Hundred Pushups Challenge for 2009! (January)

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Replies

  • mechanicmom
    mechanicmom Posts: 5,700 Member
    Hey everyone! I'm back finally!
    Wow and welcome to all the newbies! :bigsmile:
    CP I'm really proud of you! I still have your shirt! :laugh:
    Glad to see all the familiar faces too!
    I am going to test tomorrow. I am expecting horrible results though as I still feel pretty weak. To update the newbies, I was up to 80 in early November and I was sidelined with some personal issues, but I am here to make it to 100. I will be ecstatic to get 20 in when I test tomorrow and do day 1 of whatever week I will end up on.
    I am also going to take a look at the 200 sit up thing. Anyone start a link for that yet?
    I'm glad to be back on here! I will post tomorrow, even if it's really embarrassing. :blushing:
    MM
  • cp005e
    cp005e Posts: 1,495 Member
    I am going to earn that shirt, MM! Don't worry about your initial test too much, confuzed - everybody starts somewhere. I'll bet you can do 10 two weeks from now! karlaw, that's great that you can get the whole family involved - Marla did, too! And you are off to a really strong start - way to go.

    Just now, Today I did week 6, day 2, level 3. I should have done it yesterday, but I forgot. :embarassed:
    1&2: 22
    3&4: 30
    5&6: 24
    7&8: 18
    9: 74 (minimum 58)

    Whew!
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
    confused-- two is better than none-- keep it up!!!

    Karlaw-- lots of fun with the fam doing it-- take some pictures!

    MM-- God bless you, dear lady-- been thinking of you--
  • Timba
    Timba Posts: 12
    This challenge looks awesome! I havent been exercising for soo long, getting back into it this week so this is the perfect addition to my start!

    Initial test = 2 press ups.. oh gosh! Least i can only improve, good luck all!
  • keiko
    keiko Posts: 2,919 Member
    Good Morning!
    I just did week 3, level 1
    10
    12
    7
    7
    at least 9, I did 12

    Hope all of you enjoy your day!
  • mechanicmom
    mechanicmom Posts: 5,700 Member
    Wow, I did a lot better than I thought I would. I managed 50 on my test! Whoo-hoo! I just pumped them out as fast as I could go. I probably could have done a few more but I don't think my form would have been that good.
    I am restarting on week 5. I think I will do level one today since I did my test and then go to level two or three on Wednesday. Yay! I'm excited!
    Melissa
  • supermom1114
    supermom1114 Posts: 577
    So I did Day 1 Week 1 Level 2!! 6, 6, 4, 4, 15
  • TexasAngelBeth
    TexasAngelBeth Posts: 315 Member
    Thanks... I will *try* it. My only problem is that my wrist is weak (childhood injury) and it hinders me from doing many . Hopefully this training will help strengthen everything (including my wrist) :happy:

    I had surgery on my wrist from an injury about 2 years ago... I still have issues with it but you might try a repositioning of your hand... it wont be "by the book" but I am up to 50 push ups before I start to feel that I need to stop. At one point it was 5 :)
  • mechanicmom
    mechanicmom Posts: 5,700 Member
    Just posting on day one for me!
    Test this morning:50
    Week 5 day 1 level 1:
    17
    19
    15
    15
    33(min20)
    Off to a good start! I will probably move to level 2 on Wednesday!
    MM
  • dgrubb5
    dgrubb5 Posts: 7
    I just did Day 1 Week 1 level three. Honestly it wasn't all that bad. I am not saying it was a piece of cake but this will be doable. :tongue:
  • cp005e
    cp005e Posts: 1,495 Member
    Nice going, everybody! :drinker: And MM - that is awesome that you are still at 50 after a few weeks off. You'd better hang on to the shirt - I am thinking that you will right back where you were in no time! :wink:
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
    Hey gang-- way to go, Melissa-- you're incredible-- !!!!!!

    I did level one, Week four tonight-- pant pant !!

    12
    14
    11
    10
    16

    My arms are spaghetti-- but I did it, by jove!!
  • DelTonious_Max
    DelTonious_Max Posts: 47
    Great job guys in pushing out those push-ups.

