Steve- that's an interesting problem. I've never experienced anything like that myself, however this journey has mad me realize just how much core is involved in a pushup (it's not just about the arms). So maybe there is a connection. I'd suggest posting that Q over in the Med forum and see if the PT folks over there have any ideas.
W5, D1, C2. Very tough today, barely got through. I had to cut up some of the larger reps into chunks by taking 5 second breaks every 10 p-ups. I'll stay on this day for a couple of more days before heading to Day 2 where there are more groups of smaller reps.
@ Scott - must be W4 this week? @ Elly - your on a roll.... keep it up. I know it seems discouraging sometimes, but it really is working.... remember when you first tested? Come a long way from there....
This week I jumped from W6-C2-D1 to W6-C3-D1. Seemed easier on paper than for real. I did get the sets done, but like the past few weeks, the Monday sets are not timed. I take as much time as I need to recover enough to make the next set. Today was no different. Took most of 45 minutes from start to end - almost 20 minutes was recovery for the last Max set.
I am starting to realize that the trouble I am having is because the longer sets end up being anaerobic and I just don't have the tolerance to that kind of work. Wednesday I will need to tighten up the rest periods for the main set.
Yep, W4 D1 #1 was yesterday. Tomorrow is W4 D1 #2. After last weeks set, this week seems easy. D2 rolls up from 120 to 140, but I'll worry about that NEXT week.
Slow and steady is the name of the game over here!
Scott- I wanna thank you for the SAM protocol. It just feels a lot healthier and safer than trying to push through like I did last year. I did Week 4 Day 2 Column 2 on Monday. It didn't feel too hard and I was able to hit the max set. I'll repeat again tomorrow.
Elly, Nemo and Scott, great work. Doesn't it seems like all the others have gone into deep cover to do their pushups in the dark.... Or maybe they just can't handle it.......
It's Wednesday and it is late - had to get the bike workout in first. Then stupidly I started without looking at my workout, dumb. Instead of 45/50 for the first 2 sets I did 40/50. that forced me to add 5 to the next 2 sets for 40/35 that way I get the full count for the day. The final set was killer - 55 but I got it done!
Second go at W6-C3-D1 40/50/40/35/55=220
Thanks Scott for the SAM protocol - I never would have come this far without it.
Keeping it optimistic.....does anyone have any ideas for a maintenance program once we hit (gulp) 100? It would be a shame just to blow off the fitness once we make our goal.
@ Scott - Yeah it is quiet around here these days .... could it be that the others only played aong until OS or OS Prep took over? For me, I have been enjoying the torture as PART of my OS - I need to do something other than just the big muscles of the leg.......
@ Elly - I've been thinking about that too. Maybe something like 3x40 (2') three days a week. Hard enough to retain fitness but short enough to be only a minor item in your workout schedule. You can change things up by doing fast sets, very slow sets, very deep (touch nose to floor) sets, pause at half way point (up and down), etc..
I have faith Elly, WE WILL MAKE IT - all 4 of us will. Others my too, but they seem to have gone into the closet to hide...... Come Out, Come Out where ever you are!
I'm still kicking around. Tough to fit everything in these days and getting on the forums gets dropped from the list frequently. I can't reply to the threads from my iPhone. (I have no idea why).
215 on Wednesday 190 on Monday. Seems like I'm getting a bit better, thinking of testing Sunday. Hoping for 100 before New Years!
Nice work Elly - seems like you really are on a roll.... and I have run into the ditch =:-[
Carly and Neill - glad to see you both are still working it too.
Today I thought I was going to walk straight thru W6-C3-D1 but the wheels came off on the second set. Last night when I got home from work (Friday is my long commute day - 280 miles round trip) I tried to get my pushups done but couldn't. I figured it was because I had been driving for past 2:30, and maybe after the Saturday bike-brick would work better..... well it didn't....
45/40+15/35/30...... several hours later .....55 more to finish 220 on the day but total suck-job on execution.....
I feel like I am at the place William was a few weeks ago when he hit a plateau and just couldn’t seem to get past it. I am thinking I may not either. A friend I do my winter camping with is big into pumping iron - always has - like 20+ years of lifting, told me "100 pushups? No problem, I can do that..." Two days later he called to tell me he did it on his first attempt. He did admit that the last 10 or so were real hard, but he did finish all 100 in a single shot.
