Progress on #2 - Alternatively titled, Sonja's Bulging Biceps

Here we are at the beginning of week 3 of the 100 push ups plan. I am actually a day behind and completed the last day of week 2 yesterday. I was so sore last week from doing what I like to call now, The Triple Threat. It is a TurboKICK! class, ABSolutely ABS class, and Urban Yoga class all in a row at my gym. Two hours of fitness fun! Ha ha, yeah right, more like 2 hours of insanity and torture! Didn't help that I did a Muscle Madness class the day before and then (because I didn't feel like the class did a whole lot of good) I decided run and walk in intervals for 45 minutes. My legs were sore from that since I haven't run at all for about a year.

*Slight detour for a moment* I have had a problem with my left leg for a while that no one seems to be able to diagnose. My calf will get super tight and my lower leg will swell. Was even sent to the ER because I called the doc and he thought I had the symptoms of a blood clot. Thank goodness it wasn't but it was a bit of a scare. Since then I have had to dump hundreds of dollars into an MRI and physical therapy that my insurance won't cover completely. Still no diagnosis (other than a small Baker's cyst behind my knee which I am told is not the culprit) and the problem seems to baffle both my doctor and physical therapist. I stopped PT and was referred to a specialist, but at this point, I am sick of the medical bills. The problem is really more of an irritation than anything though it was really painful if I tried to run. I have noticed a decrease in frequency of the muscle tightness and swelling though since I started doing more strength training. I stopped going to Bikram too (mainly because of the cost) but that seems to be helping too. I kind of wonder if I had some sort of injury that stretching in intense heat would irritate even more and since I have stopped, it has started to heal. I sure hope so. I miss Bikram and would like to take classes every once in a while. (If you have no idea what Bikram is, click here.) *End of detour*

So anyway, soreness kept me from push ups but now I am back on track. This week is an exhaustion test so basically I needed to see how many push ups I could do at once to tell me what column to use for training this week. 16 -20 push ups is column one, 21 - 25 push ups, is column 2, and over 25 is column 3. Also, I am doing this round of the program in a modified push up so my guess is I will have to complete it a couple of times before I can do enough full good-form push ups to meet the requirements of the program. Then I will move on and repeat it with good-form push ups and repeat weeks if need be. Good thing I have a year!

In addition (as stated above), I have started my gym's Muscle Madness class. I have found that the Thursday evening and Saturday morning teachers are the best at kicking my butt! I was like jello walking out of there on Saturday! The class is a strength class for your entire body though, not just arms. We do a ton of squats and lunges!

So (drum roll please) at the end of week 2, I am maxed out at 14 push ups but could do 18 during my exhaustion test. When you max out each day, it is after doing 4 sets already though. I think that is pretty good given the minimum for the last day of week 2 to max out at is 8. It is also good because when I started, I could only do 5. That tells you how freaking wimpy I am. The only bad thing about all of this is I have gained weight. I just tell myself it is muscle mass though!

I'll be buff before I know it! Grrrrrrr!