Get Fit Slowly

36 responses so far ↓

• 1 Andrew is getting fit // Jun 23, 2008 at 12:57 am

  I’m repeating week 01 as well. I had a 100% improvement in my max set for day 01. Last week I did 8 this week 16. I’m rather pleased with that.

• 2 LoLWut? // Jun 23, 2008 at 2:31 am

  Have you read the first comment in this reddit thread on the 100 pushups program? Have you spoken to any trainers or sports medicine doctors about this? Given how many people follow your fine blogs I think it would behoove you to do some additional research before you not only hurt yourself, but get other people hurt along with you.

  http://www.reddit.com/info/6nz1k/comments/c04ehte

  The comment in question:
  “Well, I certainly applaud anyone wanting to do a hundred pushups, but take it from this old gym rat, I’ve spent my entire adult life in the gym, and a program like this one can do more harm than good.

  If you only train one part of your body (and that’s all a single exercise like pushups is going to do for you), you’re setting yourself up for injuries down the road. I’ve seen it a hundred times.

  It’s like putting a powerful engine in a stock Toyota Tercel. What will you accomplish? You’ll blow out the drive train, the clutch, the transmission, etc., because those factory parts aren’t designed to handle the power of an engine much more powerful than the factory installed engine.

  Push-ups basically only train the chest muscles and to some extent, the triceps. What you really want to do is train your entire body, all the major muscle groups (chest, back, abdomen, legs, shoulders and arms) at the same time, over the course of a workout. And don’t forget your cardiovascular work!

  I’m proud of you guys wanting to do this. Three cheers! Falling in love with exercise, eating right, etc., is one of the greatest things you can do for yourself. And you WILL fall in love with it if you can just force yourself to stick with it a year or two and experience the amazing progress you’ll make.

  But do it right, okay?

  My advice, find a good gym, with qualified trainers who will design your programs for you (especially in the beginning, until you get the hang of it yourself) and guide you in your quest for physical fitness. Thirty to 45 minutes a day, three days a week, is all you’ll ever need to do (I refuse to believe anyone is so busy that he or she cannot make time for that, especially considering how important it is).

  And don’t worry about being embarrassed or not being in shape the first time you walk into the gym. You have to start somewhere and almost every one of us were there ourselves at one time. So no one will say anything to you and very, very quickly you will progress way beyond that stage anyway.

  Now get out there and do it! :-)”

• 3 Cap // Jun 23, 2008 at 3:26 am

  Same here w/ repeating first week. doing the third column and I did finish the sets properly… but man I really struggled. It’s Monday morning and I don’t feel like I’ve recovered any strength at all, so I’ll try the first week again as they suggested.

• 4 Skinny Guy // Jun 23, 2008 at 3:50 am

  I just finished Week 1 and will be moving on to Week 2 on Wednesday. It got tough at the end of Day 3’s routine - it’s going to make this week interesting.

• 5 Nedsferatu // Jun 23, 2008 at 4:30 am

  I went on to the middle column of week two today. I also only did 1 day of rest this weekend so i’d be caught up with everyone. I feel much stronger in my upper body too, and i’m still smoke free. thumbs up to this program so far but we’ll see how getting someone from ~40 pushups a day to ~100+ a day happens.

• 6 jon // Jun 23, 2008 at 5:10 am

  i’m moving on to week 2. i might have pushed myself a bit too much at the gym last night so we’ll see how it goes this morning.

• 7 Simpatico // Jun 23, 2008 at 5:43 am

  Yes, I’m repeating a week, too. Yesterday’s for me was 15, 13, 10, 10, 10.

  The last set was supposed to be a max of at least 15, but it wasn’t happening. I’m pleased with my progress, though, and I’m doing these every other day.

• 8 The Vegan // Jun 23, 2008 at 6:52 am

  One week down, five to go! (hopefully!)

  Regarding the reddit comment, I don’t think gaining the strength to do a hundred pushups is putting a “powerful engine in a stock Toyota Tercel”. I’d make the analogy that it’s like changing the oil and tires all by yourself and gaining the motivation and confidence to make other improvements.

• 9 Al // Jun 23, 2008 at 7:26 am

  Whoa. I didn’t post Friday, but it felt much better. Today was great (column 3), but I still can’t do more than the minimum for the last set.

• 10 Steven Rigney // Jun 23, 2008 at 7:50 am

  I finished week 1. I started Tuesday. I’m doing great. I’m in the advanced column and finished with 32 max in Saturday. I’m going to start week 2 today and see how it goes.

