One Hundred Pushups

Taking a break.... for now

2008-12-16T06:24:00.002-05:00

I completed 5 weeks of the 100 pushups program and even started on week 6. Unfortunately I am unable to continue this program. I am not in the shape required to complete this program. I have managed to go from 8 pushups to 60+ consecutive pushups. I managed this over a period of 14-15 weeks. The Improvements is nothing but astounding. I have never done this many pushups even in my teenage years when I was 20 years younger and at least 75 lbs lighter.

These days when I do the pushups around 25th pushups, pressure builds up inside my chest and my head starts to get heavy and pretty soon it feels like that something inside my chest is about to snap. My head by this time is so heavy that it almost feels like blood flow is being cutoff from my brain. At this point I simply stop the pushups.

I suspect this physical discomfort has to do with every other area of my physical health which ranges from poor to abysmal. Although I have decent physical strength in biceps and triceps, I can barely run quarter of a mile without having an heart attack. I can barely carry my 3YO son up the stairs without my legs getting weak. I have gained weight and ballooned up in the last few weeks. My eating habits have become very unhealthy.

During the course of last 15 weeks , there have been many days, when I wanted to quit in frustration, the only thing that kept me from quitting was the realization that how much I would regret later. I have decided to quit the pushups program for now and I need to figure out what exactly is wrong. I am trying to decide if I should see a doctor in this matter.

I would definitely come back and finish this program at a later time. In the mean time I would e looking to start some other excersise routines that are not this streanous on my body.

Week 6 (Second Level) : Day 1 second Attempt on 11/04/2008

2008-11-04T11:16:00.002-05:00

Todays workout turned out be harder than I expected, I was able to raise the count only by 5 pushups. Anyways it's an improvement, that's what matters and that's all I care about.

I was required to do 40,50,25,25,Max(at least 50)

I managed to scrape 40,30,25,25,35

The last set was especially difficult, By the time, I got to the 34'th pushup, My legs were shivering,My head was feeling heavier by the second and I thought something in my heart was about to snap. But nothing really happened, My biceps were pumped up and felt good about it.

Week 6 (Second Level) : Day 1 on 11/1/2008

2008-11-01T20:30:00.002-04:00

I started Week 6 Again today. This time I am doing the send level of pushups, I was required to do a total of 190 pushups, I managed just 150

I was required to do 40,50,25,25,Max(at least 50)

I barely managed to do 40,30,25,25,30.

The second set was the most difficult to do. It's quite a challenge to do 50 pushups right after doing 40. The Third and Fourth sets were not too hard and, in the final set, I was not that motivated.

Exhaustion Test

2008-10-29T14:34:00.003-04:00

Well I managed 60 Pushups on my exhaustion test.

Here is my progression of exhaustion for the last four months: 15,19,35,40,43,51,60

I have been making steady improvements over the last four months. I never expected this to be easy task. 100 pushups is no easy task. I will continue Week 6 at the second level starting tommorow.

Week 6 : Day 3 on 10/27/2008

2008-10-27T23:48:00.002-04:00

I did not have much trouble to finish up W6D3. I did 51 pushups in the last set, although Like yesterday, I thought I was going to have an heart attack towards the end :) The weird thing is that even after doing 50 pushups, My arms are not the least bit tired, but I am breathing very hard and my rest of the body is on the verge of collapsing. May be my next workout ought to be couch to 5k program.

I was required to do 13,13,17,17,14,14,16,16,Max(50)

I was able to do 13,13,17,17,14,14,16,16,51

I will be doing an exhaustion test tommorow, I am hoping to do atleast 60+ pushups and then repeat W6 on column 2.

Week 6 : Day 2 on 10/24/2008

2008-10-24T10:35:00.002-04:00

Today, I was in a bit of rush, I was getting late for work and also had to get my son ready. On top of that I was a day late in doing the W6D2. So I did today pushups at a very fast pace, So all my pushups may not have been good form pushups.

I was required to do 14,14,15,15,14,14,10,10,max(44)

I was able to do 14,14,15,15,14,14,10,10,45

I barely took any rest between sets and did them at a good solid pace. In the last set, I did not even pause to take rest, Kept pushuing untill I hit 45. Although, I got to say, I thought I was going to have a heart attack after the 42nd pushup. I could feel lot of pressure on my chest.

Week 6 : Day 1 Sixth Attempt on 9/21/2008

2008-10-21T06:56:00.003-04:00

Finally... Managed to do all 5 sets successfully. Todays pushups were not that hard at all. I made a slight change, Instead of counting one by one, I counted in sets of 5. For instance... first set is 5 sets of five and second sent is six sets of five and so on. This way of counting seems like a no-brainer, but for some reason, I never felt like trying this before. This made a huge difference in doing the final set.

By the time I got to 30+ in the final set, My hands started shivering and by the time I got to 37, it felt like my head was about to explode. I was feeling bit of added weight in my head, but sqeaked in 3 more and finished my 40.

I am looking forward to wrap up day 2 and 3 as soon as possible.

