OCTOBER SHREDDERS (CLOSED GROUP) - 1st Mini-Challenge 10/6/1

daniellesb1
daniellesb1 Posts: 178 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Hello lovely October Shredders – and WELCOME to our First Mini-Challenge ! :flowerforyou:

Not sure about all of you – but (one) of the biggest struggles I have had so far has been with the dirty stupid Push-Ups. And YES, I am doing the “girlie” version….. :noway:

Sooooooooooooooo since I don’t want to suffer through this alone, I have been researching “how many push-ups should an average woman be doing?” and really haven’t found an EXACT answer… Didn’t help satisfy my controlling, perfectionist need for an exact answer, BUT I have found a test that I thought would be fun for all of us to do, and see where we fall in endurance and strenght !

Ready – here it goes :

I am adding for both Women and Men, as not sure if we still have our ONE Male representative with us, but would hate to exclude him :

The Pushup Test measures muscular strength and endurance, a combination that better reflects your fitness level than strength tests like the one rep max.

Equipment needed: A stop watch or timer that can measure one full minute; a friend to help keep count and time you (optional).

Goal: Do as many pushups as you can in one minute.

Execution: Men will assume a traditional pushup position (Android Natalie) and females can use the modified pushup position (on knees as Android Anita). When the pushups start, so does the clock! Press yourself up with arms fully extended and lower yourself back until your chest is three inches from the floor (but do not touch your body to the floor). Repeat as many times as you can in one minute. You may rest only in the “up” position if necessary.

What this measures: Strength and endurance in your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

Scoring: Here are the age-adjusted standards based on guidelines published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM):

Ratings for Men (Full Pushups), based on Age
20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
Excellent > 54 > 44 > 39 > 34 > 29
Good 45-54 35-44 30-39 25-34 20-29
Average 35-44 24-34 20-29 15-24 10-19
Poor 20-34 15-24 12-19 8-14 5-9
Very Poor < 20 < 15 < 12 < 8 < 5

Ratings for Women (Modified Pushups), based on Age
20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
Excellent >48 >39 >34 >29 >19
Good 34-48 25-39 20-34 15-29 5-19
Average 17-33 12-24 8-19 6-14 3-4
Poor 6-16 4-11 3-7 2-5 1-2
Very Poor < 6 < 4 < 3 < 2 < 1

Maybe you’ll find that you’re doing really well. But even if you weren't able to do enough reps to register on the chart, that's OK. Everyone starts somewhere! Just try to improve gradually over time from where you started. Remember, you are looking for improvement in yourself, regardless of what a chart says or how many repetitions someone else can do.

How to improve: To improve your scores in this test, focus on strength training the specific muscles of the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Good exercises that target these muscles include:
• Without equipment: Decline Pushups, Incline Pushups, and Two-Part Pushups
• At home: Chest Press with Band, Dumbbell Chest Press on Ball, and Pushups on Ball at Legs
• At the gym: Bench Press, Seated Chest Press Machine, Seated Pec Deck Machine, and Chest Flys on Cable Cross Machine

How to know its working: When you're done testing, you can track your results back on this post, but I would also recommend to enter this onto our Spreadsheet to keep track of your progress! Over time, you should be able to do more pushups in subsequent assessments. Try to retest yourself every 4-8 weeks. We can redo this mini challenge at the end of our 30DS and see if we have improved by Nov 1st !

I for sure know I want to improve these darn push-ups !

Have fun my MFPeeps !! :heart:

Replies

  • Amber393
    Amber393 Posts: 472 Member
    I did 23 regular pushup in 1 minute.

    So that's between Fair-Good according to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/guideposts/fitness/post/score.htm#pushup

    Can you tell i'm procrastiating on laundry? :laugh:

    Amber
  • daniellesb1
    daniellesb1 Posts: 178 Member
    I did 23 regular pushup in 1 minute.

    So that's between Fair-Good according to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/guideposts/fitness/post/score.htm#pushup

    Can you tell i'm procrastiating on laundry? :laugh:

    Amber

    Where do you fall within the above score guidelines ? Scoring: Here are the age-adjusted standards based on guidelines published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM):

    If we follow the same scoring guidelines, we can all know compare apples to apples.
    Dont forget to enter in our spreadsheet, as well !

    And good going for being the first one !! You get a STICKER : :heart:
  • nixickle
    nixickle Posts: 229 Member
    Get in! I just managed 35 modified! I'm 30 so that puts me in the 'good range!' great challenge!

