I’m now four weeks into my training program for the ATA Nationals Tournament. One of the goals I set for myself was to work up to 1,000 push-ups a week. It turns out that it didn’t take me 12 weeks to reach that mark. I did it in four! Last week I did 1,100 push-ups! I worked up steadily from 400 on week one to 1,100 last week. I’m pretty pleased with that, and I’m feeling stronger for it.
Why did I choose push-ups as part of my program? Here are some good reasons to like push-ups:
- They’re portable! No equipment required and they require minimal space. You can do them practically anywhere.
- They’re a whole body work out. They work your chest, arms, shoulders and core.
In order to work up to my goal level I did a few simple things.
- The first week I figured out how many push-ups I could do in a set before failure. I started out around 50.
- The first week, I did two sets / day, every other day.
- Over the course of the next few weeks, I cranked up my set size from 50 to 65, to 70, to 75 and even sometimes up to 80.
- Then I moved to more sets on more days. Last week I did between 1 and 3 sets on all seven days.
Pretty quickly I’ve managed to move up to 1,000 for the week! Now, there is nothing really magical about that number, but as a target it kept me motivated. Now, I need to figure out another goal around push-ups so I can keep exploring this exercise for the rest of my training program. I’ll post more updates on what I do with push-ups here over the coming weeks.
Feb 15, 2012 @ 09:44:59
Ah, I love a good challenge! Even better when it turns out that its not so much of a challenge after all, as you did with your pushups!
I think that its great when martial artists (or anyone) makes goals for themselves and sees them through. So many people go through life without a clear direction or intent. As such, most people live in the realm of mediocrity. Specific, measurable goals, such as your goal of 1000 pushups a week, not only serve is a source of motivation, but lead to true self-improvement. Plus, you get to be really happy when you meet your goal
Terry
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