Informal Test of strength on 10/19/2008

2008-10-21T06:53:00.002-04:00

Informal Test of strength, involves putting my almost 3YO son on my back and doing pushups. Today I did 20 pushups. I could have done more, but did not feel like it.. The Last time I tried this, I managed 15 such pushups. It's a nice improvement. I will do this test again in couple of weeks.

Week 6 : Day 1 - Fifth Attempt on 10/17/2008

2008-10-17T06:31:00.003-04:00

I still did not finish all sets today, but I did manage 5 additional pushups . I am not frustrated at all. I did 35 pushups on the last set, Although I could have done more... by the 34th pushup my hands were violently shaking,fearing I would fall face down, pulled myself up to do one more and stopped.

I was required to do 25,30,20,15,Max(40)
I managed to do 25,30,20,15,35

One wierd thing about todays workout was that my body was more tired than my hands between pushups, especially after 2nd and 3rd sets, I was breathing heavy, So I did extra rest between sets untill my breathing went back to normal.

Week 6 : Day 1 : Fourth Attempt on 10/14/2008

2008-10-14T06:23:00.003-04:00

Well...Although I would like to think that couple of personal changes in life caused my workout routines to go haywire and it caused me to slack off for the past 11 days, The truth is laziness builds upon laziness and lack of motivation induces further lack of motivation. I should Have seen this coming, Looking thru the previous posts, I realized that on many days I was doing pushups at least a day late instead of alternative days and also had a tendecy to do them as late as possible in the day.

I also let myself be distracted by another workout routine designed by my coworker's karate instructor . This has to do with doing 60 situps in a minute. I should have waited untill I was done with pushups before getting started on something new.

Anyways, it was a pleasant surprise to be able to repeat my previous pushup count, I expected to struggle thru every set, fortunately that did not happen.

I was required to do 25,30,20,15, Max(4)

I managed to do 25,30,20,15,30

I am very happy to have done this today and look forward to repeating this day untill I am successful.

Week 6 - Day 1 Third Attempt on 10/3/2008

2008-10-03T22:22:00.002-04:00

Looks like I am going to be in Week 6 for a while, I did 3 pushups less than my last attempt, Inspite of taking more rest in the last set. I started the pushups not in the right mindset, Even Before I started, I sort of convinced myself, that I will not finish all the sets today.

I was required to do 25,30,20,15,Max(40)

I managed to do 25,30,20,15,30

The only silver lining today was that I did 20 pushups before pausing in the second set. IN the last workout, I paused after 15 pushups in the second set.

Week 6 - Day 1 Second Attempt on 10/1/2008

2008-10-01T11:06:00.004-04:00

Today, I changed to thinly carpeted surface to do pushups. My last workout which was done on a hardwood floor turned to be bit difficult. Todays pushups were not that different either, although I managed to do 7 more pushups.

I was required to do 25,30,20,15 Max(40)

I was able to do 25,30,20,15,33

The first set was easy as usual, Second set not as easy as the first one. I had to pause after the 15, then did 5 at a time untill 30. Next 20 and 15 were done in quick succession on the hardwood floor, beacuse I had to run up and warm up milk for my kiddo who just woke up. Then after giving my son a bottle of milk to drink, I raced to the basement to do the last set. My arms started to get tired around 15, then i did few pushups in sets of three and then finally one by one untill I collapsed at 33

Week 6 - Day 1 on 9/29/2008

2008-09-29T21:35:00.002-04:00

Although I qualified to do Column 2 pushups for Week 6, I decided to step down a level for Week 6. Todays total pushup count is 130, and I have already done 130 pushups before, So todays workouts should be pretty easy... well that's what I thought. Today's workout was surprisingly challenging. I managed to do only a total of 116.

I was required to do 25,30,20,15 , Max(40)

I managed to do 25,30,20,15,26

I did todays workout in my living loom on the hardwood floor, which turned out to be more difficult than the pushups that I do in my basement, which is on a thin layer of carpet.

The First set of 25 was fairly easy but more difficult than my usual first set. In the second set, I started to struggle after 15th pushup, then I did them 5 at a time and pausing between each set of 5 untill I hit 30. The next sets of 20 and 15 were also not that hard, but I had to push bit harder than usual. Before the final set I waited a full 2 minutes and started doing the pushups and my arms began to shiver after about 15 pushups, from that point onwards it was one at a time untill the 26th pushup.

For the reminder of the program, I will be doing the pushups in the basement and will probably do the final test on both the carpeted and wooden surface.

Exhaustion Test

2008-09-27T12:56:00.003-04:00

I started the exhaustion test with the intention of atleast 54 pushups, I was aiming for 20% improvement from the time I did 45 pushups on the last set of W5D3. I did the first 37 pushups without stopping, then paused for a few seconds, then did two sets of 3 untill 43, then another set of 2 untill 45, At this point I was begining to get nervous, thinking I may not even get to 50. Then I pushed one by one untill 50 and then I had to do atleast one more to make it 50+. After pushing down, I had to use every last bit strength to push up again to complete 51 pushups.

