By Mike

Aha! You thought we weren’t actually doing the 100 Push-up Challenge, didn’t you? In fact, we just started week 3 last night. And boy was it hard!

As a review, the hundred push-up challenge is a 6-week-long training program that will get you to the point of doing 100 push-ups in a row.

Initial Test

In my initial test, I was able to do 25 straight push-ups.

Stacie, on the other hand, has never been one for push-ups. So in the initial test, Stacie eeked out 3 push-ups. I also “strongly urged” her to work on her form, but now, in Week 3, she has much better form. It’s all about practice and strengthening those support muscles.

Week 1

We decided to do our training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays so that we can take the weekends off. It works out for us fairly well, except some days we’re doing push-ups at 11pm, just before bed (thanks to my graduate classes).

The training schedule for Week 1 didn’t seem too strenuous to me, nor for Stacie (although form was a problem initially, as mentioned). On the 5th sets, where I need to do at least 7, 10 or 15, depending on the day, I was able to push out 15, 17 and 15. On Day 3, I was exhausted from swimming all day with visiting family.

For Stacie, she decided to pace herself and just do the listed numbers. She didn’t quite catch on to why you need to push yourself on the last set until week 3, but I’ll talk about that soon.

Week 2

In Week 2, the numbers inched up a little, but they were still manageable. Again, I was able to push out a few more during the 5th set, but Stacie was just able to do the minimums. If you recall, her max during the initial test was just 3 push-ups, but if you look at the Week 2 Schedule, you’ll see the highest number for Level 1 as 6 push-ups on several days and several sets.

But she didn’t give up and didn’t fail to get through each set. Plus, her form was improving so that she was able to keep her head up higher (almost horizontal to the body). If you find your head down below your heart while doing a push-up, you have bad form. You can see proper form push-ups here, as well as alternative forms if you just can’t do the standard push-up.

On this past Saturday, I decided to test myself to see how many push-ups I could do on my off day. I was able to push out 32 straight push-ups, which is a 22% improvement. You can see the updated max number in the sidebar graph (currently over to the left of the screen).

Week 3

Oh boy, I guess I didn’t look ahead to see what we were in for in Week 3. I had to double-check the numbers to make sure they weren’t typos! Sure enough, though, I had to do sets of 25,17,17,15 and M25 (minimum 25). Ok, I think I can do that, and I did. I was even able to push out 27 on the last set (2 extra) to finish the night with 101 push-ups total.

But poor Stacie. I had no idea her training requirements would jump so much. She went into shock when I told her the numbers: sets of 15,12,12,10, and M15 (minimum 15). But she’s only done 6 at most! How can they more than double the minimum set?

But guess what…Stacie was able to do 15 in a row on her first set. That’s an 80% improvement over her initial number (3). And then she did 12, then 12 and then 10. But that last set killed her. She did 8, then quickly did 3, then 4. I guess it’ll count on this one, but now she knows what’s in store for her on Wednesday!

How about YOUR progress?

So how are you doing with the program? How about starting it today if you haven’t yet? If you can only do 1, then at least it’s a start. And if you can’t do any, try out the alternative push-up forms. I may sound belittling, but that’s just me being a guy. Perhaps you have wrist problems so you can only do knuckle push-ups, or wall push-ups. Anything counts as long as you’re consistent and you’re improving.

So give it a try and see if you can get to 100 push-ups in 6 weeks! And keep checking back for our own progress as well!

By Mike

The NY Times “Well” Blog has a list of 11 nutritious foods you aren’t eating, with some good information about each. I’d like to give my own take on each:

1. Beets: While you’re babies might be eating pureed beets out of a jar, most Americans are probably more familiar with beets in their pickled form (at least I am). While not as healthy as plain, boiled beets, I can attest to their tasty vinegary flavor, especially with some added salt (but only a little for taste). On the other hand, Stacie loves beets fresh from her father’s garden, boiled and sliced. Personally, I think they taste and smell like dirt, so I’ll stick with the pickled variety.
2. Cabbage: I must say that I love cabbage, but it does wreak a little havoc on the GI system. I enjoy the flavor, whether raw, boiled, fried (in Halushki), as cole slaw, or in most Asian recipes. Stacie will agree it’s one of our favorite veggies.
3. Swiss chard: I’ve never heard of it, hence why we don’t eat it. We’ll have to check it out, but perhaps they should just change the name as “chard” doesn’t sound very appetizing.
4. Cinnamon: Not sure why this made this list, unless the author means that people don’t choose cinnamon as a flavor enhancer over sugar more often. Cinnamon has a bite if you use too much, so you probably need to experiment first to see what your tastebuds can handle.
5. Pomegranate juice: To me (an uneducated lay-person), this sounds like the next big fad. I won’t discredit the value of fruits, but many companies are placing pomegranates at lofty levels of near-miraculous benefits. However, Pomegranate-flavored Smirnoff Ice (alcohol) isn’t too bad (although definitely NOT healthy).
6. Dried plums/prunes: I can see why people dislike prunes, but I was on a little prune kick a few months back. Eating a serving of prunes (about 5-6) each day left me feeling more full than normal, but I will admit that you need to get a fresh bag where the prunes are moist. Dried-up prunes just aren’t very appetizing.
7. Pumpkin seeds: I admit that as a child, my parents would bake pumpkin seeds in the oven, and I would gag from the smell. And I know that the insane amounts of salt people put on these seeds probably negates most health benefits, so if you like pumpkin seeds, try eating them plain or with a minimum of seasoning.
8. Sardines: I’ll eat basically anything, but even I avoid sardines mostly because they’re not cleaned well. I hate biting into some strange bone (that beady string thing) or internal organ. If the factory would take the time to clean these little fishies more, and not add so much sodium and other preservatives to the can, then I think more people would eat them.
9. Turmeric: See “Pomegranate juice” above. Since no one has truly nailed down the cause of cancer, I can’t see how anyone can say that something is good at preventing cancer. And as with cinnamon, you need to test out the usage of this spice or else you could get a shock when biting into your food.
10. Frozen blueberries: I’ll admit I dislike eating foods that pop, like peas, grapes and blueberries. Perhaps I had a bad experience when I was young and something undesirable resided inside the fruit and now I’m afraid of what might pop out. Either way, I can’t deny the healthy qualities of blueberries. And you’ll find that frozen blueberries are much cheaper than fresh ones (although they won’t ever thaw back into a regular fresh blueberry. It’ll be less “full”).
11. Canned pumpkin: I think people are put off by the texture of canned pumpkin (at least Stacie and I are), but if you can get past the pastiness of it and like the strong flavor, then have at it!

_{Photos by lukekb, Roland, and Lisa Norwood,}