Conclusion of 100 Push-Ups Challenge

Our 100 Push-Ups Challenge at work is DONE! No more having to do push-ups until fatigue (or rather, muscle failure) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week! So, on our final day where everyone showed up to see the results of our training, my grand total was....75 consecutive push-ups (then 25 modified to get to 100). 60-80 seemed to be about the range that most people were getting into. There were two men in class who did get to the full hundred...actually they both did 101, just for bragging rights, probably.

I knew going into today that it probably wasn't physically possible for me to get to 100. When I got to 75, I was almost tempted to try to get to 80, but I'm not sure I could have even done 76 without face-planting, so I stopped with a nice number of 75. On one hand, it's disappointing to not reach the end goal of a training program, but on the other hand, who would have thought that I could have done 75 consecutive push-ups in my life?!

My thoughts on the 100 Push-Ups training program are that it makes significant changes in your upper body strength and makes a regular set of push-ups seem like a total piece of cake. I still don't see how someone can be expected to get to 100 after only have gone up to 60 push-ups in the training program. That seemed to be the consensus of the class participants when I polled them today: that the program was great and hugely enhanced their upper body strength and push-up ability (the attendance in the class alone spoke to that), but they didn't see how in just 8 weeks of training they could be expected to pull off 100 push-ups. I would really be curious to see if someone kept repeating the last few weeks of the program, could they ultimately get to 100?

When I asked participants for their feedback on the program, another big comment I saw was that people were shocked that push-ups alone could tone their arms as much as they do and build up that much strength in a short time period. Yep, that's the beauty and benefit of body weight workouts--they're tough, they're multi-joint exercises, and they get the entire body involved. We know push-ups most obviously work the chest, triceps and shoulders, but whoever says they don't work everything from your back, to your core, to your legs, clearly hasn't done this program!

I recorded everyone's initial push-up test numbers and then everyone's final number today. Here's the breakdown:

Participant average of initial push-ups on 7/11/12: 33
Participant average of final push-ups on 8/29/12: 71

I would say that's a program success!!! Most people doubled their total number of push-ups...which, if you take into consideration that this was only in an 8 week time frame, that's incredible!!

On that note, I'm off to bed....we have to leave our house to catch our flight to Florida in 5 hours...yep 4am. Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

100 Push-up Challenge this week!!

(Thanks to my husband for his mad photoshop skills.)

Eight weeks ago, we kicked off the "100 Push-ups Challenge" class at work. Last Friday marked the end of the training program. We did 8 sets of push-ups that day, according to the training program by Steve Speirs: 20-20-22-22-18-18-18-60. Yep. We ended with SIXTY push-ups. After having already done 138. Surprisingly, we all made it through. I have to admit that on those last mega sets, I purposely start out going a little less far down to the floor--it's like with a long training run where you take off slower than normal in order to make it to the end. Trust me though, my muscles will still tell you that it felt like they were going all the way to the floor.

So, this Wednesday is where we all get together one last time to do the actual challenge. The last time we did one set of as many consecutive push-ups as we could was at the very beginning of the 8-week program. There's been no real test since then as to how far we can go for just one set of push-ups. We shall find out on Wednesday!

I said from the beginning that just by looking at the last week's training schedule, if you can make it through that, than surely you could do just one set of 100 push-ups. But I don't know if I feel any more prepared now. At the end of the day, it's all about improving the number that YOU started with. To go from 25 to 50 push-ups would be incredible for someone, so I'm super excited to see the difference between everyone's initial test and their push-ups on Wednesday!

My Top 10 Healthy Summer Recipes

As summer is winding down, here is a list of my top 10 favorite summer recipes--all mostly healthy too! After #1, they are in no particular order. If you have variations of these recipes, feel free to post those! (Click on the food names to be directed to the websites for those that have actual recipes.)

1. Carrot Cake Protein Pancakes These are seriously un-freakin-believable. I love both carrot cake, pancakes and cream cheese, so put it all together in this recipe and WOW! This is a flour-less recipe with plenty of healthy things packed in: oats, low-fat yogurt, whey protein and tons of carrots obviously. It's very low-fat and low-sugar. These are at my #1 spot for a reason!

2. Lemony Fusilli with Chicken, Zuchinni and Pine Nuts The combination of lemon, basil, zuchinni, pine nuts and a dash of crushed red pepper make a real flavor explosion! I use whole grain pasta.