Although I am a bit dissapointed that I had to really struggle to get to 51 pushups, truth is that I am sort of tired of doing Week 5 for the last one month. So I will be starting Week 6 on monday.

Week 5 - Day 3 on 9/25/2008

2008-09-25T22:32:00.002-04:00

I skipped a day due to splitting headache and started to do the pushups in the morning, after about the first four sets, My son woke up and that put an end to my pushups. Then I did the pushups again in the evening.

In W5D2 I had done a total of 130 pushups including 38 in the final set. IN W5D3, the required pushups is only 107, which means I will have to do 53 pushups just to keep up with the total number from W5D2. That I was sure was going to be very difficult, but I was going to give a try anyway.

I was required to do 12,12,12,12,10,10,9, Max(At least 30)

I managed to do 12,12,12,12,10,10,9,45

Eventhough I fell short of achiving, what I wanted to in the last set, I am still happy with the result, I managed to do 7 more pushups in the lastset than my previous set. Morever, I did more pushups in the last set than what I did for the exhaustive test.

When I began this week, I had decided, that I was going to repeat this week untill I did 40 pushups on all the last sets for this week and also I will have to do 50+ pushups in the exhaustion test. I did 40+ pushups on the last set only in one day out of three. If I am able to do 50+ pushups in the exhaustion test, Iwill move on to W6 or else I will be repeating W5.

Week 5 - Day 2 Third attempt on 9/22/2008

2008-09-22T19:03:00.003-04:00

I slacked off for a day, I was supposed to do W5D2 yesterday. This is nothing new, I tend to slack off after accomplishing something significant. For me successfully completing W5D1 was big deal.

I was required to do 15,15,14,14,12,12,10, Max (atleast 30).

I managed to do 15,15,14,14,12,12,10,38 .

I started todays pushup with the goal of beating previous days record of 128 pushups. I did total of 130 pushups, 2 more than W5D1.. I am happy with the result. The first seven sets were effortless, In most of the sets I took less than 45 seconds of rest. However before the final set, I took full 2 minutes of rest, That really helped in doing 38 pushups in the last set. My hands started shaking after 33 pushups. From that point on it was one at a time till the 38th pushup.

Week 5- Day 1 Sixth Attempt on 9/19/2008

2008-09-19T17:55:00.003-04:00

After speaking to a co-worker who finished Week 6 today , I decided to increase my rest period between sets. The first four sets i did not rest any more than usual 60 seconds,but before the final set i took full 2 minutes or more rest, and that made all the difference.

Today on my sixth attempt, I managed to do W5D1 successfully.

I was required to do 30,24,22,20 Max (atleast 30)

I did without too much fuss 30,24,22,20,32

Although it takes away a major mental block for me, I am not not moving on to week six without atleast being able to do 50+ pushups in the exhaustion test.

Exhaustion Test

2008-09-17T20:06:00.002-04:00

I had a pretty good workout before doing the exhaustion test, I helped out my in-laws to move some furniture down from the second floor of their home and move boxes of hard wood up stairs. I was bit tired by the time i got home, But decided to do the test any way.

I did a total of 43 pushups, 3 more than last time. I did the first 30 without a break, which is a record, then did the next 7 and then did one by one untill 43. I am pretty happy with the results, Look forward to repeating W5D1 again on fridsl

Week 5 - Day 3 Second Attempt on 9/15/2008

2008-09-15T17:40:00.003-04:00

I was required to do 12,12,12,12,10,10,9,Max (atleast 30)

I managed to do 12,12,12,12,10,10,9,31

This is a good workout and I am sweating like a pig. I did a total of 108 pushups , 6 more than W5D2. I am going to keep trying to improve the pushup count every day and eventually get to 136 pushups.

The first 7 sets were not that challenging, and the last set was not too hard untill 20th pushup, After that it was one pushup at a time untill pushup number 31.

Couple of things I noticed...Although my natual pose is to keep the head down, it helps to raise my chin up while doing the pushups, it becomes a bit easier, especially towards the end when I want to squeeze in an additional pushup or two. The only problem with doing so, it that it strains my neck and cannot do it for long.

Another thing that I find useful, is when I get really tired, closing my eyes also helps a little bit, but not for long.

Week 5: Day 2 Second Attempt 9/13/2008

2008-09-14T00:47:00.003-04:00

I was required to do 15,15,14,14,12,12,10,Max(at least 30)

I was able to do 15,15,14,14,12,12,10,20

I am dissapointed that I did not even manage 30 on the last set. The only positive thing that comes out of this, is that I did two pushups more than previous day.

I made two mistakes, first... I should have done the pushup in the morning, instead of afternoon and not long after my lunch. Second reason... I gave up at 20 pushups on the last set, I could have done few more. Unfortunately I realise that only after stopping the [ushups.

Week 5 - Day 1 - Fifth Attempt 9/11/2008

2008-09-11T07:42:00.002-04:00

My goal for week5 is to be able to do atleast 40 pushups on the last set for each day. I am not advancing to week6 even if I manage the minimum number of pushups (30) on the last set for Week5. The more I sweat it out in Week5, Week6 will be that much easier. At this point I can do 40 pushups at a time, I can advance to Week6 if I am able to do atleast 45. Another goal is to be ale to do atleast 50 pushups before moving onto week6.

