I’ve been lax about updating here, but that doesn’t mean I’ve slacked off (as much) in the real world. I’m still pushing forward with my pushups, still rowing, and still using the elliptical. The latter two have been a bit less regular than I’d like, but it is what it is. Soccer season has started. We have three kids playing and are coaching one team (plus helping with another) so the week is much more fragmented than normal.
Anyway, the point of all of this is to simply report that I’ve hit a plateau of sorts when it comes to pushups. I ran headlong into Week 5 and haven’t been able to make it through. I went through it (Column 1) in full the first time and fell short by a few reps on the max round each time. In hopes of rectifying this, I went back and added in my dumbbell routine on my pushup days (in the evenings following all other exercise). I also decided to repeat Day 1 a couple of times. I finally managed to complete it this past Friday, but that was by taking longer than the prescribed breaks, and a whole lot of struggling.
With that (minor) success in the back of my mind, I decided to tackle Week 5 again starting yesterday. Sadly, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I actually made it through, but I cheated by stretching the breaks and I ended up making it through the final thirty by raising my hips and arching my backside up for a brief respite on two different occasions (once at 20 and again at 25 reps). While I didn’t break down and touch the ground with anything other than my hands and my toes, I can’t help but feel as if I cheated.
Anyway, I’m sure I’m being too hard on myself, but it’s not much fun to get stuck in a rut and keep repeating the same thing without any real progress. Kinda reminds me of this…
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
- Benjamin Franklin
Perhaps the days of rapid progress are over with. Maybe I’ve come so far so fast by simply training the muscles that I already had. Assuming that I’ve reached my “natural” limits, perhaps I’ve slowed down because I need to start growing additional muscle to proceed any further. Who knows.
Like I said, it’s not a whole lot of fun. But what’s a guy to do? I think I’ll start by mixing things up a bit to see if I can break through. I’ll probably continue with the prescribed pushup workouts, but get a bit more creative with the dumbbells in hopes of making some progress.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I think week 05 is the great leveler. Progression is relatively straightforward till then. Personally I think this should be at least a ten week program.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:03 am
I agree with Andrew – although to be fair when I got to Week 5 I didn’t even try it – but it sure looked tough! After a month or so off I just redid my exhaustion test at 36 so I’ll see where that starts me off again.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:38 am
IM always in for mixing things up a bit—-you can do that for 6 weeks and then git back to plan?
August 27th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
It’s a bit of a cheat, but try this:
Pumping up your biceps (before hitting the push-ups) with some high rep sets of concentration curls (no back involvement – just biceps)
Also, stretch out your neck, traps and lats prior to the push-ups.
A little sneaky, but it should give you a few more reps
September 26th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Me personally – I always change my workout after two weeks and always stay in progressive overload. This is helped me avoid plateaus.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I always use those programs as guidelines rather than live and die rules.
I plan to start this program soon, with all of it’s rave reviews.