doing the 100

For my age, I consider myself in fairly decent physical shape, and I think my lifestyle affords me a fair amount of exercise.  Walking is my exercise of choice.  I often take evening walks (in all four seasons) to burn off some stress and clear my head, and I also sneak in some short walks on my breaks at work.  Some of my favorite activities, hiking and geocaching, also involve getting outside and moving.  I've never had a gym membership, and I'm not involved in any formal exercise regimen, per se, but I figure I'm doing pretty good just by staying on the move.

However, most of this activity involves cardio and lower body.  I consider myself to have pretty decent leg strength, but I have always been disappointed with my upper body strength.  I have always been a little self-conscious of my stick arms, making me feel like a girlie-man (to be read with the appropriate Austrian accent, of course)!

At risk of sounding conceited, between Jen and I, I always viewed myself the more physically fit of the two... until recently, that is!  With Jen's recent discovery of Zumba, her fitness level has undergone a pretty extreme makeover, leaving me sometimes feeling middle-aged, spongy, and balding.  I'm okay with the balding, I can't do anything about the age... but I can follow her inspiration and work on a little more fitness.  (No, I don't think my body is made to Zumba!)

With that in mind, one of my favorite radio stations recently caught my attention with their "website of the day", when they featured the site titled, "one hundred pushups".  Intrigued, I visited the site and it is just what it sounds like... an online fitness program to build you to 100 consecutive pushups.  I liked the site design.  It is pretty simple, and it isn't written for some muscle-bound jock-type, but the average girlie-man (or woman), like me.  It offers various training levels for age and abilities, and it is designed around a six week (three days per week) schedule (although some training levels may require longer than six weeks).  It discusses variations on the traditional pushup for those who may have physical limitations, and it assesses your starting level with an "exhaustion test", which is simply, "how many consecutive pushups can you currently do?"  Throughout the program, a retake of the exhaustion test is built in, to make sure you are continuing to train at the appropriate level.

Now, I don't know about you, but I can't drop and do 100!  And, frankly, (no offense) I don't think I really know many people who could.  But, it would be kinda cool...

So, I decided to take the 100 challenge!  Why not?  Pushups are a natural exercise, you can do them anywhere, they're free, and they target my girlie-man lack of upper body strength.

I'm in my second week.  I figured if I went public with my pushups, it's harder to quit, right?  I won't tell you where my starting level was... but it was a long way from 100!  I think it may take me a little longer than six weeks, but that's okay... I've already increased my number, and I'm only investing a few minutes, three days per week.

So, how about you, blog reader... can you drop and do 100?  Wouldn't you like to?  Any takers on the 100 pushup challenge?  Let me know in the comment section if you decide to take the challenge!  I'll let you know when I complete my 100!

By the way, there is also a site for two hundred situps.  Hmmm... after I reach the 100 pushups, maybe I should work on some ab flab...

Zumba addiction

48 pounds. 4 pants sizes. 2010. One word: Wow!

I'm really proud of my wife. With the births of three kids over the course of eight years, my wife's body hasn't been "hers" for quite some time. But, barring the miraculous or supernatural, we are pretty sure we have closed the book on family additions.  (Well, we have considered a puppy, but that doesn't count!)  She's now reclaiming some of her youthfulness.

She's not doing it for me, or anyone else... she's doing it for herself. She's like a completely new person... and I don't mean just outwardly. She has much greater self-esteem, and she says she feels better than she has in years.

What's her method? Two things:

1. She has a modified view of food after completing a self-study Bible course titled, The Lord's Table.
2. She discovered a form of exercise that she loves, called Zumba.

She has a final goal in mind for 2011, and she hopes to hit it by her birthday in July. I'm pretty confident that she will.  If she does, she has a vision of hosting a Zumba party, at our home, with her Zumba instructor and a yard full of dancing friends. I'm pretty sure the neighbors have never seen anything like that, but I think it's a great way to celebrate 35 years and a job well done... and expose others to the health benefits of her new Zumba addiction!