So I was required to do 30,24,22,20,Max(Atleast 30)

What I was able to do 30,24,12,14,20

First Set was very easy, almost effortless, Pushups began to get harder towards the middle of second set, I managed to finish second set, by doing one pushup at a time. In the the third and fourth set I did what ever I could do, I could have done more in those sets, but decided to save some energy for the last set. Finally in the last set, pushed thru untill I collapsed.

I managed to stay within the time limits for the resting period between sets. I was surprised how quickly 60 seconds pass by when my arms were tired especially after second set.

Exhaustion Test

2008-09-10T10:08:00.002-04:00

Although I am not supposed to do an exhaustion test till i finish Week 5, But I had to do it, Was curious to know if my strength improved and how much many pushups I could do from the last exhaustion test.

But at the same time, I was also secretly hoping that I would be able to do more than 45 pushups , the minimum required to move on to Week 6. Well... I managed 40 pushups, 5 more than the previous attempt. Not too long ago, I collapsed after 8 pushups. I am happy and excited to continue Week5 starting tommorow.

Week 5 Day 3 on 9/8/2008

2008-09-08T07:40:00.002-04:00

Skipped a day due to splitting headache around the time to do pushups. Todays workout was supposed to be a slam dunk, based of previous workouts. W5D3 has less pushups than W5D2, So I decided that I was going to aim for 40 pushups in the last set instead of the minimum 30. The First Seven Sets were effortless. In the Final Set, aiming for 40, I started to struggle around 22, and then to my surprise pushups become quite difficult to pull thru. I barely managed to do 31, one more than the minimum required. I was quite dissapointed because previous days last set was not this hard.

As I got up from the floor after the last set of pushups, it immediatly became clear, why I was having a hard time. My left arm was way more fatigued than my right arm. I was putting more weight on my left arm. I just did not realize this when I was doing the pushups. This has happened a few times when I started out this program. Normally the days I have a good workout are the days when bot my arms are equally tired. I will keep this in mind when I repeat week 5 starting wednesday.

Week 5 - Day 2 on 9/5/2008

2008-09-05T18:44:00.003-04:00

Since I could not complete, W5D1 after four attempts, I decided to move onto W5D2 and repeat this week untill I get all the pushups required. Todays workout was fairly easy and I was able to do the last set pretty easily.

I was required to do 15,15,14,14,12,12,10,Max(30)

I was able to do 15,15,14,14,12,12,10 , 29.5

As I was about to finish the last pushup of the last set, My Kiddo who was hovering around decides to poke his head and body right between my arms and below my head :). He has a tendecy to do this whenever i do pushups, either come between my hands or jump on my back. Anyways I am going to consider this a full workout.

Week 5 - Day 1 - Fourth Attempt on 9/3/2008

2008-09-03T07:52:00.004-04:00

Well... I was not feeling very good about the previous days pushups. Although I came close to finishing up all the sets, it did not feel right. I took lot of extra rest between sets..up to 2 minutes and more. There were other interruptions as well.

So today i got up at 4:00 Am, decided not to take any more than 60 seconds of rest between sets. I would also try to do as many pushups as possible without stopping for rest.Here is what happened.

I was required to do 30,24,22,20,Max(atleast 30)

I was able to do 30,13,12,12,15

Truly spectacular failure. Although I am very frustrated at my performance, it's good to face reality. The reality is that i am still far away from being able to do 100 pushups. The total number of pushups today is in line with W4D3. The other pushups that I did on Week 5 involved plenty of rest and some of them involved using up every ounce of strength.

Going forward, I am thinking of making a slight change, instead of continuing on W5D1, I am going to try W5D2 and W5D3 and then repeat Week 5 again untill I am able to do them right. This will help me in the long run to get to 100 pushups.

Week 5 - Day 1 - Third Attempt on 8/1/2008

2008-09-01T11:23:00.002-04:00

Failed again to finish up all the sets. The reality is that I just gave up in the last set.

I was required to do 30,24,22,20, Max(atleast 30)

I was able to do 30,24,22,20, 20

For some reason todays workout was really difficult compared to the same workout from couple of days ago. I had to increase my resting period to atleast 120 seconds in the 3,4 and 5th sets to keep me going. Before I was about to do the fifth set, there were couple if interuptions, such as Phone rang, Wife came over to talk about something. Due to the additional rest before the 5th set, the pushups in the 5th set were not as streanous as usual. I could have easily finished the 5th set, So I decided to stop at 20 and retry W5D1 again on Wednesday.

Week 5 - Day 1 - Second Attempt on 8/30/2008

2008-08-30T11:24:00.005-04:00

Things did not go well at all today. I got up bit early in the morning to do pushups. I did the first set of 30 pretty easily. As I was getting ready to do the second set, My son wakes up and is going around the house calling me out. He comes over and he wants to play. So that puts a stop to my pushups.

