Abs and 3-Chair Push-Ups

I was relying on push-ups, pull-ups, crunches, dips, squats, and planks to develop my abs, but they weren't targeting the area effectively enough. I tried a quick routine called Ab Ripper 100. It's 10 exercises with 10 reps each. It hits a more complete area of the abs than anything I was doing prior. I did the routine a second time, only waiting about ten minutes. I'm going to continue doing the separate crunches and this new routine.

After some more practice with these new techniques, I'll break them down more and look into exactly what regions the moves target.

I still plan to hit 500 push-ups this Friday, but I've just added a new push-up variation that I'm still experimenting with. It's the 3-chair push-up. One chair for each hand, and one for both feet. This allows you to go deeper than floor push-ups and push-up bars. I'm not sure if I want to hold the down positions or just slam into them and slam out. It worked my pecs and chest to a degree I hadn't hit yet.

Log Update

475 push-ups, max set 135.
30 pull-ups
30 dips
65 squats
72 crunches

Log Update

Performed 450 push-ups, 126 max set, 23 pull-ups, 30 dips.

Push-Up Device

Pro Fit's Iron Gym Upper Body Workout Bar is what I use for my push-ups. I used it for pull-ups as well when I lived in a different location. It doesn't fit in older built doorways. I prefer using a bar that I can raise my head over, and not have to worry about doorways. But I find this device irreplaceable for push-ups.

I didn't use to enjoy push-ups because of the strain on my wrists. With this device, you have a curved vertical bar for each hand to grab that sticks up in the air so that you can lower your upper body deeper than a normal push-up. The one I own is a slightly different version with more grips for pull-ups, Extreme Edition.

20 Pull-Ups

Twentypullups is where I attained the first six weeks of the pull-up program. I recommend performing the push-ups first and the pull-ups after. I use variations for different sets as shown on the page above.

Counting

Counting 1-100 sequentially is very daunting. Counting to five is easy as pie. I do 5 reps a set in my head and count 5 sets of 5 reps as 1. I start over with the sets of 5 and hit 50 at the end. So four groups of 5 sets of 5 push-ups equals 100. Counting to five involves the five numbers that you're constantly repeating in your head opposed to using more of your mind. That would be 100 numbers in your head. An emptier mind is easier to focus.

Autopilot

We can find ourselves in situations where reality is no more than a burden needed to be shrugged off our shoulders. For that there is autopilot. You attain it by getting many hard, vigorous work outs under your belt. You've gone through the motions, you know the technique to use, and you employ it.

When you have muscle, breathing, counting, and overall technique down, you can slip into an autopilot state in which you perform flawlessly. Starting Week 6 of the push-up program, on day 2 and day 3 of every week, you must complete 9 sets. It's OK to be dead after the 8th set because you can do the 9th on autopilot.

You get in position for the set, breathe, count, and perform. Those three things don't require a real-time intelligence. You can wipe your mind clean of any thoughts and just submerge yourself underwater. It's like being on clouds, like being dead, like being in the middle of the ocean.

Once you learn how your body performs and what it can handle, you should be able to know what is and isn't attainable, and if you see something that's attainable, then you can have it. The downside would be injury if you've gone too far beyond what you can handle, but you should be able to feel out that process.

Breathing

We breathe involuntarily, otherwise we'd be unconscious or dead. But that doesn't mean you can't assume control of your breathing. Every inhale and exhale matters. Timing matters. For push-ups, exhale when you lower your body and inhale when you straighten your arms. If you don't breathe or breathe ineffectively, you can pass out. Before I optimized my breathing, I was seeing red and more succumb to dizzy spells.

Breathing is very hypnotic. It can prepare you for meditation, exercise, presentations, or anything else you need to focus for. Just breathing in and out and listening, you can sync everything in a comforting, focused way. I'm going to miss breathing when I'm dead.

You can perform more push-ups and pull-ups with proper breathing. So it's better to tune your technique sooner than later. 

Push-Up Log

It's good to record information about your workout so that you can analyze and optimize your technique and lifestyle. I'm currently on Week 13, Day 2 of the program. 428 is my highest in one session so far and 120 is my highest set.

100 Push-Ups

In order to pass 100, you need to hit 100. HundredPushups is a good program and is what I used as the base for my own. It invovles a 6 week program that gets your total push-up count to 276. Goblin Core will take that number to 400+, all the way to 1000 push-ups in one session.