Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Ever Wonder?

Did you ever wonder why push ups are soooo hard? My husband, David, found this answer to that in the March, 2009 issue of Men's Health--

Ever wonder how many pounds you're lifting when you do a push up? Calculate 75% of your body weight and you have the answer, according to research by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Push ups help you build healthy, stable shoulders by training your scapular muscles as well as your rotator-cuff muscles, says Indianapolis-based physical therapist Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S.

Another fact about push ups--30 is the number of push ups the U.S. Army requires men ages 27-31 to do in 2 minutes to graduate basic combat training.

I need to try timing 30 push ups sometime. I really think I could do 30 in 2 minutes. What about you? Of course, these stats are for real, from the toes, chest to the floor push ups. So, at 75% of my body weight, and since I am doing 100 push ups a day, I am pushing over 100 lbs each of those 100 reps each day! Pretty remarkable! The handstand push ups I've been doing each day are 100% of my body weight. That's a lot of weight to push up. You can see that by doing this for a month, you can really build up your muscle fast. So...if you aren't doing the push up challenge--WHY NOT!!! It won't take long to catch up. Plus, March has 31 days so that buys you an extra day. Just doing 50 a day will go a long way toward gaining some much needed upper body strength.
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7 comments:

  1. shannaMarch 4, 2009 at 10:54 PM

    i feel like you're talking to me. or i'm getting scolded :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. JulieMarch 5, 2009 at 3:35 PM

    100 more down - 2500 to go!

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  3. jenniferMarch 5, 2009 at 4:23 PM

    I really have wondered why push ups are so hard - and now I know why!
    My first reaction to the Army requirement was - that doesn't seem like much, but maybe 30 push ups in 2 minutes (for a person almost half my age) is really a challenge! Maybe I'll time myself at the end of the challenge and see how I feel then!

    100 push ups/2000 to go

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  4. MollyMarch 5, 2009 at 5:32 PM

    100 push ups! Only 2500 to go!

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  5. LauraMarch 5, 2009 at 7:52 PM

    100 push ups--2500 to go. Also, 5 handstand push ups (getting MUCH harder.)

    And Shanna--do you think it is kinda like being in church and the sermon is directed right at you? Get after those push ups--you know it'll pay off!

    ReplyDelete
  6. shannaMarch 5, 2009 at 10:37 PM

    this is what i've decided. I won't do 100/day. I just won't. Soooooooo I'm going to start smaller and add more when they become a normal part of the routine (like the warm up).

    Which in essence means you are all far cooler than I am since you're doing the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  7. trishMarch 5, 2009 at 11:18 PM

    100 knee push ups . . . . 2690 to go.

    ReplyDelete

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