This is my first challenge thread attempt. Will be back to fix it up.

I've decided to start this thread for myself and anyone else who wants to join me.

Very easy!!!!

Push-ups! Ladies it's the best overall workout. I build more muscles with push-ups then I have with any other workout including all of my weight routine. I'm not trying to become a body builder, I just want a thinner upper body but toned up at the same time.

My personal challenge: currently doing 250 with 10,15, 20 and 25 rep interval of regular tricep and chest push-ups.

Goal: Increase by 10 to 15% every workout until I reach 500 or more a day.
Push-ups 2 to 3 times a week.

If you would like to join I encourage you to do any push-ups that you can perform today: whether it's wall, girly.....doesn't matter. Just do it!! You can do regular push-ups! I assure you. Just start today!


I have to run now. Will be back to work on the run part.

From my 2/13/09 blog

It’s technically my day off from the gym but you know I can’t stay away from my routine. I’m working on my push-ups; still sore from a couple of days ago. It was a long day period but I got all of the push-ups in.

My tribe mates are gettin’ their push-ups in!! GO ANJ NICOLE KAMA TRACEY LORI AND DEB!!!!!!! I love it.

So I’m sitting here thinking about Valentines Day past and V-day future. My honey is acting strange. Don’t know what he’s up to yet. I know that I don’t want 40+ socks - ANJ!!!!!! And I don’t think it’s a ring Nicky !!!! We just can’t afford a ring right now.

From today's blog:
This is quick guys!!! I have a yoga class to go back to GUESSSSSSSS WHATTT??? I did something I thought I could never do I ran on the treadmill!!

My first real run 1 MILE IN 9:30 MINUTES! I did it at 6.8 the whole time - I don’t know if it’s fast or slow! ACTUALLY I DON’T CARE!!!!!!! ALL I KNOW IS I AM MY OWN SUPERSTAR!! I CONQUERED A FEAR! YES A RUNNING FEAR!!! I have to go back to yoga now!! Will be back to update!! BOOOTIEEE BOUNCEE!!!

POST GYM UPDATE!

Whew just got back from they gym. This is what happened, I didn’t want to leave my bed and Rod to go to the gym although I knew I needed to. So 5 minutes before Step I raced to 24HRs. Got there and Villia wasn’t there. So I decided to do the elliptical for 30 minutes. After I was done with that the treadmill was calling my name. I decided what the hell and went for it. I guess I didn’t have enough faith in myself! I did the run of 1 but didn’t want to do more because I’m not a runner - EVER! So we will see if I will try it again tomorrow.

Almost forgot, will be back to set my goal for the run portion.

Proper Form for Pushups - Push Ups For exercise completion, move curser over picture. 1. In correct posture, lie stomach down with your weight supported by your hands and feet. If you can’t successfully perform 15 repetitions, support your weight by your hands and knees. 2. Keep your abdominal muscles tight, shoulders down and chest up. 3. Under control, lower your body weight. Stop when your elbow joints are in line with your shoulders and reverse the motion back up. 4. Push your body weight up, while focusing on bringing your elbows together. 5. Stop just before your elbow joints are straight and reverse the motion back down. Muscles Benefited: Pectoralis major and minor, triceps, and deltoids.[/IMG]

Do Push Ups To Build Muscle Mass And Boost Metabolism

Having spent many years doing many different workouts involving weights, cardiovascular machines, and calisthenics, I determined that the best way to build mass and boost metabolism is by doing pushups. Lots of pushups! After less than three months training, I was able to complete a one-thousand pushup routine in exactly 80 minutes. I gained 15 lbs of solid muscle mass, lost a considerable amount of body fat and consistently ate 5000-6000 calories daily.

Calisthenics, like pull-ups and pushups, are commonly avoided because they can be extremely painful. Because strength training exercises are typically anaerobic, with few exceptions, the body produces a high amount of lactic acid, thus causing a burning sensation in the muscles. Coupled with physical and mental exhaustion, an abundance of lactic acid can persuade even the hardest of athletes to give it a rest. Remember that your body will prevail, as long as you maintain your mental strength.

To begin, I would recommend a routine consisting of no more than 100-200 pushups, spread out over an entire day. Break them down into even sets, of say 20 pushups per set. Whenever you feel confident in yourself, drop to the floor and pound out a quick set. If 20 pushups are too many when you begin, then do more sets consisting of fewer repetitions per set. Do not concern yourself with the amount of time it takes to complete the first few workouts, just make sure you drink a lot of water and eat a lot of high protein food throughout the day. The day following your first pushup workout, your chest, stomach, shoulders and legs will be sore. It will become apparent just how many muscle groups are worked when doing pushups. Take 2-3 days rest.

The secret to building the endurance strength necessary to do extremely large numbers of repetitions is to strategize with your own body. The workouts need to be strategically spaced apart and sometimes stacked together to maximize results.

The second workout should be the same as the first, however do not take a 2-3 day rest after the workout. Instead of taking a long break, work out every other day, until you no longer get sore the day after. It may take a few weeks in order to be comfortable doing 200 pushups every other day. Do not lose sight of your goal. Remember that pain is a result of muscle wear and recovery, and should mentally represent progress, not a limitation. It will never go away, but it will greatly diminish over time as your body adjusts.

