OHPU – W1D3

SET 1 – 4 push ups

SET 2 – 5 push ups

SET 3 – 4 push ups

SET 4 – 4 push ups

SET 5 – 7 push ups

TOTAL – 24 push ups

OHPU – W1D2

I started the one hundred push ups program on Monday with a very light workout that surprisingly gave me LOTS of muscle pain. The aching hadn’t quite subsided today which gave me a feeling that my efforts were paying off. So, today I was happy to continue with the program. Here’s my workout for day 2:

SET 1 – 3 push ups

SET 2 – 4 push ups

SET 3 – 2 push ups

SET 4 – 3 push ups

SET 5 – 6 push ups

TOTAL – 18 push ups

Lotus 507

I may seem like an exercise freak – and I am. I have always loved cycling. Even back in the day when I had to cycle back and forth on the parking place of our building because my mom wouldn’t let me go farther than that. Not surprisingly, I have also always dreamt of getting my own exercise bike. Well, guess what I just got today..

Say hello to Kettler Lotus 507:

Lotus arrived in a gigantic cardboard box – in roughly three gazillion pieces. There are no words to describe how proud I am of myself for actually assembling it on my own without ending up with something that could only be called a piece of modern art. Instead, with only a minimal amount of cursing, I managed to create an actual, working exercise bike. A bike that measures my heart rate, the amount of calories I’ve burned, my speed, the imaginary distance I’ve traveled and – most importantly – my level of fitness through analyzing my recovery heart rate after each exercise session. Today I got an F3. On a scale of F1 to F6 – F1 being the best – that is actually a bit above average. I’m quite happy with that.

So now, thanks to Lotus, I’ve got yet another type of exercise to choose from. I’ll still be continuing with my running and walking but now that winter is approaching I find it important that I have certain exercises – like push ups and cycling – that I can do here at home.

OHPU – W1D1

No, that’s not the cat walking over my keyboard. OHPU – W1D1 is short for one hundred push ups – week 1, day 1.

So, anyhow, today was my first attempt at this “sport”. Just like running, I failed in my first attempt and actually took failure to a level that could only be described as phenomenal. But I’ve more or less mastered running so I’m sure this thing will eventually get easier as well. Here are my achievements for the day:

SET 1 – 2 push ups

SET 2 – 3 push ups

SET 3 – 2 push ups

SET 4 – 2 push ups

SET 5 – 3 push ups

TOTAL – 12 push ups

Looking forward to day 2 on Wednesday!

As Close To Impossible As It Gets

Last night, while I was staying awake, listening to my neighbor throw a party for probably absolutely no reason whatsoever, I bumped into this website.

One hundred push ups. There’s something that seems so impossible for me to reach that I absolutely have to give it a try. I’m all in all quite strong and even muscular in away, but for some reason I completely lack the kind of muscle power that push ups require. But it’s not like I’m going to let that stop me. No way.

So, today I started working towards my impossible goal. I decided that I best fit into level one and did five sets of push ups – totaling to 12 push ups. Twelve! That’s like nothing. Especially since I cheated enormously due to the fact that there was a cat standing under my belly. And the fact that I. Just. Could. Not. Do. It.

But it will get easier. Eventually. At least I’m going to keep trying. The program seems easy enough for me to follow. And there’s even a simple tool for logging those push ups.

I’ll keep you posted!

Day 26

71.1 kg

I ran my first ever mile today. First. Ever.

My New Toy

SUUNTO t3c

I’ve always been a gadget freak and even though I’ve still got plenty of motivation left to exercise I thought I’d spice things up a bit by getting myself a new heart rate monitor – Suunto t3c.

“designed to make your training as beneficial and enjoyable as possible”

I bought my heart rate monitor in a so called multisport pack which also included another cool toy – a GPS POD. Together these two devices allow me to measure the calories I burn, monitor my heart rate to make sure my training is as efficient as possible, track my speed and the distances I run/walk as well as log my training history. Additionally, I can transfer all this information onto my computer for further analysis.

“a device that can grow with you as your fitness improves”

I tested my new toy for the first time yesterday and I must say that I pretty much fell in love with it. It’s easy to use and it truly does help me to get some sort of idea how well I’m doing. I love to take long walks but at times it’s a bit difficult to estimate my pace. Walking in a beautiful scenery can make me sink into my own thoughts which then leads me to slow down my pace. But that is not going to be a problem anymore! Now I can see my actual speed at all times and adjust my pace accordingly. And it was nice to see that I was actually going quite fast today.

I’m going to keep logging my exercises with Suunto Training Manager and will post regular updates of my thoughts and discoveries as I gain more understanding on this device.

Weekly Wrap-Up – Exercise, Exercise, Exercise!

It’s week number two and my weight has been going up and down, up and down. Fortunately a bit more down than up – as you can see in the above picture. It’s my weight log from Calorie Count – a service I found through Chronicles of the Battle of Bulge. The blue line is my actual weight; the green one my weight loss trend.

This week has been challenging in many ways and as a result my mood has been on the same roller coaster as my weight. I’ve had some rough days but towards the end of the week things in my personal life started to look more promising. But before jumping optimistically into the hopefully more steady going roller coaster of next week, I’m going to write down a thought or two.