CyclePups Week 5

[yellow]

Well, I did day 2 of week 5, column 2 almost. This was 8 sets with 45 sec rest in between. I stretched the rest between the 7th set and 8th (max) set to 2 minutes, but I still missed the max by 1 pup. Yep, I could only eke out 39 when the max was 40. I almost collapsed at 38 but stuck it out. Oy.

18-18-20-20-14-14-16-39

This after running 8 mi on the trail after more than a week of not running. O-u-c-h. Visiting SadieKate did not bode well for my running. Not fatigued, but pretty achey.

I seem to be kind of stuck in the mid 140s. My total last week was 147 and I managed 148 on day 1 of this week and 149 today. I guess it's still progress, eh?

[NoNo]

I decided to start week 4, level 1. It'd been a week since I'd done any pups, as I'd hurt my shoulder and gotten an ear infection. Boy did I struggle! Just did the minimum and now that pain is back in my shoulder. Not sure if I should keep going, switch to knee pups, or take more time off. After that I did my 40 min squat video, so by the end of the night every limb felt dead. But it was a good hurt

[OakLeaf]

Hope you're feeling better NoNo!

I can't believe I did the whole thing today. I was sure before I started that I wasn't going to make it! Just barely but I did it.

29+33+29+29+40 = 160

On to Week 5!

[aka_kim]

Very slow progress here. Day 3 of Week 4 was 23+28+23+23+33 for 130 pups. I will move on to Week 5 next week, and I'm kinda hoping the exhaustion test puts me in column 1. At this rate, I should be on target for 100 pups in 6 months.

[yellow]

At this rate, I should be on target for 100 pups in 6 months.

Y'know, I'm just going to keep adding columns until we feel like we don't need 'em anymore.

Drop down if you want...week 5 is tough, no doubt about it. I'm definitely re-doing week 5. More sets, less rest in between. Column 2 kicked my a$$. I seemed to do OK with the 8 sets, but the max was really, really, really hard. I suspect that when I do move to week 6, I'll be in column 1. And then I might repeat weeks 5 and 6 over and over...

I'm still going to do an exhaustion test tomorrow. I'm curious to see where I am (and since I won't be doing much exercise this rainy weekend, I might even be kind of rested, which is something that I usually am NOT when I do my pups).

[OakLeaf]

I'm planning to automatically drop down to column 2 for my first pass through week 5. I don't see any point in even trying to start with column 3 Doing it that way seemed to work out well for me in week 4. And if that's too much... well, down to column 1 then.

[Kvixen23]

Sadly, I have been unable to keep up with my 'pups' and have fallen way, way behind....

I'll start again in the near future but am bowing out of this challenge at this time. Good luck to you all on reaching your goals!! Keep up the 'pups'!!!

[aka_kim]

The problem, other than that the creator of this program is obviously a sadist, is that I need a column 1.5 next week. Column 1 might be a little too easy (I can't believe I'm saying that), but Column 2 is probably too hard, and too much of an increase over Week 4.

'Cause I just had to add everything up:
Column1 = 86 (>20) : 100 (>25) : 120 (>30)
Column2 = 145 (>35) : 160 (>40) : 175 (>45)
Column3 = 170 (>40) : 185 (>45) : 200 (>50)

Each day you have to do at least 15 more than the previous day?

~Goldilocks

[Becky]

Ditto what Kvixen said. I fell off the wagon last week and, work-wise, this week isn't looking any better. I plan to keep pupping on my own for now.

Good luck, ladies!

[OakLeaf]

I'm still going to do an exhaustion test tomorrow. I'm curious to see where I am.

Inquiring minds are curious too. (especially ones who are too lazy/lackadaisical to do their own exhaustion tests) Feel like sharing?

[Grog]

Another live post with my results for Week 4, Day 3, Column 1.

I am not gung-ho on completing the full set (16+18+13+13+atleast20) because I want to repeat week 4 (or even back off a tiny bit) next week. So whatever happens, happens.

[Cue in: Go West music from the soundtrack of The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert]

16: All right, it only starts getting tough at 13 or 14 now. Much improved.

18? My arms say: are you kidding? I did 13. Perhaps I started with the wrong mindset. Anyway, I'm changing the remaining sets from 13, 13, 20+ to 10, 10, and 15.

10. Okay. That was hard. What is wrong with me today?

[Took a long break here. The music is now something different but equally disco. Oh: I love the nightlife is the title I think.]

10 more. How did I become so weak? Wow. Now I'm getting mentally ready for the last 15.

Somehow, I pulled 17 on the last set.

So that's 66 for the PUS.

Thanks for reading.

I am writing my plan for next week which will be a mix of weeks 3, 4 and 5: Do smaller numbers on the early sets, increase the last number, and progressively increase the number of sets.

The week after hopefully I will tackle week 5.

[bluebug32]

This week just didn't come together for doing 3 days. I'll get back on track and report back soon!

[Grits]

Week 5, Day 3: 200.

I know. I can't believe it either. KNEE pushups, so that definitely makes a difference, but still. I am still slogging through the plan and only took a longer break between 7 and 8. I actually like more sets with fewer pups in each one. I thought for sure I'd have to take a break on the set of 50, but I finished with every muscle in my body quivering! Now I have to do the exhaustion test and will take a day off before and after that, so I'll be starting week six half a week late.

[OakLeaf]

The problem, other than that the creator of this program is obviously a sadist, is that I need a column 1.5 next week.

Yeah, I see what you mean. I'm looking at them too and noticing there's a huge gap between columns 1 and 2, not so large a one between 2 and 3.

I guess this is all based on something but I wish the guy had posted more about his qualifications... not that that stops me from adhering to the program.

[yellow]

I guess this is all based on something but I wish the guy had posted more about his qualifications... not that that stops me from adhering to the program.

I hear ya...I searched and didn't find any backup info. It doesn't build in periodization, which is something that I've learned is important for me. But I think it's catchy to tout it as a 6 week program, which it is for some folks like Grits (!) and it's a period of time that you can think about pretty clearly. I like having something to follow, so I will stick with it for a while (hopefully most of the winter).

At my current rate, I figure I'll be able to do 100 pups straight in about 10 weeks (I am doing toe, or "regular", pups). My initial test was 24. My exhaustion test today was 53, meaning an improvement of 29 in 5 weeks. I'm definitely at some sort of a plateau, though. I think it's going to be hard to break through and keep up all of my other activities. I'm starting to think about skiing a lot now that the mountains have SNOW ON THEM!!!!