Later when I was playing with him and I threw him a ball, Immediately I felt a pain above the tricep muscles and below the shoulder bone. I ignored it at that moment and couple of hours later, I tried to do the pushups again. This time I completed the first two sets of 30 and 24 pushups and while half way thru the third set, I felt the pain again and I stopped immediately fearing it would get worse. I still have little bit of pain in my arm, especially when I am driving and streering the wheels or lifting something heavy.

I think I know why I have this pain in my arm. Yesterday I did a lot of pushups and at atleast 25 pushups with my son stiiting on my back. Yesterday was supposed to be my rest day, but I could not resist, especially when my kid enjoys the pushups i do with him sitting on my back.

I am going to rest till monday and then I will repeat W5D1.

Week 5 - Day 1 on 8/28/2008

2008-08-28T21:42:00.003-04:00

I still cant believe that i did 112 pushups today, I have no idea how I did 29 pushups more than my previous attempt on W4D3. Although I did not finish all the sets, I am thrilled at having done so many pushups and to have pushed myself this hard. All this difficulty to finish up the sets must be only in my head.

I was required to do 30,24,22,20, Max(at least 30)

I was able to do 30,24,22,20,16

Last week I had cut short the resting period betweek sets, But today I needed the 60+ seconds rest between and before the final set I took atleast 120 seconds of rest. Looking forward to repeating this day on saturday

Exhaustion Test

2008-08-27T07:23:00.002-04:00

I did 35 pushups today on my exhaustion test. I am thrilled to have done so many pushups in one attempt, I have never done this many pushups even in my teenage years. The first 25 pushups were almost effortless, and then did one by one untill I got to 35.

Week 5 looks really tough, I don't think i will have the patience to do 8 sets in week 5, Usually In the morning I am in a rush and pushups are also performed at a fast pace. I am thinking of doing only 5 sets of W5D2 & W5D3. In other words combine Leve1&2 into one set and so on. I will try thi for a day and if it does not work out, I will go back to 8 level pushups on D2 and D3

Week 4 -Day 3 on 8/25/2008

2008-08-25T18:18:00.002-04:00

Finally completed W4D3, Although my dissapointment at not being able to do additional pushups in the last set still remains. It's like my hand frozes and my mind quits after the last pushup on the last set. Anyways still happy to complete Week 4 and looking forward to best my previous attempt in the Exhaustion test.

I decided to make the pushups a bit more challenging by making the resting periods much shorter. I waited just 45 seconds before the 2nd,3d and 4th sets instead of 120 seconds and waited 60 seconds before the final set.

Week 5 looks very daunting, especially W5D1, Looks like it's going to be a long W5.

Informal Test of Strength

2008-08-23T09:59:00.003-04:00

Few days before i began this pushup program, Itried to put by 2.5 YO son on my back and tried to do pushups. I barely managed to do one. My son weighs about 35lbs. He loves it when i put him on my back and do pushups. This is a fun test of strength that i plan to do occasionally. This pushups is slightly different from regular pushups, Instead of pushing my body all the down, I only push little more than half way down.

Couple of weeks ago, I tried this, I was able to do 8.Today I tried this test again and I managed 15 nonstop pushps. I could have done more, but decided not to, since I have to repeat W3D3 tommorow.

Week 4 - Day 3 Second Attempt on 8/22/2008

2008-08-22T09:21:00.002-04:00

I don't know if it's my hands or me that gave up with just one more pushup to go. I was required to do 20,15,15,15,Max (atleast 18). I managed 20,15,15,15,17.

In some ways it's very frustrating to give up one step short of final destination, i was looking forward to the exhaustion test and week 5. At the same time, it's no big deal, I will try again on sunday. I took a little too much rest between 3rd and 4th sets, more than my usual 60 seconds at least 120 seconds. To compensate for the overresting, I decided to take a much shorter rest (45 seconds ) between 4th and 5th set. After the seventeen pushups, I coud not lift myself up for the final one and just collapsed on the floor.

Week 4 - Day 3 on 8/20/2008

2008-08-21T06:43:00.003-04:00

I skipped a day to do this set of pushups, becasue I was way too much tired by all the walking we did in Montreal.

I expected this days pushups to be a bit more difficult than last two days. I failed to complete the 3rd and 5th sets. For this I can partially blame my wife :). I was doing these pushups in my hotel room and while I was doing the 3rd set, She was walking around me, which totally messed up my concentration and I just could not do any more after 11.

I was required to do 20,15,15,15, Max(at least 18)

I was able to do 20,15,11,15,12

I will attempt this day again tommorow. In the mean time, My current concern is that I am unable to do any more additional pushups in the last set. Most times I am barely able to complete the minimum required pushups. Part of the reason I believe is my weight, I have to find a way of loosing my weight similar to the pushups program, challenging, inspiring and fun.

Week 4 - Day 2 on 8/17/2008

2008-08-21T06:39:00.003-04:00

This is a delayed posting, because I was on a short vacation for the past four days and did not have sufficient access to internet.

