Exhaustion Test, Week 2 - Carla

Tonight it was time to do my second exhaustion test to determine what my circuits are going to look like for the next two weeks. I was a little nervous about doing this, so I put it off until just a few minutes ago. Here are my test results:

Push ups - 20!!!!!

Sit ups - 50

Dips - 30

Squats - too many to count (I think I was bored [and distracted by children] when I did my first test for the squats. I can basically do 200, so I'm dropping this from my circuit.)

I've worked out my circuits for the next two weeks and I'm a little scared...there are A LOT of push ups in there! But I know I'll do my best with it and try to keep up with the program! Two weeks down, hopefully only four more weeks to go! :)

Week 2, Day 3 - Carla

Week 2, Day 3 Sets: Push ups (12, 13, 10, 10, Max), Sit ups (24, 25, 21, 21, Max), Dips (20, 21, 16, 16, Max), Squats (22, 22, 19, 19, Max)

Today was the end of week 2!!!!! I went to the gym this morning for Zumba and BodyFlow then I did my circuit after that. By the end I was HURTING, but I managed to get through it! Ready for some pool action and a ball game later tonight! I need to get a good, long run in today but it is VERY HUMID out so I don't think it's going to happen...maybe tomorrow in the early morning??? (Ha - NOT LIKELY!!!)

My circuit took 21 minutes to complete. My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 15 (but it was painful!), Sit ups – 35, Dips – 26, and Squats – 30.

Week 2, Day 2 - Carla

Week 2, Day 2 Sets: Push ups (10, 12, 9, 9, Max), Sit ups (21, 24, 18, 18, Max), Dips (16, 20, 15, 15, Max), Squats (19, 22, 16, 16, Max)

Day 2 of Week 2…the thought of doing ANY push-ups was a bit overwhelming for me! But I managed to eke out my sets. I had some difficulty with the max set – I had to push it to get to 13! My circuit was about 21 minutes today.

My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 13, Sit ups – 30, Dips – 22, and Squats – 30.

I stayed at the gym for Zumba after my circuit – I really like that class! What a way to get a Friday night going! Movie night tonight at home with my boys…let’s hear it for “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.”

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 - 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! :)

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 - 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 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?