100 Push-ups Program, Week 1: OMG!

This is really bad! This is pathetic :-(! Today marks the end of week 1 of the 100 push-ups program... and I am going to have to repeat this week :-(... I had expected to have to repeat at least two of the weeks out of the 6 week program, but I was hoping it wouldn't be the first week itself—but such was not to be the case.

I had failed miserably on the first day of the program, and realized that maybe the initial test had given me a false positive, so decided to shift down a gear. The second and third days of week 1 were done according to the lower category. Things were better, but I still couldn't complete the sets.

Week 1, Day 2: I was able to complete the first two of five sets, and from there on the reps fell off sharply. I did 6/6, 8/8, 4/6, 2/6 and 1/7 across my five sets (the second number represents the number of reps one is supposed to do in that set; in the case of the 5th set, that represents the minimum number of reps to be completed). Bad Super-bad!

Week 1, Day 3: This time I was able to complete three out of the five sets (an improvement, yay!) despite the increase in the number of reps for each set. The figures for today are: 8/8, 10/10, 7/7, 4/7, 3/10. It is noteworthy that the fall-off in number of reps isn't as sharp as last time either. So definitely an improvement, but still not good enough.

The inescapable conclusion is that I'll have to repeat this week. Week two for me will be week one repeated. Real progress will have to wait.

One thing I did find surprising is that despite the utter failure of my muscles to complete the latter sets, I don't feel the kind of burning pain in the muscles that one usually feels during the first week of weight training. Am I not trying hard enough? Definitely doesn't feel like it: during each of the last reps of my incomplete sets, I've ended up on the floor, because I simply could not complete the rep. My form is pretty decent—if not good—so I am not cheating on the reps. Anyway, time and progress will tell just how well I am doing.

Till next week, adios!

Started the 100 Push-ups Program

So I started the 100 push-ups program today. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to reach 100 push-ups in just 6 weeks, but I thought I'd give the program a try, as it would give some structure to my efforts to improve my fitness. Based on an initial test, the program tells you what number of "good-form" push-ups you should target over 5 sets a day, 3 days a week, 6 weeks total (ideally). If in any week you are not able to meet the program's targets, you repeat that week and then move on. I am going to have to change my first week's expectations :-(... "here's how it happened" (any Monk fans in the house?): in my initial test, I did 13 push-ups. That put me in the highest category for beginners... oh how I was promised only to be deceived! According to the program, I was supposed to do 10, 12, 7, 7 and (minimum) 9 push-ups in 5 sets on the first day of the first week of the program. All I could manage was :-(... 10, 8, 3, 1,1 (here's where I melt in shame). My chest strength has always been below-par for my weight category (except in 9th class, when I was comfortably increasing my push-up count by 5 every week—up to 45 in a single set—till I lost interest). My muscular strength improvements have always come very slowly (even though I was very good in sports in school and during bachelors). So obviously my initial test was some kind of a false positive. From the next day onwards, I going to follow the program as if I'd done 6-10 push-ups in my initial test—so 6, 8, 6, 6 and (minimum) 7 are going to be my target reps for each of the 5 sets of day 2, week 1. I think it will take me at least 8 weeks to reach 100 push-ups. Let's see... My fitness-improvement situation isn't completely hopeless though: I have dropped from 106 kgs (234 lbs) to 93 kgs (205 lbs) in nine months. Something is better than nothing, I keep telling myself...