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Why Does It Have To Be So Hard?!?!

[ 11 ] 03/04/2011 |


I am doing the 100 push up challenge.

I did my initial test and guess who couldn’t do one military push up? Yep, that would be me. Not one stinking military push up!! I was totally ticked off. I have been working out faithfully for a few months now. Why can’t I do one military push up?

I moved on to the girlie style push up. I could do 13. Better than the military style, but still not great. So I did the wall push ups next. These are the kind I’ve been doing at boot camp. I could do 43. I was standing three feet from the wall to do them which makes them harder. Obviously my best attempt, but not military style.

Why do I keep mentioning military style push ups? I think it’s because I’m feeling like a total failure. It’s embarrassing to get on here and say that I can’t do one rotten military push up. I’m overweight and one of the older sisters, but that shouldn’t mean that this is beyond my abilities.

I was emailing back and forth with Christy (my spring challenge buddy) and she was saying how hard the push ups were to do when she watched the demo on the 100 push up site. She said she thought a lot of people would have trouble if they were watching the demo and then doing the push ups. Could that be why I couldn’t do the military push up? I watched the demo and did them or didn’t do them exactly like they showed.

Truth be known, I have no idea why I can’t do a military style push up. But, I have a plan. I think that if I work on the other styles first, by the end of the challenge I’ll be able to do the military. I ranked a 1 for military push ups and the site said that if you ranked a 1, you may want to consider a different style push up. I’m going to consider the other two styles. If I start with the wall and work my way up to the girlie, I should be able to finish with the military. Right???

Is it just me or is anyone else having trouble with push ups?

Christy said that I would be doing military push ups before I knew it. I sure hope she’s right. But, why does it have to be so hard?!?!?!

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Category: Fitness, MOVE IT, Spring Into Action, The Sisterhood

About Nancy: I'm a 57 year old wife, mom and grammy. I've been married for 38 years and have four daughters and three grandchildren. I've been chosen to be the mature voice of the Sisterhood and I couldn't be more excited. My passions are my family, photography and my new found enthusiasm for fitness and weight loss. View author profile.

  • Anonymous

    I know you can get to the military push-ups. I’d say start with the girlie push-ups. You can already do 13 of those!!! That’s a great starting place. and kiss that wall good-bye!!!

  • Anonymous

    It’s hard because push-ups are the devil. Personally, I think you should start with the girlies. If you are already doing 40+ wall push-ups, you really won’t be challenging yourself to get to 100. I was at 15 girlies, so you are not too far behind me!

  • Astokes83

    Keep trying and you’ll get there! Try to add one military push up to your routine and add on to that every other day :) Thats the only way I’ve ever been able to do it… speaking of which, reading this just motivated me to start again :) Thanks!

  • http://twitter.com/Doritos4Bkfast Ms Sky

    I hate push ups, arm moves in general. I think most of my fat is stored there haha so that’s what makes those hard. The legs are usually more toned and squats and so on are very easy for me.

  • http://christy.shrinkingjeans.net Christy_TheSistherhood

    I think women, in general, tend to be very weak in their core and upper body. Remember that pushups are not just for arms, but also core strengthening.

    I say you should go with the girlie push-ups for the challenge and go from there. Maybe after a couple of weeks you can start out trying a military push-up and then drop to your knees if you’re unable to maintain proper form. That’s what I tend to do when I’m doing push-ups and there’s no shame, Nancy!!!

  • https://plainolegrandmaislosingit.wordpress.com Adah

    I’m right there with you Nancy…I ecked out 5 military style when I did the test but I’m not so sure my form was correct and I still hurt from doing those 5 on Wednesday morning. So I decided to start with the girlie ones and work up from there! Us Grandma’s can do it….we just do it a little slower than some of the younger sisters!

  • http://twitter.com/girlsworld Kirsten

    Nancy, don’t fret. Seriously. Do what you can to get your strength up by doing the pushups in a different way. You’ll get there if you just keep on working on them.

    Me, on the other hand, I can’t figure out why I can do them when so many other folks do so much more weight/strength training than I do.

  • Christieo

    Nancy, a year ago I could do like 5. Then over the summer 7. Now 17 and I don’t know where on earth it came from, it just does! I’m w the others, start w girlie than throw in a try at the militaryy. I know you’ll get there!

  • Nancy

    Okay, you have convinced me. I’m going with the girlie and hope that by the end of the challenge, I’ll be doing at least a few military push ups. No more wall push ups, even at boot camp. Thanks for the encouragement.

  • Anonymous

    The last (and first) time I started the 100 pushup program I could not do a single military pushup either. I did not finish the program (I think I got about 1/2 way through) doing the girlie style pushups. At that point I was able to do 3!

    I am opting to do this challenge doing incline pushups from my stairs. I put a picture on my website. It’s hard and I’m struggling, but I want to push myself.

    You’ll get there!

  • http://twitter.com/mymadakaja Tami

    Nancy, I have the same problem! Let’s take Christy’s advise and work our way up!