Last week, we were talking about working out, and one of my classmates dropped and gave us 25 push-ups. When she stopped she said, "Eh! I guess that's enough."
I was really really impressed. The only time in my life I've been able to do that many push ups was when I was playing water polo in the 11th grade. We did them before practice every day, and I remember the very first day I could barely swim after doing them. Gradually things improved.
I recently started doing push-ups again, and was dismayed that I could barely do one full push-up without cheating. Now I can do about 5, but it's coming back slowly. I have to say though, my friend really inspired me. During her PhD, she has taken advantage of her extra time to work out every day. She is so strong! I want to be that strong.
So in addition to climbing (Luca and I went again this week, and I was able to complete a bunch of 5.5s and do some V0 bouldering problems!), I've decided to start lifting weights. I went last Wednesday -- a week ago -- and this week I've decided to go twice: today and Thursday. Today when I left the gym I could barely move, but I felt like I'd actually done something. It was sobering that my warm-up on the treadmill, which consisted of running/walking for a mile, made me gasp for air and my legs feel wobbly. I really need to work on this!
I don't know if I'm actually going to get to 25 push-ups, but it'll be fun to try! It would also be awesome to be able to run a 5K without stopping again. I guess we'll see if in a month from now I've stuck with it.
Wish me luck!
3 Pearls of Wisdom:
Glad you're feeling motivated again!
If you have an iPhone, there is a 50 pullups app and a 100 pushups app (basically training programs). I have never tried the apps but friends have raved.
Fitness/athleticism has never been my strong point. The peak of my athletic achievements was making the badminton team in high school. One thing that has really worked for me is P90x. You just need weights (I have a set of 5 lbs and 10 lbs, yes, you can scoff at me now), a pull up bar and weights. There are days when you do a ton of push ups (regular, military, wide arm, diamond, etc.) It has really helped my climbing in terms of cross training.
Good luck!
Building on Liana's post above...there's also Insanity, which is the cardio/toning version of the muscle-building p90x, only it doesn't require any weights. They're both great for those rainy/snowy days when you're stuck inside.
http://hundredpushups.com/index.html
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