Finding a Benchmark
Last night, as part of my goal to mix up my gym work, I decided to see how many pushups and squats I could do.
The big room with the mats was unfortunately very hot; the air conditioning either wasn't on or could in no way keep up with the sudden rise in temperature we had yesterday. So that was an additional challenge, but I drank water between each set and mopped up my sweat.
I ended up doing 10 sets; each set alternated 10 pushups with 10 squats. I did them at a fairly brisk pace; I wanted a bench mark, not to see how hard I could make the activity. At the end, I did not feel like I was approaching muscle failure, though the pushups were definitely more difficult in the last set, particularly the last five. The squats seemed unusually easy, because I wasn't doing them with a weighted barbell on my shoulders! Still, both activities raised my heart rate and made me sweat. As usual, pushups are hard on my wrists, so I had to shake those out after each set.
I think I have pretty good form on pushups, but it suffered towards the end. I don't go as low as I think I should be able to, I think I go about halfway to the ground? My nose is not in danger of touching the mat, nor is my belly. But I think they still count.
After that, I left the sweltering room and did a couple of sets of angled pushups, holding on to a barbell. I used a 30-pound barbell to do one set of overhead lifts, and managed all right, then did one set of squats with the same barbell in front rather than on my shoulders, to compare to lifting my hands on descent when empty. Then I rested for 5 minutes and did 20 minutes on the elliptical, at an easy pace, before stretching.
Stiffness/soreness has hit in my shoulders and upper arms, mostly, and my hands are stiff. At least so far. I think my abs will be the worst, but that hasn't set in too much yet.
The big room with the mats was unfortunately very hot; the air conditioning either wasn't on or could in no way keep up with the sudden rise in temperature we had yesterday. So that was an additional challenge, but I drank water between each set and mopped up my sweat.
I ended up doing 10 sets; each set alternated 10 pushups with 10 squats. I did them at a fairly brisk pace; I wanted a bench mark, not to see how hard I could make the activity. At the end, I did not feel like I was approaching muscle failure, though the pushups were definitely more difficult in the last set, particularly the last five. The squats seemed unusually easy, because I wasn't doing them with a weighted barbell on my shoulders! Still, both activities raised my heart rate and made me sweat. As usual, pushups are hard on my wrists, so I had to shake those out after each set.
I think I have pretty good form on pushups, but it suffered towards the end. I don't go as low as I think I should be able to, I think I go about halfway to the ground? My nose is not in danger of touching the mat, nor is my belly. But I think they still count.
After that, I left the sweltering room and did a couple of sets of angled pushups, holding on to a barbell. I used a 30-pound barbell to do one set of overhead lifts, and managed all right, then did one set of squats with the same barbell in front rather than on my shoulders, to compare to lifting my hands on descent when empty. Then I rested for 5 minutes and did 20 minutes on the elliptical, at an easy pace, before stretching.
Stiffness/soreness has hit in my shoulders and upper arms, mostly, and my hands are stiff. At least so far. I think my abs will be the worst, but that hasn't set in too much yet.