Weekly Weigh-In: No Change, New Challenges

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Nothing happening with the scale at the moment, but I'm losing around my waist.

Nothing happening with the scale at the moment, but I’m losing around my waist.

No change in my weight from last week, but I noticed that I’m down another notch on my belt. So the scale maybe stubborn, but my waist is shrinking…and that is always a good thing.

It’s also another reason you can’t rely on the scale for success. Little things like how loose your clothes fit or being able to cross your legs are far more important.

New Month, New Challenges
My trainer wants me to build up my upper body strength. I can’t argue with her. It seems like any upper body workout is a struggle since my month off in April.

In fact, it seems like my whole workout routine isn’t as routine as I’d like. Consistency is so important. Not only to build muscle and improve cardio, but it’s a great reminder to eat better. Read More

Flabby Arms Challenge III: 30 Days & Nights Of Push Ups

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If I want to do a Spartan Sprint I need to work on my upper body strength to get through the race's tough obstacles. So I'm starting the 30 Day Push Up Challenge this morning.

If I want to do a Spartan Sprint I need to work on my upper body strength to get through the race’s tough obstacles.

After my trainer killed my arms with 10 pound dumbbells, I decided I needed to put more emphasis on my upper body. So today I started the 30-Day Push Up Challenge. As I want to do a Spartan Sprint by late 2015/early 2016, its time to kick my upper body training up a notch.

How am I suppose to climb ropes, walls and swing on monkey bars (through fire!) without strengthening my arms, shoulders, chest and back?

That’s why I picked push ups as my next challenge. They’re great for your shoulders, arms, chest, abs, back, neck and triceps. It’s a basic exercise that all of us can do since no equipment is needed.

To increase the difficulty of the challenge I’m doing two sets of push ups — one in the morning and another in the evening. Overkill? Maybe, but I’d rather do a second round than sit on my butt.

Muscles push ups work. Image from MDHealth.com.

Muscles push ups work. Image from MDHealth.com.

I must say my push up form is bad…really bad.

While I can do 10 unmodified push ups (yay!!!), I’m finding it difficult for my chest to hit the floor. What I’m trying to do is get my elbows to a 90 degree angle (not there yet).

So by the end of the challenge, I looking at doing 80 push ups in near perfect form. Piece of cake!