Tag: Muscle Building

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202 Squats Week One Update

Thursday, August 29th, Day Two:  I did one set of 20 before work, my thighs were still pretty this morning. I did several more sets of 20 throughout the workday. My thighs started getting really sore once I passed a hundred reps. All full squats today, no weights. I hit 202 by 6:00pm and I’m going to enjoy resting up for the night until morning. The last set was murder on my thighs. Still nothing in the Glutes.

Friday, August 30th, Day Three:  My thighs screamed as I swung my legs out of bed this morning. Ignoring them, I did a set of 30 and a set of 20 before work. Throughout the day, I did sets of 25 and a single set of 32. I had my 202 reps in by 4:30pm. I did not do any more squats, but I did do some lunges and some stretches, held a yoga “Warrior II” pose on each leg for several minutes, and that seemed to sooth and soften my thigh muscles, which were beginning to feel like stones under my skin.  

Saturday, August 31st, Day Four: Again, my thighs were very sore upon waking. Still no pain or even slight burn in the glutes at this point.  I did a set of 30 in the morning, against the protest of my thigh muscles. For my second set of the day, I managed a set of 42 by shifting my balance.  I’d been balancing mostly on the balls of my feet. By shifting my balance to my heels, it alleviated some of the stress on my thighs and I could feel more pull in my glutes. I did a third set of 40 reps.  
So far all my reps have been into a seated position, as if there were an invisible chair behind me. For the last 60 reps I did full squats, into a crouch, my ass nearly touching the floor at the lowest point. I did these reps slowly in a set of 25, one of 20, and the final set of 15.

Sunday, September 1st, Day Five:  My thighs weren’t sore when I got out of bed, but they protested immediately when I did my first squat of the day. I did small sets spaced far apart. Every single rep was a chore. I barely got my 202 in before bed.

Monday, September 2nd, Labor Day, Day Six: Lazy day. Paid, off work, I just wanted to crash on the couch and watch movies I’d already seen ten times all day. I waited until 4:00pm to do my first set, and I did a set of 52. I did another 50 at 4:30, 7:00, and 8:00.

Tuesday, September 3rd, Day Seven: First day back at work after a three day weekend.  I did a set of 50 in the morning, a set of 50 on first and last break, and a set of 52 sandwiched in the middle at lunch. I had my 202 in by 3:30pm, before I’d done my first rep as compared to the previous day. When I got home from work, I did some additional leg exercises, but no squats, and no lunges, because my thighs just wouldn’t have it.  I did some weighted toe lifts, single and dual leg with the 40lb pack. I did hip thrusts, lifting the pack off the floor and holding it at an arch with my pelvis, and some non-weighted side-lying leg lifts, in sets of 50 repetitions on each leg, up to 200 per leg.
I don’t see any drastic changes the way I did with my chest on the push-up challenge.  I have gained another five pounds in the past week and my pants aren’t fitting any tighter. I actually want them to, I’d like to build up the musculature around my waist so I don’t have to wear a belt to keep my size 30 jeans from falling down past my lack of an ass. My thighs feel more solid, to the touch, and also just in general. While I can’t see my muscles growing, or the shape of my legs changing, I can feel strength in my legs that wasn’t there before.

Physically, it feels … weird. My musculature, I mean. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like I’m having a seat inside of myself. Like I’m sitting down inside of a robotic exoskeleton. Yes, yes, I know. Please forgive the dramatic description. I don’t think I’m becoming super-human, or part robot. But I’m a writer, first, before everything else. So I’m using the robotic exoskeleton as a metaphor for the way I feel now, versus the way I felt previously. I would obviously lose badly in a fight with someone wearing an actual robotic exoskeleton. Especially now, with how sore I am and all.

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202 Push-Ups Update

I finished out day 6 with 520 total reps.  Ten of them were with my forty-pound backpack on. 

Tuesday, August 13th, Day 7: I did one set of 50 when I woke up, and a set of 55 before I left for work.  I snuck in two sets before first break without my pack, and two sets with the pack on each break and lunch. I averaged 35 per set with the pack on, without it I did sets of 45. At the end of the work day I had 420.  

I did several sets at home and finished the day with 550.  None of those were with the forty-pound pack. 

Wednesday, August 14th, Day 8: I did two sets of 50 and a set of 45 before leaving for work.  I did two sets before break of 45 each. On break, with the twenty-pound pack, I did two sets of 40, bringing me to 310 at the end of first break.  I did two sets of 50 on lunch with the twenty-pound pack, and on last break I struggled to bring my workday-end total to 505. I was trying to hit 520, but  I collapsed onto my chest at 15 reps on the last set with the pack on.  That was at 3:45pm. At 6:20pm I did a set of 30. I was going for 50, but couldn’t make it.  At 8:00 I did my final set of the night. I managed to add 25 pushups, bringing my daily total to 560. The forty-pound pack was not used on the eighth day. 

My chest, upper arms, and back were all very sore. They were mildly sore when I woke up and became increasingly sore throughout the day with each new set of reps. I am curious to see if this trend of steadily increasing my daily output can continue.

By doing an extra set of reps before I left for work, I was hoping to increase my maximum output for the day. But it seems that I’m only going to get a certain number of reps in for a given day whether I get them out of the way early or squeeze them in before bed. I just tire out more quickly and am able to do less and less reps per set as the day wears on when I do more reps early in the day. 

