Dips/Sit ups Week 5, Day 1 - Carla

I didn’t want to do my challenge tonight. After work I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the treadmill – 30 VERY HOT AND SWEATY MINUTES…I was red and pretty drenched by the end of it! And yet I persevered and stayed for BodyFlow as I am such a glutton for punishment. It was completely worth it though – by the end of class I was feeling great! Once I got home (after picking up Salsarita’s for dinner) I snuggled on the couch with both boys and all three of us promptly fell asleep! I woke up just before 10:00 and contemplated skipping today and starting the circuits tomorrow, but since I told Maria today that I was going to do it tonight I decided to get off my tushy! Everything felt pretty good especially considering the length of time I took off! I’m back and ready to keep going but I may need some prompting/reminders/nagging to help me along! J

Here's how it went down tonight:

Sets - Dips (36, 45, 32, 28, Max) and Sit ups (54, 60, 45, 36, Max)

Max sets: Dips – 48 and Sit ups – 65.

Not too bad, if I do say so myself! :)

I'm back!!!! Exhaustion Test and Restart of Challenge - Carla

I don’t even want to talk about what has happened over the past three weeks. I have been a VERY BAD GIRL!!!! I don’t have much excuse for the 27^th of July…I should have done Day 2 of Week 5 that day but I didn’t. My family left for a 17-day trip to Canada on the 29^th of July which threw all my workouts out the window! I had good intentions of continuing with my circuits, but I had several great “excuses” for not doing them…I had gotten behind by not doing it on the 27^th, I was travelling all day on the 29^th, I didn’t want to miss out on any fun activities…GREAT excuses, eh??? Anyway, over the 17 days I was away I managed to squeeze in 5 measly little workout sessions. On the other hand, I spent a LOT of time walking up and down the hills at camp and walking around at the different tourist venues we attended while away. And even with eating everything under the sun (and not the healthy stuff, either!) I managed to only gain 5 pounds while away. That’s with several McFlurry’s (with Smarties!!!) and LOTS of desserts and no measured food. Not bad, if I do say so myself! J

All that being said, my plan is to get back on track now. I have 5 weeks and 5 days until my next half marathon, which means not only am I going to get the circuits going again but that I need to kick it back up with the running as well. We got home Sunday evening and I went to BodyFlow last night which was a good start. I saw Maria at work yesterday and we talked about how long the circuits are getting to be with 8 sets of 3 different activities. I think instead of doing all three exercises on one day I am going to stagger them – maybe do dips and crunches Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday and push ups Thursday, Saturday, and Monday. I did an exhaustion test at lunch to determine where I need to pick back up again with the following results:

Push ups	23	Week 4, Column 3
Sit ups	70	Week 5, Column 3
Dips	50	Week 5, Column 2

With these results, I will be starting on Week 4 column 3 for push ups, Week 5 column 3 for sit ups, and Week 5 column 2 for dips. I will be starting tomorrow with dips and sit ups.

I had a great time up in Canada - it was a WONDERFUL vacation - but I am glad to be home so I can get back into a normal schedule with respect to workouts, food, sleep, and everything else.

Week 5, Day 2--Maria

Wow.  I missed a day.  I was at J's parent's house in York, PA.  It's really hard to do this while you are traveling.  Which is a little scary, because next week (Week 6!) I will be in the Outer Banks with J's family in a beach house all week with about 12 other people.  Yikes.  We will see how that goes.

As for today, I drove about 4 hours and did this as soon as I got home.  It was not fun but I feel like I have to keep going because I am getting so close!  Holy crap there are 8 sets for each now!!!!

Push Ups: 18, 18, 20, 20, 14, 14, 16, max
Sit Ups: 30, 30, 36, 36, 27, 27, 33, max
Dips: 23, 23, 26, 26, 18, 18, 20, max

Max Push Ups: 42
Max Sit Ups: 78
Max Dips: 53

My Weekly Goal

I am feeling guilty and very lethargic lately.  It's crazy what happens to your body if you treat it like crap for 3 days.  So I decided to make an exercise/diet goal for this week.  This is probably the best place to write it down.  Plus, Carla can yell at me if I don't live up to it.

Workout Schedule for this Week:
Monday: 9:15 BodyStep AND 10:15 BodyPump AND circuit
Tuesday: 10:30am Zumba, Adductor and Abductor machines
Wednesday: 5:30 BodyStep and possibly 6:30 BodyFlow AND circuit
Thursday: Run on treadmill and 6:30 BodyPump
Friday: 9:15 BodyStep and circuit and depending on how the day goes, 6:00 Zumba

Eating plans for the week:
-Eat at least one serving of fruit or vegetable with every meal
-Eat only my fruit/spinach shakes for breakfast
-Do not drink any alcohol whatsoever

Let's see if I can actually do it.  I don't know, but I have a feeling that if I put my mind to it, I can do it.  Also, Carla, you should try BodyStep with me this week.  It's the best cardio workout I have found other than KickBoxing and Zumba!

Week 3, Day 1 - Carla

Okay, so I fell asleep with B in his bed last night and didn’t get a chance to do my first day of Week 3 yesterday. Guess this week is off a little bit already, eh??? (Thank you, Maria, for not yelling at me yet!)

Here are my sets for Week 3, Day 1: Push ups (10, 12, 7, 7, Max), Sit ups (21, 27, 21, 21, Max), Dips (15, 22, 17, 17, Max).

I felt strong as I started, which is always a good sign. Tonight’s circuit was hard work but it felt great. My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 12, Sit ups – 35, and Dips – 25.

I did BodyFlow last night (the new release) and my legs are feeling it today! Hopefully I’ll have a workout-filled weekend (Zumba, Kickboxing, BodyFlow, running, circuits) to keep me on track! Also, I signed up for a 10K in Ontario for when I am up there later this summer – can’t wait for that!

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!

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?