Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A Humbling Experience

You may recall me bragging in this post about how fit I was in high school and putting forward my goal to complete 20 pushups in a row. Well, I decided to start yesterday. I roped Mike into doing this as well. He has been wanting to improve his fitness, so I suggested we do the program together. It basically takes you from whatever fitness level you are at and trains you to do 100 pushups in a row. He was intrigued.

The first part of the program involves doing an initial test to determine your current level of fitness and to get a customized program. Mike went first. He eeked out 20 good-form pushups and we laughed about how few he had done. I knew I wasn't going to do very well and would probably manage far less.

Now before I tell you just how many I managed to complete, let me point out that I spend most of my day hauling around an 18 lb baby while completing various tasks. Just today, I held her while vacuuming the bedrooms. I guess this made me think that I had some upper body strength. Boy was I wrong.

Are you ready for it? I completed 0 pushups. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Goose eggs. Mike thought it was the funniest thing ever and to add insult to the injury (and my bruised ego), Laney thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen as well and had a giggling fit right in front of me on the floor as I kept trying again and again. I tried from the ground up. I tried up, going down. As much as I tried, I could not lower and lift myself up. In my defence, I think breastfeeding has caused my boobs to weigh at least 40 lbs, increasing the amount of work one pushup involves. However, since I can do zero pushups, I am going to start the program using the girly ones. Hopefully after a week or two I can graduate to real pushups. I think this is going to be harder than I initially thought.

In the spirit of being totally open with you, I am going to post some pictures of my upper body. I can only hope to have some better ones to post a couple of months down the road when I AM able to do 20 pushups in a row.


Finally, I'd like to challenge you to participate in this program with me. There's nothing to lose but some flabby arms! Come on now, it will be really fun. There is no fancy equipment required, it will only take a few minutes of your time, and you don't even have to leave your house. At least check the program here. I'm sure that will convince you if I've failed. If you would like to do this too, then let me know. Make a post about it and put the link to your post in my comments. Don't forget to take some before pictures.

9 comments:

  1. Hey Livy! Love that you're doing this! But I'm not gonna lie... I'm just not up for it at the moment. It would be one more thing on my list that I'm not getting done... So, I will cheer you on ok?! ;)

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  2. Hmmm okay this isn't as hard as I thought. Well, maybe hard isn't the right word - it's not as time consuming as I thought.

    I'll join in with you!! I'll post later tonight about it! But I must say I'm probably right there with you in terms of not being able to do a single 1 right now. I'll have to start with girly pushups as well.

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  3. Adriel- No worries. Definitely understand having lots on the plate. Glad to have someone to cheer me on!

    Cameron- Awesome! Yeah, it doesn't really look like it takes that much time. I'm so happy to have someone doing it with me. Now I can't quit!

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  4. You go girl!! I'll be cheering you on alongside Adriel!

    Side note - I LOVE the paint color on your walls, what is it?

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  5. Thanks! The more the merrier.

    I am not sure the colour of the walls as I didn't paint them. It is some kind of chocolate brown. I really like it too. The wall across from those ones was pylon orange when we moved in. Wasn't my thing so I painted just that wall.

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  6. I found you through another blog and I am taking on the challange with you!

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  7. saw this on Ingenue Mom - thanks!! i am in!! http://vibrantlytranquil.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/100-push-ups/

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  8. Great Idea. I am not sure that I am going to add one more thing right now. I will be on the sidelines with Adriel.

    I am your newest follower.

    http://mastersandamom.blogspot.com/

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