After hitting the plateau and thinking about my friend, I am coming to the conclusion that this is an adaptation thing. Just like it takes years of endurance training to be able to build the capacity to do things like run multiple marathons, ultras, ironman, etc., I am thinking that because I have never really trained my upper body doing pushups or bench presses, I don’t have the physical capacity to get there. Trainable? Yes. Within 6 to 10 weeks? No.
No, I am not quitting. I will still aim for the Christmas weekend as my final testing – I may even video the crash and burn just for fun – we’ll see. It could be a little humiliating though…..
After that, since I’ll be into phase II (VO2) of the OS I will need to refocus my energy there and not so much the pushups. I may just cycle thru weeks 4 and 5 for a while as part of my core/upper program….
Big 'Test' Day today. Got 77 done, then took 1 minute rest and banged out another 25 pretty easily. Arms were pretty shaking at 77. I'm still hopeful for my New Year's target. The most I got last year was 75 so I am in uncharted territory now!
A little better today. W5, D1, moved up to C3. Only minimal 2-3 breaks in the bigger reps. Much better than last week. My only complaint is that I can really feel it in the lower back. I have to keep an eye on that as I had huge issues with sciatica this summer.
OK- I'm all messed up. Missed a few days and now I'm totally boogered. On the bright side, my hubby has decided to join me in the challenge again. So I'm hoping we can re-start together after Xmas.
@ Nemo- I can just see you and Joe duking it out over the pushups. And it was nice of you to feed him full of cookies first!
Solidly in Week 6 Column 3 now. 280 (I think) yesterday. I think I am getting close, no more cheating and only taking the time intervals that are written. New Years here I come!!!
I'm going to have to call it quits on the challenge. It's putting too much strain on my lower back and now I'm starting to get tingling/numbness down the leg again. I had a terrible bout of sciatica this summer, and now have to back off.
Shame though...I was really enjoying this challenge.
I'll double my efforts on stretching and later see if I can come up with a pushup workout that is smaller in scale and won't light a fire down my leg!
Nope - didnt make the Christmas deadline I was hoping to.......no test, no video, no nothin'
Sorry to be out-of-touch for so long...... my 81 yo mother visiting, kids home, cooking for more than me, entertaining, etc.. all conspired to interfere. Blah, blah, blah... yeah what ever - who the @#@ cares about that? Other stuff like the holiday run challenge was a fun diversion - hard to do pushups if I can go out for a 6 to 9 mile run....
But in reality, I burned out and had to take a break. I ran into the same wall that William hit last month.
So, now that the house is empty and the running will be more regular as I gear up for Boston, I will pick up the gauntlet and see what I can do. Starting Wednesday I will go hard and see where I can test into the program and go from there.
Sadly, I had to drop the challenge during my hiatus from EN. Every time I did a day, my upper back and neck would spasm and I was miserable. I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't doing much else, but it was not fun. This weekend I dropped all the way down to week 3 and started again. It felt easy, but I didn't get spasm issues after. So I am back to the super slow progression just to maintain muscle mass. I will not be reaching for 100 again this year.
Just checking in to see how everyone is doing again...
Interesting to see that my experience of finding a plateau that was under 100 happened to a few others, too. It would appear to me that the challenge is more of a challenge than they make it out to be! :-)
I have, as I alluded to before, stepped off the wagon (stepped, not fallen), and added a 15-20 minute core/arms session about 3/week, which includes the pushups. However, I actually think the pushup work was a good pre-season thing, and it's good to give the body different physical challenges. I'm in the NOS group, and doing things besides my legs "to exhaustion" became a mental strain, too...there was enough "to exhaustion" go to around with those bike intervals!
William- I'm impressed you were able to keep this up during the Nov OS! I'm gonna have to drop out at this point as well. JOS started up and I need to do a little more total body maintenance stuff with my "spare" time vs another single focused push. Nonetheless, I still like trying this challenge every year!
I'm in NOV OS, and just completed the W4/D1/rep 1 for 140 last night. I work out at lunch or at night, so I'm trying (operative word) to get my pushups done in the morning, so it doesn't cook me or sap my motivation for all things s/b/r.
