Push-Up Project: Uh Oh...What Happened?

It’s been a very hectic week for me, as many of you know.  My dad’s wake and funeral were held at our church, so there were a number of details for which I was responsible.  But I was still engaging in my push-up workout.  I have a goal of being able to do 100 non-stop push-ups.

Hey, try it sometime.  That’s a lot of push-ups.  And if you saw me you’d probably say, “That guy?  Come on.  One hundred push-ups by that guy!?!”  But that’s why I like this project.  It’s out there just far enough that it’s not technically impossible.  But it’s a stretch.

On Monday and Wednesday I did my regular push-up workout and then on Thursday morning, when I awoke, I felt a sharp pain in my back.  I thought, “Uh oh, that’s not good.”  My medical diagnostic insights are incredible, huh?

Did I sleep in a bad position?  Have I not been warming up properly and, therefore, hurt something?  (When you get older, the “warm up” portion of a workout gets more and more important.  Oh yeah, go ahead and laugh you younger guys.  But just wait.  The clock is marching on for you punks, too.)  I wondered if perhaps what I was experiencing was, somehow, related to stress.  I still don’t know the answer to those questions, but I know that my back was hurting.

So, Thursday morning, I was at the church early.  I had some work to do and there were several details regarding the wake which needed attention.  The wake would start at 2 pm for the family and continue until 9 pm.  It was going to be a very long day and I knew I would be on my feet greeting guests at the service for hours.  But as the day continued, you know what?  My back seemed to feel fine.

Thursday did turn out to be a very long and exhausting day.  When my head hit the pillow at close to midnight on Thursday evening I was incredibly tired and ready for a good night’s sleep.  But that didn’t happen.  At about 4 am on Friday morning, I awoke with the sharp pain in my back again and the pain was so intense I couldn’t fall back to sleep.  “What’s going on?”  I thought.  “What have I done?”  I prayed, “Lord, I need your help.”

I took a couple of Aleve tablets and by 7:30 on Friday morning when I was at the church getting ready for the funeral service, I didn’t notice any pain.  I would normally do a push up workout on Friday morning but I decided to give my back a rest that day.  Friday is the most intense day in the workout schedule and I assumed that whatever was going on with my back could possibly be made worse by doing the workout.  So, I gave it a rest.

I won’t go into all the details but take my word for it, Friday was a loooooong day.  In fact, I’m going to do an Internet search and see if some strange planetary event happened and Friday actually lasted 28 hours, or so, instead of 24…it was long.  But I didn’t notice any back pain.

On Saturday I awoke and did not notice any pain.  In fact, on Saturday, I did a few push-ups just to see how it would feel and there were no problems.  In fact, I felt good.  “Hmm,” I thought, “That’s encouraging.”  But I allowed my back to rest again on Saturday.

So, here I am on Sunday night.  This is the night where I do as many push-ups as I can to see what kind of progress is happening.  Previously, my maximum was 28 push-ups.  But despite the pain a couple of days ago, I feel pretty good.

I warm up, and then assume the push-up position….

Thirty-two push-ups!  ….And no pain.

I know, I know, it’s a long way from 100 but I’m making progress.  When I started this project I could do about 20 push-ups with proper form.  Now, I’m at 32.  I’m getting there.  It might take a while, but I feel a sense of confidence.  I feel strong.  Earlier today I bent a steel bar in half.  I did two back-flips on my way to church this morning.  I passed a motorist with a flat tire and he didn’t have a jack.  I lifted up the back end of his car while he changed the tire.  Someone punched me in the stomach today and he’s in the hospital right now with a broken wrist and several crushed bones in his hand.  Several mixed martial arts champions came to my house this afternoon to bully me—they do that from time to time—and I slapped them around and sent them on their way crying like wimpy little babies….

[ Long pause] ….Alright, none of that is true.  But Olympic athletes visualize extraordinary achievement, so I was just doing some of my daydreaming in written text.

Oh wait…the 32 push-ups?  That part is true.  Progress.

The back is feeling great.  Just

watch this:  "Wait...Oh no...

Agghhhh!!!"

Push Up Project, Day 11

My friend Raiye asked me, “So, how’s that push-up thing going?”

Here’s what I did today: 

REGULAR PUSH-UPS

2 sets of 14 reps; 2 sets of 12 reps; 1 set of 9 reps. 

All done less than a minute apart.

(Why an odd number like “9”, you ask?  …Because at that point, I couldn’t do anymore!)

Then, later in the day, 2 sets of 25 push-ups.

DIAMOND PUSH-UPS (this is a push-up with the fingers of the hands on the floor pointing inward and the hands close together—it really works the triceps…and it gives your hair a natural bounce with a lovely flowing luster).

1 set of 15 reps; 2 sets of 14 reps.

You say, “Hey Dan, I just counted, that’s only 168 total push-ups for the whole day!  That’s a long way from being able to do 100 push-ups, non-stop!”

I know, but I have to work my way up gradually, so I don’t get injured.  That’s why the whole process is going to take 75 days, remember?  Two days ago, on Tuesday, after I finished doing the push ups I had a weird buzzing sensation in my arm and then my arm felt a little bit numb.  This episode happened for, like, 3 or 4 seconds.  It reminded me that I was either having a heart attack, or, that I need to be careful how I approach this.

