Week 5 - fail

I failed week 5 as I got totally wrapped up in getting the house ready for our party on the 20th. I have not picked them back up this week as I'm now preoccupied with getting ready for my trip up north. I leave on Wednesday and return on Monday. I know that I will not be doing push-ups during this trip as I tend to be busy the entire time I'm visiting. Therefore, I'm taking this week off too and will resume on Tuesday the 30th starting with a redo of week 4. I felt like I struggled with that week and even though my exhaustion test proved I was still on the right track I just feel as though repeating that week (especially with the 2 week break in there) would be better than going on with things. I also haven't done my elliptical workouts yet this week. I haven't been getting good sleep and when that happens it's SO hard to get moving! However, I have been keeping up with the dog's exercise routine of an AM walk and an evening hour or so at the dog park.

Week 4 wrap-up/Exhaustion Test

Week 4 was tough. I feel like I'm losing steam and often felt like I should have been back one column. However, the exhaustion test at the end proved that I seem to be on track. After doing my cardio this morning I fit in the exhaustion test. I am now able to do 42 push-ups! Almost half way there! This keeps me on track in column 3 for week 5. Then there will be another exhaustion test. So far so good. The scale hasn't moved, but I feel better and that's all that matters.

Week 4

I noticed I've fallen a bit behind on my blogging lately. I think I will cut back to doing weekly updates on day 1 of the new week. I've found that week 3 got harder and harder for me as the days go on. Week 1 and 2 didn't seem as hard to me! But I've been able to complete the weeks and started week 4 last night.

I thought I wasn't going to make it and I should move down to column 2 instead of 3. Then I decided to take a little bit longer break in between the sets. The first 3 sets were HARD! I thought I wasn't going to make it. So I decided to get up let the dogs out, and rest for a couple min before doing the 4th set of 21. It worked like a charm! I was able to do that set much better and I felt as though I could make it to the last set.

So before the 5th set I let the dogs in, did a couple mini tasks and came back (no more than a 5 min break if even). The first 12 or so were ok, then it went downhill. By 20 I had to keep thinking come on you can do it over and over. By the last 5 or so I was shaking and weak, but in the end I did all 32!! What an accomplishment for me to push myself through it.

Turns out doing Biggest Loser Weight loss Yoga the next morning was not such a good idea as my arms were not happy doing more strength exercises. But I got through that too!

Week 3, Day 1

Last night I completed the first day of week 3. The first couple sets went well. Then after the 3rd set it all went down hill. On the last set of 20 I had to pause for a second because the dogs got in the way and it was so hard to get started again. I was shaking for a long time after completing last night's sets and I can feel it this morning. But it's a good pain and it's worth it!

The elliptical kicked my butt this morning! I'm still trying to adjust to my new schedule and getting out the door on time. I have yet to be successful at that one, somehow when I set the alarm 10 min earlier I still run 15 min late. Today I wasted a few extra min. because Rick left his phone on and had the alarm on and I could not figure out how the heck to turn it off, so I ran that upstairs to him. Then once I got back down stairs I realized that I left my MP3 player upstairs! All in all I wasted 5 min before I actually got going on the elliptical. But I got on and it kicked my butt and all is good.

Week 2, Day 3 and Test

Day 3 was on Saturday and went okay. It was tough again, but I was able to finish all of the required sets. I think that maintaining proper hydration makes a difference with them feeling easier/difficult to do. Saturday I wasn't great at keeping hydrated, same with day 1 of week 2. I am usually pretty good at getting my water in over the week, not so much on the weekends, so I will have to try and focus on getting in the 8 glasses every day.

At the end of week 2 I was scheduled to do another test. I did that test this morning after walking the dogs and hitting the elliptical for 30 min (and drinking a bottle of water). I purposely did not look to see what the requirements for each column would be, I wanted an accurate count without a limit based on that. In my mind I though that it would be great to do 26 ~ completely doubling my initial test amount. In the end, I managed to squeeze out 30! I did 30 push-ups at one time!!! I absolutely cannot believe that! It's totally awesome and a great day to start off a Monday!!!

Week 2 Day 2

Day 2 went a lot better than I expected. I didn't struggle nearly as much as I did day 1 and I even did 2-3 extra push-ups for the first set. Bella was distracting me and I temporarily lost count and before I knew it I was at 17! The remaining sets went well, and by the end I was able to do the 17 but just barely.

I'm shocked that this was a lot easier than day 1. Perhaps the 3 day weekend spent painting and doing other misc stuff took more of a toll on me than I thought it did. Anyways I'm pumped about this now, thinking I might actually do decent on the exhaustion test after week 2 is up!

I've noticed an increase in my energy level as well. A combination of the push-ups and the elliptical workouts and some healthier eating has done wonders. It's good motivation for keeping with the routine. I also noticed that using my MP3 player on the dog's early am walk helped me keep a quicker pace...thus more of a workout. I feel great today!

Week 2 Day 1

I started day one of the 100 pushup challenge last night. At first I wasn't sure if I should do them at all due to the fact that I pulled something in my upper back yesterday morning by twisting around to grab something. But I decided to give it a shot and if I had pain in that area I'd stop. I completed the first set (14 pushups) and there was no pain during the pushups so I figured I'd be good to complete the remaining sets.

I was relieved for a brief minute when I got to the 3rd and 4th sets which were 10 pushups each. Then the final set was a minimum of 15. I thought I was not going to make it. By time I got to number 15 I was shaking and could barely do it. I did it, but I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to complete the requirements for week 2. By day 3 will need to do 20 in that last set! Based on last night's performance I'm wondering if I'll have to repeat this week. I guess only time will tell. I also know I shouldn't look ahead to the remainder of the week I don't want to psych myself out; but it's SO hard not to look!

Of course the dogs had to participate with me. Nothing like a big mouthful of dog fur when performing the down of a pushup!

On other fitness news today was day 2 this week of my new routine. The plan is to get up by 5:30 hit the elliptical for 30 min. then walk the dog for 30, and get out the door by 7. I'm nervous to find out how this will work on a day when it's not raining in the morning. I skipped the dog walks today and skimped on yesterdays due to the rain. I didn't make it out the door until 7:10 this morning!

One benefit I noticed of this new routine is I wasn't dead dog tired by lunch time yesterday, which was extremely nice for a change. Today I'm tired, but not exhausted (yet)!