14,600 Push Ups

Or…40 push ups a day for a year. 365 days. Never missing a day.

Actually, at this point now, it’s more like 16,800, but who’s counting…

Last year, for Lent, I decided I was going to add something to my routine, instead of giving something up. I chose something that was a bit of a stretch, something I’ve always hated doing, but actually wanted to get better at. Push ups. They have always been my nemesis. And I thought that with this sort of accountability, I’d be killing two birds with one stone. I am a complete multi-tasker. Give something up for Lent while simultaneously taking the suck out of push ups? Absolutely. Efficiency is my middle name.

And you know what?

I’ll admit it. The results have been amazing. I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting something, but here are a few things I’ve noticed:

• My upper arms and chest are strong. Not exactly cut, per se – I have too much body fat for that, haha, but they are solid and strong. I keep my elbows close to my body when I do my push ups, which focuses on triceps, and I’ve got some killer triceps as a result;

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• Speaking of body fat, the body fat percentage in my arms has gone down dramatically. I do an InBody Scan a few times a year, and the fat in each of my arms has been cut in half – well over a pound of fat lost in each arm!
• More importantly, my overall strength has increased dramatically. I am not a huge weightlifter, but I do track my lifting in CrossFit. I have done bench press twice since I started these push ups over a year ago (which sounds so lame to say – I swear I work out regularly!), but with these push-ups, my 3×5 bench press has gone up over 15% and my max bench press over 20% – without actually ever bench pressing! I now have the strongest bench in the gym, and (don’t hate me) I have only bench-pressed twice in the last year.
• The same is true for many of my other lifts as well – you name it, they have skyrocketed:
  1. Power Clean (two data points, 15 months apart):
     • OLD: 3×3 @ 100 lbs
     • NEW: 10×3 @ 115 lbs <– TEN BY THREE (not 3×3). Ridiculous!
  2. Snatch Clean (two data points, 15 months apart):
     • OLD: 1×1 @ 80 lbs
     • NEW: 1×1 @ 90 lbs
  3. Shoulder Press (two data points, 12 months apart):
     • OLD: 3×5 @ 75 lbs
     • NEW: 3×5 @ 82 lbs

So do I truly believe that push ups are one of the most functional exercises you can do? Absolutely! Do I still hate doing them, even knowing what I know now? Absolutely!

Wait, what?

I shouldn’t be such a cynic. I’ve obviously kept them up – and I will continue to do so – because the gains have been that amazing. But still. It’s not all flowers and butterflies. There are two depressing (?) and / or discouraging/frustrating things to note during this year-long journey I’ve been on:

1. I still cannot, for the life of me, do 40 push ups in a row. It’s pretty sad, really. You think I’d be able to just crank them out at this point. 40 and done. Nope. I can consistently do 25 good ones, but at that point, it starts getting really ugly. So depending on the day I’ll either do 2-sets of 20, or a set of 25 and 15.
2. I even got the Husband on board with this (which is not the depressing part). The depressing part is that he joined me about three months in, and within two weeks he was cranking out 40 at a time without issue! Sigh. (I still think I have better form though, thank you very much.)

He has though, kept me accountable, especially early on, when I didn’t want to do them. Or on vacation. Or when I have been sick. Now though, it has become habit. The push ups just get done. Even though I break them up into two (sometimes three!) sets, they are quick. Less than 2 minutes, and usually before my day really starts. We all have 2 minutes to spare, right? Especially if we are doing something else during those 2 minutes like waiting for the coffee to brew, or waiting those last 30-seconds for the microwave to finish. It goes quick, and it adds up!

Speaking of adding up, with Easter just around the corner, what did I add this year during Lent? I added 100 double-unders to my routine. For those of you who don’t know, a double-under is when you are jump-roping, and you swing the rope twice underneath you in one jump. We are about 34 days in (but again, who’s counting?), and do you want to know my thoughts on double-unders? I can’t wait until Easter so that I can be done with them. No feel-good double under story here, like with my push ups, and not incidentally, as portable either. You can do push ups anywhere. Double-unders? Well. Sure, I guess. But not really. I mean, yes, I packed my jump rope, alongside my suit, heels, and hair straightener, so I can keep this ridiculous streak going while I am at a conference. But really? Okay, yes, I am currently doing double-unders in a hotel. I have pushed all furniture aside to make this happen. Could I do it outside? Sure. But that might be even weirder than doing them in my room…while the people on either side of me, below me, down the hall from me, pretty much within a 4-room radius of me, wonder what the heck is going on in Room 0621 (double-unders are actually quite loud!). I can only imagine what people are thinking. Today though, I did them mid-day, hoping most people (other than housekeeping) would be out.

But wait until 6:00 tomorrow morning, when I’ve got to make these happen before my all-day meetings and my flight out that gets me in past midnight. Then everyone will really be wondering what’s going on in Room 0621.