Week 2, Day 1 - Carla

Week 2, Day 1 Sets: Push ups (9, 11, 8, 8, Max), Sit ups (21, 21, 15, 15, Max), Dips (18, 18, 13, 13, Max), Squats (19, 19, 13, 13, Max)

Week 2 begins! I did not get up in the morning to do my circuit as I was being a little bit lazy! I even went to bed early last night with the little one hoping to be able to get up, but it did not work out! However, I went home at lunch to do my circuit so I could be done with it for the day. When I was looking at the sets before starting I noticed that one of the push-up sets was 11 and the max set was no less than 11…I was not excited about that! But as I went through the circuit I felt stronger and stronger…I was even able to eke out an extra push-up on my max set – yippee…12!!!!! The sit-ups, dips, and squats are going well – nothing to complain about there! I do find the squats to be somewhat boring which may explain why I don’t feel like I can do as many of them (at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) My total circuit took 20 minutes to complete today.

My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 12, Sit ups – 25, Dips – 20, and Squats – 25.

This evening I also went to the gym to do BodyFlow, which felt great! I have not been doing much running as my right calf has been hurting a bit lately and I wanted to give it a bit of a break. It is starting to feel better, so I guess it's back to running for me!

Week 1, Day 3

So, I am in an airport hotel in Pittsburgh for my best friend's wedding this weekend.  I left this morning around 7am, just got here about 20 minutes ago, and I have to get ready for the bachelorette party in about 20 minutes so I have to book it!

Push up sets: 8, 10, 7, 7, max
Sit ups: 17, 22, 14, 14, max  (My abs still hurt sooo much from the last time! OUCH.)
Dips: 14, 19, 12, 12, max

Max Push ups: 12
Max Sit ups: 40
Max Dips: 25

The ceremony is on Friday and as a bridesmaid, I am super busy.  Will I have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to do my circuit?  If I don't, Carla will definitely hold me accountable!

Week 1, Day 2

I accomplished my workout weekend!  Friday night I ended up going to Zumba after my circuit.  Saturday morning I went to Bodypump and Kickboxing... yeah, that kind of kicked my butt.  And this morning I went to Zumba and Bodyflow... and did my circuit.  But in between, J and I went to Ocean City for a late lunch to celebrate our one-year anniversary.  It's the best restaurant EVER!  The Shark on the Harbor is a great place to go in West Ocean City.  They serve lots of organic foods at great prices and the chef is amazing!  In addition to that, J bought me new sunglasses (so I don't have to wear the boy ones anymore!) and did the dishes and the laundry!

Here is what I did in my circuit this afternoon:

Push ups: 6, 8, 6, 6, max
Sit ups: 15, 18, 15, 15, max
Dips: 13, 15, 10, 10, max

Max push ups: 8
Max sit ups: 24
Max dips: 19

woo-hoo!!!

Week 1, Day 3 - Carla

Week 1, Day 3 Sets: Push ups (8, 10, 7, 7, Max), Sit ups (17, 22, 14, 14, Max), Dips (14, 19, 12, 12, Max), Squats (15, 20, 13, 13, Max)

I thought I might be in trouble today as I was still feeling pretty sore from two days ago, but I managed to complete my circuit today! I had a limited amount of time to finish up today because I was doing the circuit before Zumba and BodyFlow at the gym this morning. It took me 17 minutes to complete my circuit and then I was ready to do the classes!

My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 10, Sit ups – 25, Dips – 20, and Squats – 25.

Also, Happy Anniversary to Maria and her husband! Have a great day today! :)

Kickboxing!

I was finally able to get back to the gym on a Saturday morning for Kickboxing!!! I had forgotten how much I enjoy that class! (I love my boys and the fact that they enjoyed Little League this year, but I'm glad to have my Saturday mornings back!) Maria was there as well after having already done BodyPump - busy morning for her! Hoping to keep up the exercise-filled weekend with Zumba and BodyFlow tomorrow morning...and my circuit, of course! :)

Week 1, Day 2 - Carla

Week 1, Day 2 Sets: Push ups (6, 8, 6, 6, Max), Sit ups (15, 18, 15, 15, Max), Dips (13, 15 10, 10, Max), Squats (13, 16, 13, 13, Max)

I decided to do my circuits on my lunch break at work today. I have an old yoga mat that I keep under my desk in case I need it for anything…it was put to good use today! When I got down to do my first set of push ups I thought I was going to die!!! I barely got myself into proper push up position and I seriously thought I wasn’t going to be able to do one push up let alone 5 sets of push ups. However I thought about the fact that I was going to have to do a blog post later on documenting my progress, so I persevered. It certainly hurt, but I was able to make it all the way through. My circuit took 17.5 minutes today. Hurting and sort of sweaty at the end, but day 2 is complete! I even completed one more max push up than listed as the minimum! :)

My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 8, Sit ups – 25, Dips – 20, and Squats – 30.

Like Maria, I was hoping to get a run in today but that backfired on me. I am not able to go to Zumba tonight as I have a retirement dinner to go to - yummy food (and possibly a margarita or two). Not necessarily a good night, but a yummy night indeed! Hopefully I'll make up for it by getting to the gym tomorrow and/or Sunday!

