Push-Ups

It seems like a theme of violence is emerging in the early stages of this blog. So it is appropriate to address the topic of physical fitness. If you want to be able to defend yourself or kick some ass when necessary, you need to be physically fit.

The push-up is the ultimate test of personal fitness. It requires no equipment, very little time, and it's nothing but you and your own body weight.

Back in March of this year, the New York Times had a good article on the importance of the push-up: "As a symbol of health and wellness, nothing surpasses the simple push-up." According to the article, a 40-year old man should be able to do 27 push-ups. I'm 29 and can currently do 45 consecutive push-ups.

For the past 5 weeks, I've been working on a 6 week program that claims anyone who follows the program will be able to do 100 consecutive push-ups upon completion. I'm not so sure I'll actually make it that far by the end of week 6 (I've been struggling with weeks 4 & 5 and will probably repeat week 5 before moving on), but I have noticed considerable improvement in my strength and endurance. The program only takes about 15 minutes a day, 3 days a week. I suggest everyone check out hundredpushups.com and give it a try.

If you take the challenge, let me know how it goes.
I'll update my progress in the comments.

Next time: Pull-ups.