Last week I worked my way through Week 3 and I’m looking forward to the challenge of the tougher Week 4 starting tomorrow.

Wednesday: 14 18 14 14 max of 20 [total = 80]

Friday: 20 25 15 15 max of 25 [total = 100]

Sunday: 22 30 20 20 max of 40 [total = 132]

One-legged push-ups are easy to perform. Just follow the steps below to get a great upper body workout that also challenges your core too:

Starting position: assume the standard push-up position, but place one foot on top of the other so only the lower foot is in contact with the ground (see above).

Step 1: breathe in as you lower your torso to the ground, stopping when your elbows form a 90-degree angle and your chest is an inch or two from your hands. Keep your elbows close to your body.

Step 2: breathe out as you push yourself up using your arms. Think of raising yourself by attempting to push the ground away from you. The power for the push will predominantly come from your shoulders and chest.

One-Legged Push-Ups are actually one of the dozen or so “advanced push-ups” featured in my book. If you’re looking to purchase your own copy you can get a good deal at any of the following online merchants. List price is $14.95 by the way….

• Buy.com: $9.30
• Amazon.com: $10.17
• Barnes & Noble: $11.96

3/4 mile run on grass, 6 soccer goal pull-ups, 15 push-ups, 15 crunches – repeat 10 times.

Totals: 7 mile run, 60 pull-ups, 150 push-ups, 150 crunches.

It was good to feel well-rested after yesterday’s day off and I’m thinking I should probably incorporate more recovery time into my weekly schedule. The run was almost one of my favorite progressives, but a rock in my shoe messed up the 4th mile.

Splits as follows: 8:04 7:50 7:39 7:43 7:28 7:16 7:04

Decided to get the push ups out of the way early this morning. Felt like a good idea at the time, but I forgot how much I struggle with strength work in the mornings. Oh well, maybe I’ll remember next time.

Required: 45 55 35 30 at least 55
Actual: 45 55 35 30 55 (just)

I guess the first 45 weren’t too bad, but the 55 was a killer. The only thing that kept me going was knowing I only had 35 to do in the third set. The 35 was a struggle and the set of 30 that followed not any easier. I took an extra minute before attempting the final 55 and somehow gutted out each and every one of the push ups.

Nice total of 220 push ups for the day. At least Day 2 and 3 are somewhat less challenging. See you Friday….

Evening update: This doesn’t warrant a full post, so just a quick line to log my 6 mile run and third day of the 30 Day Shred. Good news: the shred is getting easier!

Before I could stop sweating I found myself doing Day 2 of the Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred DVD workout. Jillian, in case you didn’t kno, is a personal trainer who gained prominence on the NBC weight-loss reality series The Biggest Loser. My wife, Ally, started the program a few days ago and thought it would be fun if I tried it too. If you fancy a nice gentle 20 minute cool down after a challenging treadmill run, this isn’t the workout for you. Trust me, it’s tough, and you’ll hurt in places that haven’t hurt for years! Great fun though and I’m sure it will add something to my overall fitness. I certainly hope so anyway….

Tough one today, but managed to get through Week 5 Day 3 with a huge effort on the final 50.

Required: 20, 20, 24, 24, 20, 20, 22, at least 20

Actual: 20, 20, 24, 24, 20, 20, 22, 50 (just!) for a total 200 push ups.

Also, a quick mention of the Hundred Push Ups PocketMod which I added to the Hundred Push Ups site earlier today. Basically it’s a portable, printable, one page version of the six week plan which can be folded into a handy booklet and taken with you everywhere you go! Take a look, you might just want one….

Managed to get through Week 5 Day 2 of the Hundred Push Ups plan, but the last 45 were tough:

Required: 19, 19, 22, 22, 18, 18, 22, at least 45

Actual: 19, 19, 22, 22, 18, 18, 22, 45 for a total 185 push ups.

Felt quite strong again, although I seem to have developed a bit of a sore throat overnight. Hope it goes away as the day moves on.

Here we go again: Week 5 Day 1 of the Hundred Push Ups plan:

Required: 36, 40, 30, 24, at least 40

Actual: 36, 40, 30, 24, 44 for a total 174 push ups.

Felt quite strong today. I won’t say they were easy, but I didn’t really have to start working until the final few reps in each set. Good times…

Probably should have taken the prescribed rest day as per the Hundred Push Ups Plan (you’d think I’d know better being the author of the web site), but I didn’t. For some reason this morning I had the urge to continue with Week 4 and perform workout number 2….

I managed column 3 with relative ease, but now have a slight twinge in my right tricep muscle and wish I’d waited until tomorrow to do the workout as per the schedule. Oh well, too late now.

Here’s what was required:

25, 29, 25, 25, at least 36.

Here’s what I managed:

25, 29, 25, 25, 40.

144 push ups before breakfast; great way to kick off the day!

After several weeks of experimenting with different workouts, I’m back on track with a regular push ups routine.

Last week I worked my through Week 3 of the Hundred Push Ups plan, which meant today I started on Week 4.

The “new improved” plan has been well received and personally I feel the progression through to Week 6 is now smoother and less of a shock to the system on certain weeks.

Anyway, this morning I breezed through column 3 of the first day of Week 4 as follows:

21, 25, 21, 21 and 32. I could have pushed out more than 32 at the end, but didn’t feel the need. Plus, I was a bit pushed for time and almost had to leave for work.

Nice way to start the day though – 120 push ups in the bag which allows me to focus completely on this evening’s run.

Happy Tuesday!

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