Week 1, Day 1!

Push Ups: Sets of 6, 6, 4, 4, and max with about 60 seconds in between each set.  I even had J (hubby) watch my form to make sure I was doing it correctly :-)  He was very critical!

Dips:  Sets of 13, 15, 9, 9, and max with about 60 seconds in between each set. 

Sit Ups:  Sets of 15, 18, 10, 10, and max with around 60 seconds between each set.

Max Push up: 4 (OUCH!)
Max Dip: 19
Max Sit up: 22

I am really proud of my max dips and sit ups.  But the push ups, that's pretty suck-y.  Nowhere to go but up, right?

I am also going to Zumba tonight at the gym.  I really wanted to go out on a run today, but my in-laws were in town and we had a nice breakfast together.  And if you don't go early in the summer, you're asking for a heat stroke.  So I skipped it :-)

The plan is to have a super-workout-weekend.  I went to Fratelli's last night and enjoyed a massive plate of linguine with clam sauce.  I also made these cake balls:

...and had a few too many for dessert.  AND I had a few margaritas on the deck last night... whoops.

Since we bought our new house and summer started, I have had a lot of time to cook and eat.  And I have been taking advantage of it!  Tonight (after Zumba) is steaks on the grill and corn on the cob :-)

I am proud of my first day of this program!  I just have to keep reminding myself to keep it up!

Ouch!

So, I'm a little sore tonight. I'm definitely feeling my shoulder and chest muscles - I can feel the lack of BodyPump classes in my recent past. I could feel every little move of D's head on my chest while snuggling on the couch. We'll have to see if I'm able to do ANYTHING tomorrow, let alone 5 sets of each activity! Wish me luck!

Week 1, Day 1 - Carla

Sets: Push ups (6, 6, 4, 4, Max), Sit ups (15, 18, 10, 10, Max), Dips (13, 15, 9, 9, Max), Squats (13, 16, 9, 9, Max)

Okay, so today was my first day! I did circuits of the four activities in the order listed above basically moving from one set to the next with little to no break in between. Today it took me 15 minutes to complete. By the end of it all I was hurting a bit! This is going to be an interesting six weeks!

My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 5, Sit ups – 20, Dips – 15, and Squats – 25.

Also, headed to the gym and did 40 minutes easy on the treadmill and went to BodyFlow. Felt great!!!

My Push Up (and dip and sit up and not-squat) Challenge!

The official results of my initial test:

Push-ups: 7!
Sit ups: 31
Dips: 26 (I did the dips after upping my weight on triceps in bodypump two days ago and I am hurting!)
Squats: I think I am going to eliminate the squat challenge from my program.  First of all, I am doing squats a lot in bodypump and my quads are getting to look like a softball player's.  Second of all, I tried the initial test and stopped at 140 squats.  Third of all, I am still running pretty regularly, so my legs are being worked out enough :-)

I think that Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are best for my training as well.  However, I will not be starting until Friday, as I just took the initial test today.

On another note, I am 100% positive that I cannot do even one pull up, but I would like to try that program once it is launched on the site as well :-)  It's called "Twenty-five Pull ups".  In my case, it should be called "Five Pull Ups".  It might take me six weeks to eek out just five!

Carla's job is to hold me accountable.  If a Friday, Sunday, or Wednesday goes by without you reading what I did that day, you need to call me and scold me for being lazy!

Also, can we "label" the topics in each of our posts to archive the info, so if we are looking for something we can find it easily. When you write a post, at the bottom, there is a box for the "labels".  For instance, my labels from this post will be "Maria, initial test, sit ups, push ups, dips,", etc.

My Push up (and sit up and squat and dip) challenge - Carla

So, Maria said we should blog our attempt at the 100 push up program to hold us accountable for completing it. Even if no one reads this, I feel like it will make me more accountable for my actions as I know it will be out there on the net forever and ever and ever....

Here is the beginning of my journey...


Okay, so in one of my searches of fitness related things I found a website for the "200 Sit Up Challenge" which is supposed to get you to be able to do 200 consecutive sit ups after 6 weeks of training. In addition to the sit up challenge there are several other challenges - push ups (100), dips (150), and squats (200). I furiously cut and pasted from the website so I could have easy access to the programs wherever I had my computer and my thumb drive. Then I completely forgot about them...until now! I have decided today that I am going to start the programs this week. The programs call for doing the workouts three times a week - since I did the initial test today I am going to use Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday as my days to complete my circuits.

Here are the (embarrassing) results of my initial tests on 06/21/11:
Push ups - 7
Sit ups - 35
Dips - 19
Squats - 30

I have a lot of work to do!!! I probably could have done a few more of each, but I didn't want to push it too hard considering my recent lack of workouts. In addition to starting this program I am also planning on getting into a more regular running schedule and a more regular gym schedule.


UPDATE: Went to the gym to do the treadmill tonight for 30 minutes (5 min warm up, 5 intervals of 3 min hard/1 min easy, 6 min cool down). Baby steps after a break, right?