The third stage requires that you compress your workout into a set time interval. For the sake of example, let's say one hour. Find a comfortable number of repetitions that you feel that you will be able to repeat until you have reached your daily goal of 200 pushups. In this example, we'll do 10 repetitions. This workout will consist of 20 sets of 10 repetitions. 20 sets, evenly divided across 60 minutes means that you will need to do one set of 10 pushups every three minutes. Make sure that whatever goal you choose is achievable, and also poses a challenge. Repeat this routine every other day, until it becomes comfortable.

Because your muscles will quickly become fatigued doing calisthenics, it is very difficult to continually add more reps or sets to your workout. The easiest and most successful method [in my opinion] for building endurance is stacking workouts. By stacking, I mean completing the same workout more than one time in less than a 24 hour period. During the fourth stage, complete a 200 pushup routine in the morning and in the evening, followed by a day of rest. Once again, just like the previous stages, do this routine until your body becomes comfortable- this should only take a couple of weeks. At which point, you will complete the workout stacking, by coupling the two sessions into one two-hour session, consisting of 40 sets of 10 pushups, totaling 400 pushups. My buildup workouts include two sessions of 300-500 pushups apiece, followed by a day of rest. Note that you should not work the same muscle group two days in a row without rest. This method gave my body time to rest and refuel between sessions without going completely into recovery mode.

If your body responds quickly and you start to build considerable muscle mass in a short period of time, which I'm sure you will, the next thing to do is increase the number of repetitions per set and decrease the amount of time between sets. I would recommend a goal of 25-30 reps per set, beginning one set every 2 minutes. If done gradually, the workout compression can be very smooth and your 400-pushup routine can be completed in 32 minutes. It sounds very difficult, but it is achievable.

Now that you have the tools; timing your sets, timing your workouts and adding reps, you can pull the strings and make the workout work for you. If you have any difficulty in any particular aspect that prevents further gains, use the other techniques to manipulate your body into cooperating. For example, if you cannot add more reps to your sets, do more sets, or if you cannot do more sets, do two larger workouts spaced apart from one another.

Two important things to remember when doing mass building exercises such as pushups are; drink lots of water and eat lots of high protein food throughout the day. When doing my one-thousand pushup routine, I drink at least one full gallon of water daily to avoid dehydration and joint fatigue. Good luck!

LINK TO AN AWESOME VIDEO!!

How To Do Push Ups (Sports & Fitness: Perfect Biceps & More...)

Another Great article

How To Do Pushups And Build Beautiful Arms
If you want sexy arms and defined triceps, you need to do pushups, not triceps pushdowns. This will help you get nice arms, and avoid batwings.

You want nice arms, master the pushup.

You want to pass your physical recruitment test for the police academy or military, master the pushup.

You want to push other athletes around on the court or field (within the rules, of course!), master the push-up.

You want to be mobile, athletic, lean, and sexy? Master the advanced pushup variations.

If you can't do a pushup, start with these 3 basic steps. If you can do a bunch and want to take it to the next level, see the 3 advanced steps below.

Beginner 3-step progression for push-ups.

i) Kneeling Pushups
Start with 1 set of 8 if you are a beginner. Add 2 reps each workout for the first week, so that you are at 1 set of 12 after 3 workouts.

In the next week, add 1 set each workout, so that you are at 3 sets of 12 by the end of the week. Then try for 3 sets of 15 the next workout.

The problem with kneeling pushups is that you can only get so strong. Eventually, you'll be able to do 15 kneeling pushups, but you still won't be able to do a full pushup...so onto the Incline Pushup.

ii) Incline Pushups on Smith Machine
Set the smith machine bar at chest height. Stand about 2-3 feet away from the bar. Lean forward and grab the bar with an overhand grip. Keep the balls of your feet on the ground and lower your chest to the bar.

Do 3 sets of 8 repetitions per workout.

Each workout, lower the bar one notch on the Smith Machine until you get to the lowest rung. You're almost at full pushups now!

iii) Push up Holds
But you still might not be able to do more than 1 or 2. So let's get stronger where we are weaker - at the bottom.

From the top of the pushup position, lower your body slowly (for 2 seconds) to the bottom position.

Hold this position for 5 seconds.

Then slowly lower your body all the way to the floor, drop to your knees and then get back up to the full pushup position.

Do 3 sets of 3 repetitions of the 5 second hold.

Add 1 repetition each workout until you are up to 3 sets of 6. By now, you should be able to crank out quite a few pushups.

Advanced Pushups

Here's a progression to build you up to the Spiderman Pushups...

i) Pushups with Your Feet on the Ball

ii) T-Pushups

iii) Spiderman Pushups

These are advanced pushups, and will require photos, video, or personal instruction.

You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable) and references and copyright info.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training for Fat Loss have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Turbulence Training for Fat Loss workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig's bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

Article Source: Craig Ballantyne - EzineArticles.com Expert Author