3. Strawberry Salad with Strawberry-Tarragon Dressing I don't make my own salad dressings very often, but this one is super easy and it makes TONS. I didn't use the exact recipe found here, but it's close enough-- the variation I use is from the book "Forks Over Knives". They have pages of oil-free dressings that still taste very flavorful. You can add chicken or shrimp to this salad if you want some added protein. Blueberries, almonds or red onion make nice additions too.

4. Baked Sweet Potato Fries Who doesn't love these? This recipe is one of the best I've found. Make sure you follow her directions of spacing the sweet potato slices on the cookie sheet without touching, rather than in a pile, otherwise they don't crisp up. (My dog also loves these!)

5. Grilled Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple This is one of my favorite dinner meals of all time. My husband is a master griller, so any of these recipes that involve grilling are his specialty. Just douse chicken breast and pineapple with your favorite teriyaki sauce and put on the grill. I also grill red bell peppers with it. Serve with brown rice, or even mix it all together with the rice.

6. Grilled Chicken and Zucchini. I didn't include a link, because there are many ways you could go with this one. Grill some chicken with your favorite sauce or seasonings. Some of my favorites are fat-free Italian dressing; apple cider vinegar with garlic and other seasonings; or Scotty's Brewhouse MoFo Mustard--just be careful with this one because it is a creamy sauce and heavier on the fat content. As for the zucchini, I toss it with parmesan cheese and I Can't Believe it's Not Butter spray, then put it on the grill. My favorite sides to include with this meal are bi-color corn-on-the-cob and watermelon.

7. Blackberry Oatmeal. This is a simple twist to my normal morning oatmeal. I always use plain oats with water and mix in 1 packet of Splenda rather than using packaged oatmeal---WAY better for you without the added sugar and sodium. In fact, once you get used to plain oats, you will be amazed at how sugary and salty the packets taste when you try them again! For this variation, I mix in fresh blackberries (straight from my Grandma's garden!) and slivered almonds. I like my oatmeal pretty thick, so this ends up tasting just like blackberry cobbler! Perfect comfort food for the morning while still using fresh summer produce.

8. Shrimp Spinach Salad. So many variations for this one. I use fresh spinach, shrimp sauteed with olive oil, garlic and basil, any number of other vegetables and balsamic vinaigrette. Some of my favorite summer vegetables to include in salads are bell peppers, cucumbers and black cherry tomatoes--if you've never tried this version, look for some at your local farmer's market!

9. Fajitas. Enough said. Mexican food is my favorite, so I'm a little biased, but fajitas really are such a great summer recipe and these can always be super-healthy. You can put either chicken or lean skirt steak on the grill to make it the healthiest. It's always best with a sprinkle of cilantro and fresh lime. My favorite salsa for the summer is black bean and corn varieties. Margaritas optional (but highly suggested!) :)

10. Italian Grilled Cheese Now this one is also a great comfort food recipe for winter when you need something warm and gooey. But, the fresh basil and tomato always remind me of summer anytime of the year. To make this healthier, you could use whole grain bread, but honestly, it tastes better with crusty French-style bread. This recipe recommends grilling, but keep in mind that if your bread is really thick, you might want to just stick it all in the oven--otherwise the bread will burn before the cheese and tomato get warm.

Bon appetit!

The Most Important Lesson of the 2012 Olympics

What has been your most inspirational moment so far in the 2012 Olympics? We've certainly had some awe-inspiring stories from the American athletes so far: Michael Phelps beating the record for the most overall medals; Rebecca Soni breaking the 2:20 time barrier for the women's 200m breast stroke; and of course Gabby Douglas--love that girl! But, the first Olympic moment to bring tears to my eyes this year was quite the opposite of a gold medal or shattering another world record.

If you haven't heard the story already, Liu Xiang was the Chinese superstar equivalent to Michael Phelps, but in the 100m hurdles. He missed qualifying for the Beijing Olympics completely, so this was his year to rightfully earn his medal--except he didn't. He tripped after the first hurdle due to an old injury and just like that, his Olympic career was over. But this race wasn't finished yet. He picks himself off the ground and hops, single-foot, to the last hurdle where he gives it a symbolic farewell kiss.

That's perhaps the most important lesson from the Olympics this year and for any race or fitness endeavor of yours. Finish what you start. Crawl, hop, claw your way to the finish line. If you're going out, go out admirably.