    Now for those who are a little intimidated by the thought of many a push-up. I saw the invite/challenge and thought, oh yeah I'm in on this one. I can do 5 (or at least 3). Initial Test; I get on the floor, body nice and straight, whooo whooo, down and puuuussshhh---uuuu...... ok, wait..... again, puuuuusshhhh-uuu..... ok, wait...... on the knee's. There we go - much better. Cheating? Well I'm still feeling tightening in the lower abs so they must work as well on the knee's. Week 1 day 2 (on the knee's) and will do this for a couple weeks and try the full form push-up again. As the belly goes away.

    Morale of my story; be encouraged my fellow 3 or 4er's. Doing a few is better than none and we will get to a hundred. :bigsmile:
  • Hannah_Banana
    Hannah_Banana Posts: 1,242 Member
    I started this mid Dec but never posted. :blushing: I've been on and off since then, so I am only on Week 2 Level 2. :ohwell: However, I can already feel a difference in my strength! When I started I had a hard time doing 6, now I can do 11 no problem. :bigsmile: And... my muscles hurt so good!:drinker:
  • RunningRachel
    RunningRachel Posts: 13 Member
    Thanks... I will *try* it. My only problem is that my wrist is weak (childhood injury) and it hinders me from doing many . Hopefully this training will help strengthen everything (including my wrist) :happy:

    I had surgery on my wrist from an injury about 2 years ago... I still have issues with it but you might try a repositioning of your hand... it wont be "by the book" but I am up to 50 push ups before I start to feel that I need to stop. At one point it was 5 :)

    Thanks for your tips. I actually (day2) used my DHs push up bars... they are amazing. My wrist did not hurt at all... however my core and pecks were still sore from day 1!! :ohwell:
  • Wynnie
    Wynnie Posts: 225 Member
    I made it through week one, using column 3.

    Question - when it says MAX for the last set, do you do more than the "at least" number they give you? I'm finding that I only do maybe 1 or 2 more. Does that mean I should repeat week one?

    Oh - and PS - what are the DH pushup bars??
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
    Great job guys in pushing out those push-ups.

    Now for those who are a little intimidated by the thought of many a push-up. I saw the invite/challenge and thought, oh yeah I'm in on this one. I can do 5 (or at least 3). Initial Test; I get on the floor, body nice and straight, whooo whooo, down and puuuussshhh---uuuu...... ok, wait..... again, puuuuusshhhh-uuu..... ok, wait...... on the knee's. There we go - much better. Cheating? Well I'm still feeling tightening in the lower abs so they must work as well on the knee's. Week 1 day 2 (on the knee's) and will do this for a couple weeks and try the full form push-up again. As the belly goes away.

    Morale of my story; be encouraged my fellow 3 or 4er's. Doing a few is better than none and we will get to a hundred. :bigsmile:

    Okay-- this post made me giggle-- "Ok, wait-- " hee-- excellent moral to your story-- keep going!!!
  • cp005e
    cp005e Posts: 1,495 Member
    Wynnie - if you can do the minimum on that last set, you are fine. You are just trying to do as many as possible at that point - which is usually tough considering you just finished all those other sets!

    I did Week 6, day 3 on level 3 last night:

    1&2:26
    3&4: 32
    5&6: 26
    7&8: 22
    9: (min 60) Again, I start losing count on these long sets, and I count by tens, so... I either did 84 or 74. :embarassed: I think I am getting the higher number, but then I'm like 'wait, did I count the 60s?'

    Great job, everyone! :bigsmile:
  • keiko
    keiko Posts: 2,919 Member
    Godd Morning to all the Challengers! I hope no one is to sore today! I have to say that the first week was the worse for soreness after. Now on week three, I'm sore but nothing like that first week. This is just the kind that makes it feel good because you know you did something. Not the kind that makes you want to never do it again!

    So today was week 3, day 2, level 1
    10
    12
    8
    8
    at least 12, I did 15 YEAH!! it feels good that I could do a couple extra!

    Hope you all have a great day!
  • Forpar
    Forpar Posts: 23
    Just got on the site this morning and found this post. Y'all are an inspirational bunch. Hope you don't mind if I join. Thanks cp005e for starting this.

    Keep up the good work!
  • keiko
    keiko Posts: 2,919 Member
    Hey Forpar, the more the merrier! I hope you enjoy not just the push up challenge but all of MFP. Oh and there's a sit up challenge to if your interested!
  • supermom1114
    supermom1114 Posts: 577
    So I did Week 1 Day 2 Level 2 today
    6
    8
    6
    6
    Max(at least 7) 20!!!