Comments
W5, D1, C2. Very tough today, barely got through. I had to cut up some of the larger reps into chunks by taking 5 second breaks every 10 p-ups. I'll stay on this day for a couple of more days before heading to Day 2 where there are more groups of smaller reps.
28/35/25/22/35 for a total of 145.
Totally shagged out!
@ Elly - your on a roll.... keep it up. I know it seems discouraging sometimes, but it really is working.... remember when you first tested? Come a long way from there....
This week I jumped from W6-C2-D1 to W6-C3-D1. Seemed easier on paper than for real. I did get the sets done, but like the past few weeks, the Monday sets are not timed. I take as much time as I need to recover enough to make the next set. Today was no different. Took most of 45 minutes from start to end - almost 20 minutes was recovery for the last Max set.
I am starting to realize that the trouble I am having is because the longer sets end up being anaerobic and I just don't have the tolerance to that kind of work. Wednesday I will need to tighten up the rest periods for the main set.
45/55/35/30/55=220 Ouch!
After last weeks set, this week seems easy. D2 rolls up from 120 to 140, but I'll worry about that NEXT week.
Slow and steady is the name of the game over here!
Another rough go at W5, D1, C2 .....better, but not there yet. I'll try again on Thursday.
28/35/25/22/35 for a total of 145
Keep at it team!
Elly, Nemo and Scott, great work. Doesn't it seems like all the others have gone into deep cover to do their pushups in the dark.... Or maybe they just can't handle it.......
It's Wednesday and it is late - had to get the bike workout in first. Then stupidly I started without looking at my workout, dumb. Instead of 45/50 for the first 2 sets I did 40/50. that forced me to add 5 to the next 2 sets for 40/35 that way I get the full count for the day. The final set was killer - 55 but I got it done!
Second go at W6-C3-D1 40/50/40/35/55=220
Thanks Scott for the SAM protocol - I never would have come this far without it.
Did my W4 D1 #2 today. Gotta keep holding it through the 10 day vacation to NorCal starting Friday.
W5, D1, C2 is in the bag! Movin' on to Day 2!
I'm not sure about making it to 100 by New Year's, but will keep at it!
Keeping it optimistic.....does anyone have any ideas for a maintenance program once we hit (gulp) 100? It would be a shame just to blow off the fitness once we make our goal.
@ Elly - I've been thinking about that too. Maybe something like 3x40 (2') three days a week. Hard enough to retain fitness but short enough to be only a minor item in your workout schedule. You can change things up by doing fast sets, very slow sets, very deep (touch nose to floor) sets, pause at half way point (up and down), etc..
I have faith Elly, WE WILL MAKE IT - all 4 of us will. Others my too, but they seem to have gone into the closet to hide...... Come Out, Come Out where ever you are!
<input type="hidden" id="jsProxy" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setTimeout('jsCall()',500);}" />I'm still here. My arms are just too rubbery to lift them up to the keyboard.
I'm still kicking around. Tough to fit everything in these days and getting on the forums gets dropped from the list frequently. I can't reply to the threads from my iPhone. (I have no idea why).
215 on Wednesday 190 on Monday. Seems like I'm getting a bit better, thinking of testing Sunday. Hoping for 100 before New Years!
18/18/20/20/14/14/16/40 for a total of 160 pushups.
Keep going!!!
Carly and Neill - glad to see you both are still working it too.
Today I thought I was going to walk straight thru W6-C3-D1 but the wheels came off on the second set. Last night when I got home from work (Friday is my long commute day - 280 miles round trip) I tried to get my pushups done but couldn't. I figured it was because I had been driving for past 2:30, and maybe after the Saturday bike-brick would work better..... well it didn't....
45/40+15/35/30...... several hours later .....55 more to finish 220 on the day but total suck-job on execution.....
I feel like I am at the place William was a few weeks ago when he hit a plateau and just couldn’t seem to get past it. I am thinking I may not either. A friend I do my winter camping with is big into pumping iron - always has - like 20+ years of lifting, told me "100 pushups? No problem, I can do that..." Two days later he called to tell me he did it on his first attempt. He did admit that the last 10 or so were real hard, but he did finish all 100 in a single shot.
After hitting the plateau and thinking about my friend, I am coming to the conclusion that this is an adaptation thing. Just like it takes years of endurance training to be able to build the capacity to do things like run multiple marathons, ultras, ironman, etc., I am thinking that because I have never really trained my upper body doing pushups or bench presses, I don’t have the physical capacity to get there. Trainable? Yes. Within 6 to 10 weeks? No.