Thursday, August 15th, Day 9:  I had to pull back on the reigns on the ninth day. My last set of the night on day 8 was cut short by a sharp pain in my lower left abdomen during the pushups. I was hoping that would resolve itself overnight, but it did not. The sharp pain persisted into my morning set. Also, my upper arms and chest were still pretty sore. I limited sets to 30 on day 9, didn’t use either backpack, skipped extra sets. I finished the work day with 270 reps.  I did a set of 30 at 7:00pm, and another at 8:30pm, bringing the grand total for day 9 to 330 reps. The first day I didn’t surpass the day before, and I fell short quite a bit. But, I’m still over 202, so I consider that a win. 

Friday, August 16th, Day 10: I did a set of 40 in the morning. It was exhausting and aggravated the tennis elbow I’ve had in my left elbow since before I started the challenge. Previously, the push ups didn’t seem to bother it, but on the tenth day, it became bothered. I didn’t use the pack this day, did short sets, and finished the day with 303. 

Saturday, August 17th, Day 11: The eleventh day was a fail.  I didn’t hit 202. I only got in 125 pushups. 

Sunday, August 18th, Day 12, the last day: I did more than on day 11, but I didn’t get to 202. I finished the day with 156.

So, it’s time to hang it up. My left elbow is killing me, my muscles are fatigued and won’t perform. It’s time to rest up, heal up, and try again. I went too hard, too fast this time. Next time I’ll start slower. I’ll stick to the plan instead of trying to push it every day, save my energy so I’ll have the stamina to go the full month. 

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202 Pushups A Day

One of my favorite movies is The Pirate Movie, made in 1982, starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol. Ted Hamilton played The Pirate King.  I recently learned he was 45 when he played that role, the same age I am now. There is a scene in that movie where he’s flexing his muscles for Mabel, Kristy McNichol’s character, and he says, “202 … push-ups a day.”

Wednesday, August 7th, I woke up and decided I was going to do 202 push-ups a day for a month.
On that first day,  I did a set of 30 when I first woke up, and another set of 27 just before leaving for work. On first break, I used the private phone room and, wearing my backpack, which weighs about twenty pounds, I did a set of 20 when I went on break. Then I walked two laps around the parking lot, and did another set of 20 before going back to work.
I did the same thing on lunch and last break. When I came home, I did a final set of 35 without the backpack, finishing out at 212. I’d surpassed my goal on the first day.  I was extremely sore, and expected to struggle to get to 202 the next day.

Thursday, August 8th, day two:  I did a single set of 40 before leaving for work. My sets on breaks and lunch varied from 25 to 35. My final set before bed on Thursday brought me to 247. My entire chest felt like one huge bruise. I doubted I’d be able to match that number the next day. I was worried I’d barely be able to do ten my first set of the morning.

Friday, August 9th, day three: I didn’t feel sore in the morning. I did a set of 40 when I woke up and another set of 40 before work. Unbelievably, there was an unmistakable change in the general shape of my shoulders and chest. I stared at myself in the mirror, running my hands along my chest, and decided I wasn’t imagining it. It was only day three, but I was already seeing results.
I continued my pattern of two sets per break in the private rooms, bookending laps around the parking lot. I had 275 total reps in by the time I left work. By 6:00pm I had 310 reps in and I thought it would be silly not to go for double or nothing. I got a total of 404 before bed.

Saturday, August 10th, day four: Unbound by the workday schedule, I was able to just drop and do as many push-ups as I could every hour or two. I didn’t wear the backpack for any of the reps on this day. I still struggled to match Friday’s numbers, and forced out 405 before bed.

Sunday August 11th, day five: Skipped the backpack again for the day. Able to do sets of 45 more regularly. Did one set of 55 after waiting four hours between sets. My last set before bed brought me to 417 reps total for the day.

Monday, August 12th, day six, today: My polo shirt fits differently than it did before. Fabric is laying against skin that’s not used to having fabric against it. My clothes feel weird on me. This seems insanely impossible on day six, I really didn’t expect to notice any results until later in the month. I managed a set of 50 when I woke up, and another set of 50 before leaving for work. I detoured to the private room on my way to the restroom at around 9:00am and did a set of 45. Two sets on break, with the pack on, a set of 40 and one of 35. So I was at 220 by the end of first break.  I took some time off today and left before lunch.  
By 5:30pm I had 370 reps in. I managed a full set of 50 at 6:00pm. At this point, I was at 420. It would be silly not to go for 505.

I was expecting this to be a 202 push-up a day challenge. I thought it would be difficult to do 202 push-ups every day for a month, and I thought, at least for the first week, it would be hard to hit the number daily. I’m surprised by these results, but I’m going to roll with it. The new challenge is to continue as I have been, seeing how many push-ups I can do each day. The new expiration date on the challenge is whenever it stops being effective.

As of 7:30pm, I have my 505 reps in for the day.  I’ll do more before I go to bed. I also loaded a backpack up with 40lbs of weights wrapped in a bath towel. I’m going to strap that on and see if I can do a set of ten. I’ve been doing squats with it. The funny thing is, even with the backpack on, I still weigh less than I did a little over a year ago.

Some notes: I have been eating a lot. I’m constantly hungry. I don’t know how many calories I’ve been eating a day because I haven’t been counting. The only thing I really try to do is avoid an excess of carb calories, especially simple carbs, especially processed sugars. But I haven’t been doing a good job of avoiding those the past few days. I’m not taking any protein supplements; I’m not taking any performance enhancers.
I have been eating a lot of meat, nuts and beans. My diet has been high protein, high potassium, high iron, b vitamins, and vitamin C.

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