50 Push-Ups Done! Working Toward My Goal...

I had a few set backs when I first set out to do the push-up challenge last December. First, I had a lower back pain from doing dead lifts in too much of a hurry. That lasted for about a week or two. Then I got a stomach bug, which knocked out another 5 days or so. Finally, last week I had golfer's tendinitis, an extremely painful condition where I couldn't move my arm without pain for a few days.

I rested my arm and it was getting better each day. I still continued to workout my legs, did the treadmill, ran the track, etc. I avoided any upper body workout for about a week. I slowly got back into it earlier this week. By yesterday, I was able to really get into the upper body workouts again. In fact, I was finally able to accomplish my goal of 50 push-ups! It may be a month later than I planned, but I got through it!

So why was it so important for me to do this push-up challenge? I think it's because I never was able to do them, even as a teen or when I was in college. The fact that I'm able to do them unmodifed, in other words, not on my knees, shows that my upper body strength has improved a lot. I was worried that I would lose strength by taking a week off from working out the arms, but my strength is the same, right where I left off.

This coming Thursday, I will again have my body fat percentage checked at Southern CT State University. They've been using the 7 site caliper skin fold test. The last time it was checked, in the beginning of December, it was at 12.69 percent. I'm hoping it's down further. We shall see if taking a week off from working out had any effect on the reading.

As I get closer to 10 percent, I notice that my skin looks tighter, but aside from that, I feel a lot stronger and healthier. Once I get to my goal, I'll have to figure out how to maintain the body fat without going any lower. I guess that's why it's important that I keep checking in with my trainer!