  As for the reddit comment, If all you ever did was one body part then it could be a problem, but doing anything and succeeding gives the motivation to do so much more, and it’s worth that confidence.

• 11 mhb // Jun 23, 2008 at 8:37 am

  thanks for posting for the “repeaters”… I’m starting a little late, and just beginning week 1.

  As to the reddit comment, I’m doing this in conjunction with a couch-to-5K program specifically because I was concerned about only working my legs, and leaving my upper body (and abs) without any workout. I think the two programs compliment each other well.

• 12 Stefan // Jun 23, 2008 at 8:46 am

  Hi everybody,

  after struggling with the third column last week, I too decided to repeat the first week. I did finish the third column, but like Al and (hopefully?) some others, I only managed to do the bare minimum on the last set.

• 13 Rachel // Jun 23, 2008 at 8:54 am

  I’m about to start this program (initial test tonight) and I was curious how people who are also weight lifting are going to combine the two? Same day? I cant imagine doing the pushups on the day after lifting…

  Just wondering if anyone had run into this and worked through it already.

• 14 A.M. // Jun 23, 2008 at 9:00 am

  Going well - but I’m only doing the first column! Hit a max of 15 today for level 5. My judo instructor is going to be surprised next time he has us do pushups!

• 15 WeightLadder // Jun 23, 2008 at 9:17 am

  Moving to week 2.

• 16 drifting // Jun 23, 2008 at 9:33 am

  W2D1: 12, 12, 9, 7, 10

  @ JD re: feeling stronger - amazing what a couple of dozen pushups will do, eh? Not only do I feel stronger, but I also feel trimmer. I’m now starting to harbor the secret ambition that in addition to strength gains, the next five weeks will also bring some visible changes to the ‘ol chestal area.

  @ Al & Stefan - yep, I’m having trouble doing anything more than the minimum on the final set, too. But as long as I hit it, I’ll take it and move on. I’ve got the feeling that this week I might have to repeat some.

  On that note, I know some here are repeating the whole week - has anyone considered just repeating single days? It would throw out the week/day count, but that isn’t too hard to keep track of.

  @ LOLwut? - have you read the rest of the blog? JD & Mac are themselves clearly doing more than just pushups, and their example has encouraged a lot of us to not only get off the couch, but also to try a variety of training methods. They have never presented themselves as experts, nor do they seem to be advocating any particular plan for their readers. As for leading us, the uninformed masses, into injury, give us some credit. I’ve got the Google, too. I don’t mean to sound combative, and I appreciate the link, but still…

• 17 Leslie // Jun 23, 2008 at 9:50 am

  I started week 2 today. I am in the first column and so far so good. My pectorals are a little sore right now though. I looked ahead to next week earlier and I suspect that I am going to have to repeat week two in order to handle week 3. Obviously I will decide that after the exhaustion test this weekend.

• 18 Anonymous // Jun 23, 2008 at 9:58 am

  I practically died after Day 1 in the 3rd column, so I did Day 2 in the first column and Day 3 in the second column. I’m going to move back and forth between the columns rather than repeat weeks.

• 19 Anca // Jun 23, 2008 at 10:34 am

  Repeating week 1. I’m looking into starting the couch-to-5k thing…

• 20 ashleystravel // Jun 23, 2008 at 10:43 am

  I just started Week 1 today. In the middle column myself and I already think this is going to be challenging. But is it really a work out if I don’t work at it?

• 21 Andy // Jun 23, 2008 at 11:21 am

  Just found your site last week.

  My wife and I are going to start the challenge today. We are going to add a 100 situp challenge following the same template. Should be interesting.

  Good to know that others are doing the same thing. Certainly helps with staying motivated!

• 22 Summer Fey Foovay // Jun 23, 2008 at 11:38 am

  I started a little late, so I did week 1 day 3 today. Was quite astonished to get 20 on the final set. I think it must be my little helpers. I’m sure this is a lot more fun with a litter of six week old kittens tumbling about you in the floor while you work out.

  As for the reddit comment, I think most of us are doing this in conjunction with other things. For myself, I stay in pretty good shape most of the time. I thought this would be a fun challenge, and also get me to set a routine time and day to do a workout - once I’m up to 100 pushups I’ll probably drop a few sets and put my yoga back in - I’ve just really gotten awful at keeping it as a routine.