I completed the W4D2 pretty easily, This was done in a hurry as I had to leave to catch a plane. I did not take any more than 60 seconds breaks for each of the set. I did expect this workout to be easy because W3D3 was more difficult.

Week 4 - Day 1 on 8/15/2008

2008-08-15T09:53:00.000-04:00

Although I successfully finished all sets today, I am a little bit dissapointed, becasue I was hoping to do at least 20 pushups in the last set instead of the minimum requirement of 16. Another reason the total number of pushups today was less than W3D3, Today I did a total of 69 pushups.

The gain in strength i made in the last few weeks is just mind blowing to me. In the earlier weeks I really really needed the rest day for my muscles to heal and recuparate, Now they are healed in a matter of hours. Also I noticed when I do the first set I feel weightless, Although I have not lost weight, My hands have become stronger and can easily support my weight.

Week 3 - Day 3 on 8/13/2008

2008-08-13T07:17:00.000-04:00

It was a plesant surprise to be able to successfully complete W3D3 in just one attempt, I was mentally prepared to repeat this day if necessary. It took me 11 days to finish up days 1&2 of week 3.

As usual first set was easy, started to get difficult towards the end of second set. 3rd and 4th set was quite a struggle. The final set almost killed my arms, but surprisingly my arms had the strength to keep pushing.

My biggest concern is always my tendency to give up when things are going well. These days every day before the pushups, I have an urge to drop out, quit or delay the pushups and the only thing that keeps me from not quiting is the realization that how much I would hate myself later if I just gave up now.

Other than that, I am looking forward to week 4, it does not look as intimidating as week 3 looked at the end of week 2. Besides I am going on vacation next week and I intend to continue with the program in my vacation. One additional goal for next week will be to do more pushups on the final set instead of doing the minimum required. So far I have rarely done more than the minimum number of pushups for the final set.

Week 3 - Day 2 Fourth Attempt on 8/11/2008

2008-08-11T10:11:00.000-04:00

Finally succeeded to finish all the sets. I alomost did not do the pushups today, I was feeling kinda lousy this morning and then i rememberd how few days ago before the pushups, I was feeling lousy and then did the pushups anyway and ended up finishing up all the sets for that day. That's exactly what happened today. The first set as usual was effortless, Second set struggled a bit towards the end. In the third set, started to struggle from half way point. I managed to persevere in the fourth set with some difficulty. In the final set, I decided to count backwards and that seemed to have done the trick. I collapsed after 15 pushups, tried to do one more, Could not even lift myself up.

I also made a slight change to way I do pushup. Usually when I push down, it's not actually pushing myself down, it's more like throwing myself down and catching myself, just before my nose hits the ground. Today I made the change to slowly pushing myself down in a controlled way and then pulling up.. I believe this may have contributed in todays success.

Week 3 - Day 2 - Third Attempt on 8/9/2008

2008-08-09T09:31:00.000-04:00

Another Failure to finish all the sets. I did one more than previous attempt in the 5th set. I did the first two sets without too much effort. Started to struggle from the middle of the third set and at one point, I thought I may not be able to finish the fourth set.

I get the feeling that I am giving up too easily, although I do not feel that when I am actually doing the pushups. Usually by the time I do the last pushup, I do not have any more energy to lift myself up. What is more surprising is that how quickly the fatigue in my arms go away. In earlier weeks, it would take me more than a day for my muscles to heal. I really really needed a days rest before doing anymore pushups. I remember one day i tried to do pushups again in the evening after doing pushups in the morning, I could not even one pushup.

Right now I do not feel any fatigue in my arms,I feel like I can do few more pushups, Does this mean that i am giving up too easily when i am doing my sets? Does it mean that once i surpass my previous days pushup count, I just give up?

Week 3 - Day 2 Second Attempt on 8/7/2008

2008-08-07T07:57:00.001-04:00

Failed to finish all the sets again, Did just 10 pushups on the last set instead of 15. The First two sets of 16 and 14 pushups were fairly effortless. Towards the middle of 3rd set, I started to struggle, but this time around, I don't have to struggle as much like previous attempts. The Fourth attempt was not very easy either.

Overall I did 66 pushups, 3 more than previous attempt. This is the reason I love this program, becasue I get a chance to compete with myself. I am generally very bad at competetive sports, this gives me a chance to be competetive, although the competetion is just between me of today and me of yesterday

Week 3 - Day 2 on 8/5/2008

2008-08-05T18:02:00.000-04:00

Required to do 16,14,14,12, Max(at least 15)

Managed to do 16,14,14,12,7

Failed to complete all the required pushup, Slightly dissapointed, since i managed only 63 pushups, one less than previous days attempt. On the other hand, I arms feel a lot stronger than before, I can actually feel the difference when I am pushing thru fatigue in my arms in the third and fourth sets. Looking forward to retry again.

I may also have picked up the wrong time to do the pushups, I did them at 6:00 PM, instead of my usual 6:00 AM routine. I am more fresh and energetic in the morning

Is this really a six week program?

