Push-ups and Perseverance
My five-year-old son loves to use the word "perseverance." Because of the size of the word and his young age, I asked him one day I asked him if he even knew what that word meant. "It means don't give up!" he answered enthusiastically.
I never doubted his understanding again.
Over the past six weeks, I've done something that has required me to practice perseverance more than possibly ever in my life - a workout routine designed exclusively to increase the number of push-ups I can do in one set to 100. A couple days from now, I will put my body to the test to see if I can make that 100 mark in a single set. I'm honestly much more likely to believe it now than I was when I started!
Six weeks ago, my single-set maximum before my muscles gave out was a total of 16 push-ups. In my first workout with this program, my total after five sets was 37 - not much more than a third of my overall one-set goal.
This morning, my five-set total was 215 push-ups - 178 more than what I was able to do in the first workout. Of those, 53 were done in the first of the five sets - 37 more than what I maxed out at before taking on this challenge!
To add some more perspective, I have recently been in the worst shape of my life, weighing in 20 pounds heavier than my previous heaviest, and over 40 pounds heavier than the best shape I've been in during my adult years. Though I did some intense cycling last spring and summer, I honestly had no idea what my body was capable of. Now, knowing that I could potentially more than sextuple the number of push-ups I could do in a single set over just six weeks, I'm starting to wonder what the limits are for other things in life if I'm simply persistent.
There were several days that I simply didn't want to get up and do my push-ups. With my body not being used to that much rigorous exercise, my muscles would often stay sore for a solid week. My emotions and my stomach both went through some very strange feelings that I often simply didn't like. On one day, my body gave out on me in the middle of a set, which made it necessary for me to redo all five sets later that day. The temptation to simply quit was often overwhelming. However, if I didn't follow through, I would have never known what I was truly capable of.
And that, my friends, is why I'm wanting to blog more regularly, practicing the art of writing and developing a habit of making these posts routine. Too many times recently, my thoughts have seemed like a jumbled mess. I can't tell you how many posts I've started writing and deleting simply because I couldn't figure out how to finish them in any meaningful way. But I'm starting to understand that perfecting any craft ultimately comes down to practicing it, constantly working to achieve the next step, and, as my son would remind me, having perseverance.
I never doubted his understanding again.
Over the past six weeks, I've done something that has required me to practice perseverance more than possibly ever in my life - a workout routine designed exclusively to increase the number of push-ups I can do in one set to 100. A couple days from now, I will put my body to the test to see if I can make that 100 mark in a single set. I'm honestly much more likely to believe it now than I was when I started!
Six weeks ago, my single-set maximum before my muscles gave out was a total of 16 push-ups. In my first workout with this program, my total after five sets was 37 - not much more than a third of my overall one-set goal.
This morning, my five-set total was 215 push-ups - 178 more than what I was able to do in the first workout. Of those, 53 were done in the first of the five sets - 37 more than what I maxed out at before taking on this challenge!
To add some more perspective, I have recently been in the worst shape of my life, weighing in 20 pounds heavier than my previous heaviest, and over 40 pounds heavier than the best shape I've been in during my adult years. Though I did some intense cycling last spring and summer, I honestly had no idea what my body was capable of. Now, knowing that I could potentially more than sextuple the number of push-ups I could do in a single set over just six weeks, I'm starting to wonder what the limits are for other things in life if I'm simply persistent.
There were several days that I simply didn't want to get up and do my push-ups. With my body not being used to that much rigorous exercise, my muscles would often stay sore for a solid week. My emotions and my stomach both went through some very strange feelings that I often simply didn't like. On one day, my body gave out on me in the middle of a set, which made it necessary for me to redo all five sets later that day. The temptation to simply quit was often overwhelming. However, if I didn't follow through, I would have never known what I was truly capable of.
And that, my friends, is why I'm wanting to blog more regularly, practicing the art of writing and developing a habit of making these posts routine. Too many times recently, my thoughts have seemed like a jumbled mess. I can't tell you how many posts I've started writing and deleting simply because I couldn't figure out how to finish them in any meaningful way. But I'm starting to understand that perfecting any craft ultimately comes down to practicing it, constantly working to achieve the next step, and, as my son would remind me, having perseverance.
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