    I can really see already how this helps, I can actually go down all the way and keep my form, I cant wait to be doing 100!!
  • mechanicmom
    mechanicmom Posts: 5,700 Member
    Okay, a little more out of shape than I thought. lol
    Week 5 day 2 level 2, was pushing it. I managed but I didn't get that low on the last set and that was after a two minute break. I will be repeating this week and maybe this level. My wrists are hurting too so I must have built them up before. I will get there again!
    Now off to sit ups. I'm still sore from Monday! But I'm moving up a level anyway!
    MM
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
    Okay, a little more out of shape than I thought. lol
    Week 5 day 2 level 2, was pushing it. I managed but I didn't get that low on the last set and that was after a two minute break. I will be repeating this week and maybe this level. My wrists are hurting too so I must have built them up before. I will get there again!
    Now off to sit ups. I'm still sore from Monday! But I'm moving up a level anyway!
    MM

    Just take it slow, woman-- you're doing great.
  • Forpar
    Forpar Posts: 23
    Hey Forpar, the more the merrier! I hope you enjoy not just the push up challenge but all of MFP. Oh and there's a sit up challenge to if your interested!

    Hey keiko:
    Thanks for the welcome.
    I'm trying for the time being to stay away from 6-packs, so I'll pass on the sit up challenge for now.
    I did 35 pushups this morning, which I think puts me in the neighborhood of level 58 ... or am I thinking about my age?
  • cp005e
    cp005e Posts: 1,495 Member
    Welcome, Forpar! You did 35 pushups already? :noway: That's awesome. I think you might get to jump ahead to week 3 to start.

    I'd love to do the sit-up program but I'm going to have to come back to it - I've got just enough on my plate right now. Kudos to all of you who are doing both.

    You are all doing great. It's so cool to see people joining up and starting to see progress after just a week or two. Keep it up! :drinker:
  • cp005e
    cp005e Posts: 1,495 Member
    I thought some of you might find this newsletter I got from Jillian Michaels' website this morning interesting - it's all about pushups! I thought the last point about how foot distance affects the difficulty - maybe I should put my feet farther apart. :wink:

    Don't Get Too Comfortable

    Remember when you started working out, how you couldn't do 5 consecutive push-ups without collapsing? Now that you've been training for a while, you can do sets of 10 without even breaking a sweat. Feels good, right? Well, maybe it feels a little too good. It might be time to push yourself a little — by doing some push-up variations to further train the chest, triceps, and shoulders.

    Here are two advanced push-ups to add to your repertoire:

    Plyo Push-up
    Start in your usual push-up position. Slowly lower yourself to the floor. With an explosive burst, exhale and push yourself up, bringing your hands off the floor and clapping them together. Land in the push-up position and repeat. The plyometric push-up increases muscle power by adding some additional difficulty to the regular push-up.

    Close-Grip Push-up
    Start in a push-up position but keep your hands directly under your shoulders instead of outside your chest. Your legs should be extended straight out behind you, your feet slightly apart, so you are balancing on your palms and the balls of your feet. Keep your elbows pressed firmly against your torso as you slowly lower yourself down. Exhale, press back up to the starting position, and repeat. This close-grip push-up places more emphasis on your anterior shoulders and triceps as well as your chest.

    JILLIAN'S TIP OF THE DAY
    Challenging Yourself From Your Feet on Up
    Another factor to consider when you vary your intensity level is your "base." This refers to the way in which you plant your feet on the floor. A wide base — placing your feet wide apart — helps stabilize your body. Working through an exercise with a wide base makes it easier to maintain form throughout reps. A narrow base, on the other hand — placing the feet together — makes any exercise more difficult, because your core and other muscle groups have to work harder to maintain a neutral body position.
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
    hey-- did my week four, level one, day two before bed last night--

    14
    16
    12
    12
    14-- couldn't get to 18-- pant pant.

    :yawn:
  • keiko
    keiko Posts: 2,919 Member
    Good Morning!
    Today was week 3, day 3, level 1
    11
    13
    9
    9
    at least 13 and I made it 15. YEAH ME!:smile: I'm happy I did another week:smile:

    Hope you all have a nice Friday and weekend:flowerforyou:
  • Forpar
    Forpar Posts: 23
    Great job everybody.
    Today was day 1 for me - starting with the week 3 workout:
    14
    18
    14
    14
    and finally 17 - couldn't do 20.
    Maybe I should have done the pushups BEFORE doing the Biggest Loser cardio workout(?)
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