Plyometrics!

[Veronica]

Today we did push ups with a clap in between. They are hard because you really have to explode up to get enough time to clap. One is realtively easy, but repeating that explosion each time... is tough. I worked up to six in a row today, did 31 all together.

Veronica

[Susan Otcenas]

Today we did push ups with a clap in between. Veronica

I'd be happy with just being able to do a pushup....

[channlluv]

My wrists ache just thinking about it. Doggone carpal tunnel.

I do plyometrics, too, though. DH bought a book called Core Performance by Lance's trainer, and we bought the rubber tubes and benches and things that are used in the program, but mostly it's all stretching and strength stuff on a mat. I saw huge improvements in my muscle tone in a very short time. I went from doing a 5-second plank to 45-second planks in about a month.

Huge, huge improvements all over, and it did a lot to improve my cycling form, too. I found it extremely effective, but I don't do the power pushups. I really do have carpal tunnel issues.

Roxy

[OakLeaf]

My wrists ache just thinking about it. Doggone carpal tunnel.

Can you do them (regular push-ups without the hand claps) holding hand weights? Really that's just a method of aligning the hands and shoulders... you can take the pressure out of your wrists with your own body alignment, but it takes a lot of attention, because most of us have such imbalances in the arm muscles. My yoga teacher's favorite cue is to keep what she calls "the mounds of the index fingers," i.e. the heads of the second metacarpals, on the mat.

[GLC1968]

I'd be happy with just being able to do a pushup....

Next time we get together - I'm gonna have to see proof of this. I find it hard to believe that with all your crossfit and swimming that you can't do even one. And if you can't, I'm gonna teach you how you can, damn it!

[Susan Otcenas]

I only went to Crossfit once. I enjoyed it and think I'd get way strong doing it. But zowie, it would cost alot of money to join that Crossfit facility ($200/month!) I already spend almost that much for coaching, plus my gym membership and my pool membership. I just don't think I want to add that much more to my monthly athletic expenditures!

Really really, I can't do one single boy pushup. I can do about 10 girl pushups in a row. I really want to do the 100 pushups program online, but I never seem to get around to starting.

[kilimarti]

I only went to Crossfit once. I enjoyed it and think I'd get way strong doing it. But zowie, it would cost alot of money to join that Crossfit facility ($200/month!) I already spend almost that much for coaching, plus my gym membership and my pool membership. I just don't think I want to add that much more to my monthly athletic expenditures!

Really really, I can't do one single boy pushup. I can do about 10 girl pushups in a row. I really want to do the 100 pushups program online, but I never seem to get around to starting.

Hi Susan,

Just read your post about paying $200 per month for CrossFit. I own a facility in Hillsboro where we not only teach Crossfit but a ton of other group classes including TRX for $99 per month. We work with all levels from beginners to athletes. Check us out: http://www.sweat360.com

[tulip]

I've gotten much better with the 100 pushups program (I'm neither willing nor able to spend money on a trainer or gym, not with this new roof on my house).

Susan, if you have an iphone, the 100 pushups iphone app is great. It keeps me motivated.

Try it, and start with girl pushups if you have to. I still do a combo of girl/boy (horrible term!) pushups, and I'm up to 52 total (but not straight). I see a big difference in my arms in both definition and strength. And it takes about 7-10 minutes out of your day.

[OakLeaf]

Just remember not to make that the only upper-body work you do.

In spite of the cautionary posts I put up here when I was doing the 100-pushups program, I didn't do an equal number of pull-ups, dips, internal/external rotations and reverse flyes, and wound up really screwing up my rotator cuffs and most of the muscles around them. Nerve impingement under the pec minor and everything. Nothing five or six intense neuromuscular massages plus all kinds of self-treatment with stretching, strengthening and a Thera-Cane couldn't cure, but I would've done better not to get myself there in the first place.

[Susan Otcenas]

Next time we get together

Are you gonna make me drop and give you 20 at the sushi place tonight???

[GLC1968]

Are you gonna make me drop and give you 20 at the sushi place tonight???

Nope, just one.

(and you can wait until Jill's if you'd like)

[Susan Otcenas]

Today we did push ups with a clap in between. They are hard because you really have to explode up to get enough time to clap. One is realtively easy, but repeating that explosion each time... is tough. I worked up to six in a row today, did 31 all together.

Veronica

Veronica,

Were you able to do pushups before you started with your trainer? If not, what exercises did you do that you think had the biggest impact on your ability to do them?

[SadieKate]

PLANK!

And core strength in the abs and back.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/...es.asp?id=1003

(I personally prefer plank on my elbows to take stress off my wrists).

[Veronica]

Veronica,

Were you able to do push ups before you started with your trainer? If not, what exercises did you do that you think had the biggest impact on your ability to do them?

Sorry - I've always been able to do push ups. Genetics blessed me with a strong upper body. I've got curses in other places, so I'll take what I can get.

Push ups really engage everything, (I just did a couple to see.) For me plank is really more about my Core, especially my lower back, since I tend to not engage my abs right away when I'm doing it. I have to actively think about using my abs. I don't really feel plank in my chest, upper back, triceps or biceps the way I do with push ups.

Susan I'd probably concentrate on triceps, just because it's not a muscle we tend to use in our daily lives. That's why so many women have such flab on the backs of their arms. Can you do dips?

Veronica

[SadieKate]

Ah, but see, as you said, it is a matter of your personal body's strengths and weaknesses. Mine is my lower back. "Girlie" push-ups have never been a problem for me as they don't involve a strong core, just strong arms and shoulders. It takes a strong core to support keep a nice plank position as in a straight body (no sag in the back or raised butt).