen in your blood, for one – and losing it is sure to impede anything you try to do.

5. Don’t be competitive.

You don’t have to be in a crowd to feel the competitive urge that having a competent neighbor can give you. If you’ve seen tapes or been to many classes, you remember those pretzel people that we talked about in #2. I bring it up again in this context because it’s so easy to try and just imitate what they do – humans have a natural urge to mimic behavior. But you just can’t get your leg behind your head. If you feel yourself pushing against someone else mentally in the same way you would during a sports game, whether or not they’re present, stop. Ease off, then picture yourself in the ideal pose, and go as far as you can to imitate that. The desire to overextend yourself will be much more manageable this way.

(photo credit: Piez)

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