Week 6 - Day 1 on 9/29/2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.