    Amber: that's very impressive that you managed full push ups!!I reckon 1 full is the same as 2 modified? Maybe more! But you can't go too far wrong doubling your figure!
  • Amber393
    Amber393 Posts: 472 Member
    Well based on the modfiied for women and for my age which is 26 then it would be Average according to your chart.

    What spreadsheet? The same one for weigh in or a different one?
  • daniellesb1
    daniellesb1 Posts: 178 Member
    Well based on the modfiied for women and for my age which is 26 then it would be Average according to your chart.

    What spreadsheet? The same one for weigh in or a different one?

    Enter this into the same spreadsheet we weighed in so we can track a progress of improvement on day 30 !
  • Meghan0116
    Meghan0116 Posts: 1,268 Member
    Ohhhh Danielle, you picked a hard one for our first day. Okay, I will do it when I get home before the shred.
  • daniellesb1
    daniellesb1 Posts: 178 Member
    Ohhhh Danielle, you picked a hard one for our first day. Okay, I will do it when I get home before the shred.

    I picked a hard one to kick off these Mini Challenges with a BAM !!! I will do mine tonight before the Shred too.

    Since I think we should measure somehow our improvement - I have asked everyone to enter their number of push-ups in our faithful Weigh-In Spreadsheet, so we can track again our IMPROVEMENT on Nov 1st !

    Oh, and by the way - my original Mini Challenge was to see how many Hershey kisses you could stick in your mouth at once, but I figured it would not be taken too kindly....... *sigh*:drinker:
  • Meghan0116
    Meghan0116 Posts: 1,268 Member
    I would have so happily done that. lmao Maybe we should do baby carrots!
  • apertuis
    apertuis Posts: 117 Member
    I made 26 which is good for my age. I was going to skip 30DS today, but this gave me the motivation to do it!! I needed it, thanks ;-)
  • berv0009
    berv0009 Posts: 454 Member
    I did 27 and I was shaking by the end!!! I HATE PUSH UPS!!!!!!!

    lol :) good challenge though!
  • nixickle
    nixickle Posts: 229 Member
    Goooooooood Morning October Shredders!!!!

    So day 2 of our mini challenges! (please dont hate me!)

    As some of you may know, my abs split during pregnancy, and though i had managed to close the gap quite a lot, my recent bout of sit ups and crunches were making the gap much larger. So i am now doing planks to replace all of Jillians ab work. I started yesterday and already my gap is now the smallest it has ever been! These exercises are great for both men and women. They are most affective the longer you do it for, rather than doing several per minute.

    So onto the Plank Challenge!! Here is how to do a basic plank: Start in a push-up position, 'real' not modified) but keep your hands directly under your shoulders instead of outside your chest. Legs are extended straight behind you, with feet together. Drop down onto your forearms (You are balancing on your forearms and the balls of your feet) and Hold this position for as long as you can!

    The challenge is quite simply, who can hold the position the longest!

    A few things to remember: keep your eyes focussed on the ground infront of you, and make sure your bum is not up in the air. Shaking is good, it means it's working!!

    You can have as many try's as you like!

    And we can record our times in the database. Just delete and re-enter with each go you have.

    If you are finding this position too easy, let me know and I will give you the intermediate position!

    So that's the second challenge peeps! (I'm on an iPhone so will need to just edit this post before it is announced!)

    Best of luck!
  • slainnz
    slainnz Posts: 56 Member
    I managed to do 24!
  • boncharlie
    boncharlie Posts: 459 Member
    I struggled to do 26..x
  • Meghan0116
    Meghan0116 Posts: 1,268 Member
    I did 40 but my butt was totally in the air. Does that count? lol
  • apertuis
    apertuis Posts: 117 Member
    I did 40 but my butt was totally in the air. Does that count? lol

    Anyway you can get it. lol
  • aqua_zumba_fan
    aqua_zumba_fan Posts: 383 Member
    I did 40 and am 32 so I'm good :)
  • summergreen487
    summergreen487 Posts: 131 Member
    Well, I didn't exactly do the mini challenge, but I was able to 7 regular pushups in a row this morning. I'm gonna use this as my baseline and see how many regular pushups I can do by the end of the shred.
  • KerriMx5
    KerriMx5 Posts: 458 Member
    I am 38 and did 23....
  • miami_mimi
    miami_mimi Posts: 325 Member
    I had not reply but I did 26 pushups (modified of course :)). I am 30. I mainly use my phone so I can only get to the spreadsheet from work or if I get to my laptop my 5yr is not using it:/
  • lloydmel
    lloydmel Posts: 259 Member
    Somehow I missed this thread; just saw this today.... :cry:
    So, I will catch up on the mini challenges today. :wink:
  • bump
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