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Hundred (whatever) dot com
This week I'm starting the six-week programs on both hundredpushups.com and twohundredsquats.com. I did the hundred push-ups one before, but got sidetracked sometime in week 3 or 4 by something shiny and forgot to continue. I did see some improvement at the time. Mind you, as I have no upper-body strength to speak of, I'm doing push-ups against the wall instead of on the floor: I figure once I go through the program, I'll transition to the floor. I'll have to do the girly knee push-ups instead of the toe ones, though, as my foot no longer bends that way from arthritis.
Mostly posting here as some sort of public declaration, which will hopefully keep me on track. And I've got a few specific goals in mind: I'd like my back to be strong enough that sitting with correct posture during an hour of piano class no longer hurts like hell*, and I'd like my legs to be strong enough that getting up from the floor is not a horrendous ordeal. Between not being able to bend my foot, and the relative lack of strength in my legs, it's quite the production to get up if there's nothing I can brace myself on.
Eventually, I want to do some weights work** to put load-bearing weight on my bones, as it's recently come to my attention that my mom's shrunk a couple of inches and I'd rather like to avoid osteoporosis for as long as humanly possible. Especially with that whole lactose-intolerance thing. I figure a nice reward to myself for getting through the six-week push-up and squat programs would be retail therapy in the form of a nice, small set of non-girly, non-latex-covered weights.
* I know, stomach muscles aid in that also. I'll probably start the sit-up version of the program at some point.
** http://www.stumptuous.com has been one of my favorite browsing sites for years.
Mostly posting here as some sort of public declaration, which will hopefully keep me on track. And I've got a few specific goals in mind: I'd like my back to be strong enough that sitting with correct posture during an hour of piano class no longer hurts like hell*, and I'd like my legs to be strong enough that getting up from the floor is not a horrendous ordeal. Between not being able to bend my foot, and the relative lack of strength in my legs, it's quite the production to get up if there's nothing I can brace myself on.
Eventually, I want to do some weights work** to put load-bearing weight on my bones, as it's recently come to my attention that my mom's shrunk a couple of inches and I'd rather like to avoid osteoporosis for as long as humanly possible. Especially with that whole lactose-intolerance thing. I figure a nice reward to myself for getting through the six-week push-up and squat programs would be retail therapy in the form of a nice, small set of non-girly, non-latex-covered weights.
* I know, stomach muscles aid in that also. I'll probably start the sit-up version of the program at some point.
** http://www.stumptuous.com has been one of my favorite browsing sites for years.
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But you can always do plank position! (like the beginning of a pushup, keeping your arms and back straight.) I can't do regular pushups right now either so I am doing them with one foot on the ground and my ankle in the cast resting on an exercise ball.
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ETA: You want to make sure you keep proper form through the whole push-up: back straight and not bending forward from the hips.
I also have repetitive stress injury in my wrists that prevents me from being able to put my hands flat against a wall and do push-ups for long, so I either use my fists to do knuckle pushups and pad them with oven mitts for that especially dorky look, or against a stable bookcase and hold on to the edges of the case with me wrists straight. When I end up transitioning to the floor, I'll probably have to do knuckle push-ups there.
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Actually, telling you is much like a public declaration that I'll actually follow through.
Nonetheless, thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. Good luck to us both!
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I'm debating posting the push-up and squat progress on LJ like I do the bike. I'm currently using the logger linked from the hundredpushups.com page, and don't know if adding them to LJ would be One More Damn Thing To Log.
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I'm debating buying the push up app for the iphone. It's $2 but if the layout is good, then it'll be useful because it's so portable.
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Also intrigued by the future 25 pullups one. Would love to be able to manage that.
Have you met the book Strong Women Stay Young? A bit too much rah rah "you can do it" in there for my tastes, but mixed in, a basic, solid, 8 beginning weights exercises that basically got me from being sedentary to being not-so sedentary, a bunch of years ago.
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I've heard of the book, but not read it. I'll check it out, thanks!
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For core/stomach muscles, the exercise I was taught under the name "dying bug" is a good precursor to planks, as is "superman". Both of those put no stress on arms and wrists, if that is a concern for you. I find the "dying bug" and toe touches (another good lower-core one) kind of meditative and pleasant to do while listening to something.
Bribing yourself with some nice weights is a great idea!
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If I start poring over sites for the next few weeks to find just the right weights, it will hopefully keep my motivation up!
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I should add, that it became easier to work with even the clunkier weights once I started using gel-padded-palm weightlifting gloves. They make a difference in how easy it is to control the weight and how hard I have to squeeze it. However, if you want to buy those, go to a store and try on different pairs. They're mass produced with not particularly good QC, I guess, and I have had a pair where the seams on one were visibly different, and strained and gave out faster, than the seams on the other, and they were getting exactly the same use. A good pair runs about $20-$30. Do not buy ones made for women, they're really cheaply made.
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