Christie challenged me to tackle the hundredpushups.com challenge. I looked at the website. "Bah!" I scoffed. "I can do 2 push ups, then 3 push ups and then two more sets of two! This will be cake!"
Now it had been a while since I had received formal push-up training, and the site's instructions of proper form left me with questions. So I consulted my brother, Second Lieutenant McArmy. I figure he qualifies as an expert since part of his job description includes yelling at ROTC boys until they do these things correctly, and since he informs me he can do 78 push-ups in 2 minutes.
He said how wide or narrow my arms were doesn't matter, and I rejoiced, since a wider grip means more shoulder-chest focus (which I have) and less tricep work (my triceps are kinda puny).
Then came the trick.
I have been informed that for a push up to count, I have to "break the plane". For those of you not in the Army, this means I must lower myself until my elbows go past my shoulder blades. Since watching me do this would be laughable at this point, the Second Lieutenant agreed to pose:
Breaking the plane:
Not breaking the plane:
This makes things a lot more difficult. I can currently do about two "plane breaking" push ups, and then I go back to my elbows only getting to about 60-90 degrees. Baby steps.
No comments:
Post a Comment