2008-08-04T17:18:00.000-04:00

That's the question I have been asking myself, since i started this program of hundred pushups. Initially what attracted me to this program was the idea that i could be doing 100 pushups in six weeks. It seemed like a realistic goal and it got me stirred up and exited.Today it's been six weeks since I started doing pushsups and currently I have completed only 2 weeks of pushups.

The other day I was talking to a co-worker who is also doing the hundred pushups program. This guy is a pretty healthy guy, who eats healthy, goes for walk during lunch breaks and is also taking karate classes. He is doing this program along with his instructor(sensei) and some other classmates in his dojo. My first reaction when i heard this was "You mean your sensei who is a 3rd degree black belt cannot do hundred pushups". Turns out his sensei can do about 80+ pushups and then he has to struggle to get to 100. Up untill this point I really did not have a sense of the enormity of doing 100 pushups in one setting. I believe my cor-worker is someone who can finish off this program in six weeks.

For someone like me, who

sits in front of a computer 8-10 hrs a day
who is atleast 30 lbs overweight
Breathes hard after carrying my 2YO son up the stairs

This could be a 12 week program or more. To be honest I do not care how long this program takes for me. So far this program has helped be become stronger and my muscles are firmer than before, I can actually feel the muscles on my arms. The most important aspect of this program is that it has given me a sense of accomplishment every day. The beauty of this program is that it makes me stretch and struggle every day and gives me an opportunity to beat previous days pushup count. Earlier when I started this program, I would struggle to just do 30+ pushups a day, a Week later I would be struggling to do 40+ pushups and in the last week I was struggling to do 60+ pushups a day.

Week 3 Day 1 - Seventh Attempt on 8/3/2008

2008-08-03T07:27:00.000-04:00

Finally...... Success, Completed all 5 sets, although Had to struggle thru the last set. Feels Great. The First 3 sets were almost effortless.

Week 3 - Day 1 Sixth Attempt on 8/1/2008

2008-08-03T07:23:00.000-04:00

I was so dissapointed, frustrated and depressed in failing again to finish up all 5 sets. This time around i managed only 10 pushups on the last set, Two less than my previous attempt. The truth is that i just gave up after 10 pushups. It was like I lost the will to continue. Moreover I struggled like never before on the first 4 sets. By the time I was dane with 4 sets, I did not have any energy or will to continue.

Part of the reason why i struggled so much today must be due to the time i choose to do the pushups. I did this around 4:00 PM and I had a heavy lunch that day and was feeling very good.

Week 3 : Day 1 Fifth Attempt on 7/30/2008

2008-07-30T18:37:00.000-04:00

Another extremely frustrating and dissapointing day of pushups. I mamanged only one additional pushup from the previous workout. I managed the first 3 sets without breaking a sweat and then towards the middle of 4th set i started struggling and in the final set I collapsed after the 12the pushup. What was even more disappointing was that minute later i did another set and i was easily able to do another 5 pushups. This now makes me mad becasue I gave up in a moment of weakness.

I don't know why I am giving up so easily.... But I am going to keep trying.

Week 3 - Day 1 Fourth Attempt on 7/28/2008

2008-07-28T06:18:00.000-04:00

Another Dissapointing failure to finish all the sets. I finished the first 4 sets with some degree of difficulty, But on the final set I was able to do only 11 pushups instead of the required 15. On the brighter side i did a total of 60 pushups, two more than my previous attempt.

On the other hand, It is not easy to lift up and down 200 lbs of fat, I envy the skinny guys, who I am sure could do pushups far more easily that i could ever do. I was also concerned if all this difficulty to finish up the sets is in my head. To find out, I tried to do another pushup a minute after I failed to finish my 5th set, I could not even lift myself up.

Overall I am not too disappointed, I am more stronger, more confident and hopefully this program will teach me much needed perseverence.

Week 3 - Day 1 Third Attempt on 7/25/2008

2008-07-25T07:36:00.000-04:00

Another Semi-Successful day, Failed again to finish all the sets, But did complete the first four sets. I was only able to do 9 pushups in the 5th set instead of the required 15.

It looks like the 6 week program may end up taking around 10-12 weeks for me to finish. I don't care how long it takes. The Greatest thrill of this program is that every day i do the pushups, I get a chance to better my previous days record. Today I did 58 Pushups, 8 more than the previous attempt.

Deja Vu

2008-07-23T20:40:00.000-04:00

The only time i ever did more than 50 pushps was about 20 years ago when i was a teenager. I remember that day vividly. Even those days I had never done more than 25 consequetive pushps, But that day, while i was doing the pushups, all of a sudden, I had this rush of energy and kept doing pushups way past my previous limits. I had that same sensation yesterday although it only lasted for 3 pushups. At one point my hands were getting very tired and started shivering and I thought I was about to collapse, then out of blue, My hands stopped shivering and became steady and all the fatigue in my hands vanished. I did another 3 Pushups without any effort and then My hands started shivering again and the fatigue came back. Pretty soon I collapsed unable to do no more pushups.