  For the lower body, I have terrific knee problems, so all I can really do is bicycle. I don’t currently own one, but I have an eye out for something that can take the terrain out here. I may also decide to carry a sidearm for rattlers - they like roads, too. Welcome to the wild west

• 23 Baba Ghanoush // Jun 23, 2008 at 1:22 pm

  My wife and I just did our initial tests. She managed to do 6 knees-down (girlie) push-ups, and will continue to do these type throughout the program. What I found interesting is that, having done 6 in an all-out effort, she is now supposed to do sets of 7, 7, 5, 4 and 5 for day one. This seems an unlikely goal for the for the first day.

• 24 macdaddy // Jun 23, 2008 at 1:51 pm

  12,12,9,7,15. I felt great on Friday, no problems with the required numbers at all. Today was really hard for me though. I think it’s all about the rest period between sets for me. We’ll see how Wed goes, but I bet I’m repeating week 2 next week.

• 25 Chelsey // Jun 23, 2008 at 2:38 pm

  I’m on Week 2, but I’m staying in the first column. Still, I’m seeing some big improvements. My max today was 12, though the minimum was only 5.

  I’ll be taking the exhaustion test again at the end of this week, and I think I’ll be doing week 2 again, but hopefully in the middle column.

• 26 TS // Jun 23, 2008 at 2:57 pm

  Does anyone know what the point of the first “initial test” chart is for? It doesn’t matter what your age or rank is in that chart. If you do 16 push-ups, then you’re working through column 3 for the rest of the weeks. I don’t understand the point of the first chart. Unless I’m missing something - am I? My friend did 35 in his test. I did 16. He’s much closer to 100 than I am, but he’s going through the same part of the chart as I am.

• 27 Will // Jun 23, 2008 at 3:30 pm

  I just did day one of week 2 in the third column. It was hard going, but I got a max of 17. I’d been doing about 20 push-ups 4-5 times a week for the last couple of months before this, but I gotta say: it feels a lot better to really push myself with this routine! I’m definitely going to feel it tomorrow.

• 28 kazari // Jun 23, 2008 at 4:07 pm

  I did day one of the third column in week 2. I think i’ll have to repeat this week - it was hard!

• 29 BK // Jun 23, 2008 at 5:19 pm

  Andy…I like your idea to combine the push ups with doing situps. My abs and chest are in need of the most work, so I think it would be helpful for me to try.

• 30 bmis // Jun 23, 2008 at 5:35 pm

  W2D1: 12, 12, 9, 7, 13

  Took only 1 day off this w/e as well, so am now caught up with y’all. So far, so good, I can definitely feel it.

  Combining this with some Wii Fit yoga/strength/balance/aerobics at least 3x weekly, and also I’m starting an ab program using this: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/3577/the-only-ab-movement-youll-ever-need/ exercise, with the same routine to get to 100 of them.

• 31 Steven Rigney // Jun 23, 2008 at 8:25 pm

  I had a good day and was able to push my max set to 38.

• 32 Pete @ biblemoneymatters // Jun 23, 2008 at 9:55 pm

  did my first day of the pushup challenge today. struggled a bit, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

• 33 gizmogirl // Jun 24, 2008 at 6:22 am

  I am going back to week 1 as well. I think perhpas those of us with starting numbers closer to ten, rather than say 30, just might do better, since the sets are close to our starting point (and therefore to our max).

  As for the balance issue, I agree with drifter - I don’t think the of the Get Fit Slowly crowd as lemmings either. Personally, I am also trying the protocol with full squats and assisted pull ups.

• 34 Peter // Jun 24, 2008 at 6:25 am

  Started week 2, but dropped down to column 1. Column 2 was a little too much for me and I found I couldn’t even do the minimum required at the end at this time. However, I was able to get 10 push-ups for my max with column 1 before the arms gave out.

  As for the whole body concept - I’m familiar with it and my legs are actually pretty strong for the level of activity I normally have. I do plan to add some ab work in here as well and mix it up maybe on Tuesday/Thursday with some other work, but this program to build upper body strength is helpful to me - that’s always been a weak area. I agree that it’s targeted, but anything is a good start for me (or at least a keep me going).

• 35 Jason Beck // Jun 24, 2008 at 11:58 am

  Is anyone else a little confused by the lack of specificity in the instructions? Exactly *when* do you take the exhaustion test? Immediately following the day 3 workout? Immediately before the following weeks day 1 workout? Some random time in between? Since you’re supposed to use the results of that test to determine the column you use next, it seems important to take it at the “right” time.

• 36 100 Pushups: Week Five, Day One // Jul 20, 2008 at 9:44 pm

  [...] Week two [...]

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