When my husband came to me with the idea of doing push ups together, I was mildly excited. I'm not a big exerciser, but I always say I want to be. And silly him, he believes me. And silly me, I always think I want to get in shape too. And I do. It's just that it's so hard!
But doing something together with my husband sounded kind of fun so we took up the challenge. Check out this website for the details, but essentially you take an initial test (see how many push-ups you can do at once) and then follow one of three levels of work-outs, all of which supposedly lead you to being able to do one hundred push-ups. All at once. I am a bit skeptical, but after only two weeks, I am impressed that I have kept with it and my strength and endurance have increased a lot. My favorite part is not feeling like a failure. As long as you do the three work-outs a week, you win. The website is great at allowing for different levels of fitness. You re-evaluate several times, and can drop down or move up a level. And it says if you have problems with one week, just do it over. Which feels good to me. So maybe it will take me longer than six weeks, but I want to get there. And my husband & I like cheering each other on.
Right now, push-ups are working for me! For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in My Dryer.
The Rest of My Fitness Plan (just to get this down in writing):
Here's my plan for the fall. My oldest just started preschool three times a week, within walking distance from our house. He can ride his bike there while I put the other two in the bike trailer and I can either walk/run with them, or pull them behind the bike that I hope to be buying soon. And after we drop off at preschool, there is 30 minutes for me to exercise before the baby needs to take a nap. Good plan, huh?
But push-ups work right into this plan. And hopefully some other strength training soon too. Any suggestions?
19 comments:
Finding time to workout is so hard, especially if you are too poor (like me) to afford a gym membership. Still, I love to go for walks and ride my bike around the neighborhood. Doing things I enjoy makes me want to do more.
Thanks for the link - I'm going to have to try this. I started exercising again yesterday and when I tried to do push-ups today it was embarrassing.
I did my shoulder PT today (and went to the gym) for the first time in 10 days, and I am kicking myself (oh, if only I WERE that flexible!!) for taking a break. Never a good idea to break from exercising!
Wow, good for you!
I went for my annual body IQ assessment and part of it ncludes doing push-ups. My word - I realised I'm so unfit!
Even though for competition's sake I managed about 28 in a minute (so I fell in the good range
Marcia from Organising queen
I might have to check this out since I can't do one push-up!
Toni
Thoughts - you can do anything for 15 minutes at a time -(source flylady.net) Stretching does wonders for stiff sore muscles that have not worked out in some time. No suggestions on any weight training...
I just had to give up exercise because it was doing more harm than good now I'm in the third trimester. But a friend got me using stretchy exercise bands for toning, and I really like them. I found out later that they're what Madonna uses.
Good for you that you're trying to get back into shape. I joined a gym and got a trainer plus I saw a dietician. But that is costly though worth it. The best suggestion I can give you is lifting weights. Lifting increases muscle mass which in turn speeds up your metabolism which aids fat burning.
With lifting it is important to remember that muscle weighs more than fat! So you may not notice the scale going down as rapidly but you will notice your waistline shrink. I personally have gone down a dress size and a half since joining the gym but I weigh 8 lbs more than I did when I started.
Good for you! That's great.
~Susan
What a great idea -- I am so going to try this! I can't do more than 10 good push ups and this seems like it's doesn't require hour after hour at the gym!
I definitely need to check this out, my fitness has been going steadily downhill over the last year or so. I could probably struggle to do 100 pushups on my knees right now, so sad!
That's wonderful that you are doing it with your husband too, nothing makes working out less painful like a buddy does!
Thank you for this link! My fiancee is always pushing me to exercise with him and this is a great way for us to be able to be on the same page with working out.
Thank you for sharing! I need to get back into exercising again.
Sounds actually attainable! Thanks for the encouragment.
This is not just a good plan, but a great one! Check out tweightloss.com, it's a social media group that comes together to support losing weight and getting healthy. I just started a few weeks ago and it's fun and motivating for me!
I may have to try this. Thanks for sharing the link.
This is excellent! Thanks for the idea!
sounds like fun. I'm trying it out...on Kirk that is :)
You go girl!!!
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