Week 3 - Day 1 Second Attempt on 7/23/2008

2008-07-23T09:47:00.000-04:00

Another Dissapointing performance, Failed to manage all the required pushups. I was also not able to do any more pushups than my last attempt. Managed a total of 50 Pushups

I was required to do 15,12,12,10,Max(Atleast 15)

I managed to do 15,12,10,7,6

I believe, I made a mistake when I did the first two sets (15,12) in a very fast pace For some reason I thought that would help me in the later sets, Instead I think my hands got tired real fast.

Will try this again friday....

Week 3 - Day 1 on 7/21/2008

2008-07-21T13:18:00.000-04:00

I knew third week was going to be tough, but had no idea it was going to be this difficult

I was required to do 15,12,12,10,Max(Atleast 15)

I managed to do 15,12,8,8,7

A truly spectacular failure to complete the sets. On the Positive side, I did 50 pushups today, I will repeat this untill I finish all the sets.

Exhaustion Test

2008-07-20T10:49:00.000-04:00

I am kinda dissapointed, that I did not even finish 20 pushups, collapsed after 19. This means starting from week 3, I step down a column to Column one. I don't understand this, I was able to do good 15 pushups in the initial test and I was expecting to do atleast 25. I guess it's not easy to lift 190 lbs of body weight up and down. It might be helpful to loose some weight :)

Anyways... looking forward to Week 3, Can't wait to get started

Week 2 - Day 3 on 7/18/2008

2008-07-18T07:10:00.000-04:00

Finished all 5 sets, without too much difficulty. Did an additional 2 pushups for the 5th set. Before i started the pushups, I decided that i am going to try to do 3 additional pushups for the 5th set. I believe that decision helped me complete the fifth set of pushups.

Over the weekend, I will be doing an exhaustion test to determine, how many consequetive pushups i can do. What ever that number may be, I am sure that will be the most consequetive pushups i have ever done in my adult life.

Week 3 looks really difficult. Assuming i stay in level 2, The Number of pushups goes from 46 in the second week to 83 pushups in week 3. I do not think i will be able to finish week 3 in one attempt. But then that's what i thought in the beginning of week 2 and I was easily able to wrap up week 2,

Week 2 - Day 2 on 7/16/2008

2008-07-16T06:16:00.000-04:00

Completed All five sets, Did one more additional pushup on the fifth set. Muscle Fatigue feels great on my biceps. It did get dificult towards the 5th set, First 4 sets were pretty easy to do.

Week 2: Day 1 on 7/14/2008

2008-07-14T07:21:00.000-04:00

Completed all five sets fairly easily, Did an additional 4 pushups in the 5th set. Day 2 and 3 of this week looks a bit more difficult, Looking forward to doing more pusups.

Week 1: Day 3 Fourth Attempt on 7/11/2008

2008-07-13T22:51:00.000-04:00

Finally managed to complete all five sets, did 10 pushups on the last set, tried to do one more, but could not do it. I am thrilled and excited. Looking forward to second weeks pushups.

Week 1: Day 3 Third attempt on 7/9/2008

2008-07-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

Failure again, this time did 8 pushups on the 5th set, one more than the previous attempt. Collapsed after the 8th pushup, just could not lift myself up. I am wondering, if the reason I am not able to complete the 5th set is psychological. At the same time It feels great, Because I have never pushed my body this much in recent years

Week 1: Day 3 Second attempt on 7/7/2008

2008-07-13T22:49:00.002-04:00

Got two days of rest, Second attempt at the day 3 plan failed. I could only 7 pushups instead of 10 on the fifth set. At least I did one more than the previous try.

Week 1: Day 3 on 7/4/2008

2008-07-13T22:49:00.001-04:00

Managed to complete, the first four sets, but could only manage 6 on the 5th set instead of 10. I could not lift myself up after the sixth pushup and collapsed on the floor.

Week 1: Day 2 on 7/2/2008

2008-07-13T22:48:00.001-04:00

Again, another easy workout, completed all 5 sets, tried to do one more on the 5th set just could not do it.

Week 1: Day 1 on 6/30/2008

2008-07-13T22:46:00.002-04:00

Easily completed all 5 sets, did one more on the last set. My muscles are sore and my entire hands hurt, but in a good way, I am really liking it.

Initial Test

2008-07-13T22:46:00.001-04:00

I am really surprised, I was able to do 15 pushups before I could do no more, I really did not expect to be able to do more that 10. This means that I have the follow the sets on column 3 in the plan, that seems a bit intimidating to me, so I decide to follow the plan on the column 2, which is for people who did between 6-10 pushups in the initial test.

One Hundered Pushups

2008-07-13T22:44:00.000-04:00

I came across this site HundredPushups couple of weeks ago on a discussion board somewhere, and immediately the idea of doing 100 pushups got me excited like never before. This site gives you a plan of action to be able to do 100 pushups in one go. The maximum number of pushups that I have ever done is around 50, BUT that was when I was 20 years younger, 60 lbs lighter, 10 inches less around my waist…. You get the picture.

I guess the one reason, why this program attracted me is because it is set up as a challenge, and I love a challenge, when the goals are well defined and feels attainable