By the way, after that episode I woke up very groggy in a ditch on the other side of town.  Is that a bad sign?  Hmm, I’ll run that question past a trained professional.

I did some other exercises, also…but I won’t bore you with the whole routine.  Oh…I also did my Bible reading for today.  That doesn’t help much with the push-ups, but it keeps my “spiritual abs” rock hard!

This picture of a guitar

has absolutely nothing to do

with the story, but it's 

getting late and it's the only

picture I could find on

short notice.

Push Up Project, Day 8

I’m on my quest to work my way up to doing 100 non-stop push-ups.  My deadline is April 30^th.  I’m on Day 8 of my 75 day countdown.

Every time I tell people about this project, they are very encouraging.  I’m getting wonderful support.  Today at the restaurant where I hang out and do some of my reading and writing, I mentioned my project to Mary, one of the cashiers.  She said, “That’s great!  Here have a free cookie.”

Support.

Tonight, after supper at my sister’s house, she mentioned dessert.  And I said, “No, I better not, I’m training to do those push-ups.”

She said, “That’s great!  Here…” and she handed me a piece of my brother-in-law Paul’s birthday cake.

Support.

When I got home, later this evening, I petted Jasper on the head while I was sitting at the computer typing this note.  He said, “That’s great!” And he brought me a package of Twinkies from the kitchen.  (Actually, he brought 2 packages, but he ate one, himself.)

Support.

Today is the day of the week when the work-out that Paul created involves “squat thrusts”—or sometimes they’re called “burpees”.  After last week, I thought this particular exercise would be just a little bit easier this week.  You know, the legs get stronger, the muscles have begun the adaptation process, and the movement gets easier, right?

Nope.

I did the first set of squat thrusts this morning and it was very hard.  It almost felt harder this week than last week.  In fact, I hate to say this…it PAINS me to say this…it bothers me more than you will ever know to say this…but after that first set of squat thrusts….I felt old.

You say, "Wow, that's interesting, because you know what?  You LOOK old, too, Dan!"

Knock it off, wise guys.

But you know what?  I got warmed up and the blood started pumping and my resolve grew stronger.  And by the second and third set of squat thrusts…well…I felt even older.  Squat thrusts are not any easy exercise.  Have I mentioned that already?

But here’s what I did.  (Cue the “Rocky” theme song music.)  Since the squat thrusts were the hardest exercise, I did more sets of them.  Really.  I did.  I did 4 sets of 13 reps.  And then I did 3 sets of 15 reps.  Was it hard?  Yes.  But I figured, “Oh yeah?  I will be tougher than the squat thrusts!  I will beat them, they will NOT beat me!!!  Squat thrusts?  You will bow to my willpower and my discipline and MY SUPERIOR RESOLVE!!!!!!”

There I am, can you close your eyes and see it?  I’m standing at the top of the stairs, like Rocky, pumping my fists in the air as I jump up and down in slow motion, and the theme music reaches its inspiring climax!

By the way, does anyone out there have some crutches I could borrow?

Push-Up Project: The New Workout Begins

Today, I began the workout program that Paul has laid out for me so that by April 30^th, I will be able to do 100 push-ups, non-stop.

After the workout, I told Nadia, “My legs are feeling it!”

She looked up from the computer and said, “What do you mean?  I thought you were working on push-ups?”

Well, Paul says the whole body has to be strengthened, even though push-ups, obviously involve, significant upper body conditioning.  You see, the arms and shoulders and chest are actually given assistance in the movement that’s involved in doing a push-up by a strong waist and torso and legs.  Apparently, our bodies are “whole units” and not just individual, unrelated parts.  Crazy, huh?

(I know.  There’s a 1 Corinthians 12 biblical teaching concept, regarding the importance of every part of the “body of Christ”, that is tied to the preceding paragraph.  Isn’t it neat how biblical concepts can be seen in so many aspects of life?)

Okay, that was one of my ministerial tangents.  Where was I?  Oh yes, so today, to begin working toward my push-up goal, I did lower body conditioning.  The workout included riding the stationary bike; lunges while holding dumbbells (“dumbbells” are exercise equipment, this is not a reference to any persons I know); squats; and burpees.

Do you remember what “burpees” are?  It’s an exercise that involves four movements.  1) From a standing position, squat down and touch the palms of the hands on the floor in front you; 2) now with your weight on your hands and a slight leap, thrust both legs, simultaneously, out behind you, at this point you will be in something like a push-up position; 3) with a slight leap, pull both legs, simultaneously, back into the squat position with your hands still on the floor; 4) now, straighten the knees and rise back up into a standing position.  That’s a burpee.

If you haven’t done burpees in a while, they’re not an easy exercise.  I did 4 sets of 12 burpees, today.  Then I immediately, jumped in the car, drove to Baskin Robbins and ate a banana split.  It seemed appropriate.  And, darn it, my legs feel better.

(Just kidding, Paul, no banana split was eaten.)

 

…But I did look at a picture of one, on-line.

One of the fun aspects of burpees, at my house, is that my proximity to the ground, while I’m doing this exercise, coupled with my legs churning vigorously, makes Jasper think that this is some type of “play” event that involves him.  But, eventually, he realizes that I’m not playing with him and he goes back to reading the newspaper.  (He’s gone back to “reading” as a hobby, he got tired of working on the Rubik’s Cube.)

Anyhow, I’m on my way to 100!!!  And I’m feeling stronger already!