No, I am not quitting. I will still aim for the Christmas weekend as my final testing – I may even video the crash and burn just for fun – we’ll see. It could be a little humiliating though…..
After that, since I’ll be into phase II (VO2) of the OS I will need to refocus my energy there and not so much the pushups. I may just cycle thru weeks 4 and 5 for a while as part of my core/upper program….
Big 'Test' Day today. Got 77 done, then took 1 minute rest and banged out another 25 pretty easily. Arms were pretty shaking at 77. I'm still hopeful for my New Year's target. The most I got last year was 75 so I am in uncharted territory now!
Good luck all, keep it up!
@ Steve: Hang in there! Whatever you plateau at, hang on to it! And come back smokin'.
Good day today. Finished W5, D3, C2 with only a tiny break near the end of the max set.
Instead of moving up to W6, I'm going to follow my SMELLY protocal and go back to do all of W5 in C3.
18/18/20/20/17/17/20/45 for a total of 175 pushups.
Arms are totally dead now. I've got 3 hours to get them back to play the Messiah (a 3 hour concert).
Best wishes!
@ Carly - wicked good... I wish I was there too! Nice...
@ Elly - Nice progress.... and no, I haven't given up... just taken aback a bit.... FTP tomorrow is more important for now...
A little better today. W5, D1, moved up to C3. Only minimal 2-3 breaks in the bigger reps. Much better than last week. My only complaint is that I can really feel it in the lower back. I have to keep an eye on that as I had huge issues with sciatica this summer.
On to Day 2!
36/40/30/24/40 for a total of 170 pushups.
Hang in there everyone!
W5, D2, C3 is in the bag. Much, much better. Met all time targets but the last, taking 2:00 before the last big set.
19/19/22/22/18/18/22/45 for a total of 185 pushups.
On to Day 3!
Best wishes,
Elly
@ Nemo- I can just see you and Joe duking it out over the pushups. And it was nice of you to feed him full of cookies first!
Solidly in Week 6 Column 3 now. 280 (I think) yesterday. I think I am getting close, no more cheating and only taking the time intervals that are written. New Years here I come!!!
Good work out there everyone!
Flame out!
I'm going to have to call it quits on the challenge. It's putting too much strain on my lower back and now I'm starting to get tingling/numbness down the leg again. I had a terrible bout of sciatica this summer, and now have to back off.
Shame though...I was really enjoying this challenge.
I'll double my efforts on stretching and later see if I can come up with a pushup workout that is smaller in scale and won't light a fire down my leg!
Best wishes to all....keep at it!!!!!!
Elly
How is everyone doing? Anyone make the Christmas/New Years 'deadline'?
I'm still plugging along seems I can get 200-250/day but still only 77 max in one set. Onward!
Sorry to be out-of-touch for so long...... my 81 yo mother visiting, kids home, cooking for more than me, entertaining, etc.. all conspired to interfere. Blah, blah, blah... yeah what ever - who the @#@ cares about that? Other stuff like the holiday run challenge was a fun diversion - hard to do pushups if I can go out for a 6 to 9 mile run....
But in reality, I burned out and had to take a break. I ran into the same wall that William hit last month.
So, now that the house is empty and the running will be more regular as I gear up for Boston, I will pick up the gauntlet and see what I can do. Starting Wednesday I will go hard and see where I can test into the program and go from there.
Just checking in to see how everyone is doing again...
Interesting to see that my experience of finding a plateau that was under 100 happened to a few others, too. It would appear to me that the challenge is more of a challenge than they make it out to be! :-)
I have, as I alluded to before, stepped off the wagon (stepped, not fallen), and added a 15-20 minute core/arms session about 3/week, which includes the pushups. However, I actually think the pushup work was a good pre-season thing, and it's good to give the body different physical challenges. I'm in the NOS group, and doing things besides my legs "to exhaustion" became a mental strain, too...there was enough "to exhaustion" go to around with those bike intervals!
Best to everyone!
I work out at lunch or at night, so I'm trying (operative word) to get my pushups done in the morning, so it doesn't cook me or sap my motivation for all things s/b/r.