One of my near-term goals is to improve my push-up endurance so that I can get 20 rounds of Cindy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats) in 20 minutes. I’ve been doing more and more push-ups each day, but Saturday I think I overdid it.
I decided to try doing 15 push-ups every minute on the minute for 5 rounds, with a 5 minute rest, for 4 sessions. That’s 300 push-ups in 40 minutes. Oh, and for the first 2 sessions, I threw in 10 sit-ups for fun.
I did manage to complete the workout (took me 41 minutes because of extra rest required toward the end), but my arms and chest felt absolutely destroyed afterwards. I definitely pushed myself way beyond fatigue. I had planned to take a rest day on Sunday anyways, so I figured everything was cool.
Monday rolled around and I did the prescribed WOD of 400m run + 30 Kettlebell swings (53 lb), AMRAP for 20 minutes, and while I felt fine during the WOD, once I got to work that morning, I was in pain. Specifically, my somewhere in the right side of my chest it’s quite sore. Add to this a dull pain I’ve had just to the right of my mid-lower back and I’m in need of some rest.
So I overdid it. I certainly know what kinds of behaviors to avoid and to more gradually try to test my push-up endurance. While lamenting my self-induced rest period, I remembered that this is how I used to function all the time: no exercise, no athleticism, no pushing myself to the limit. I won’t be going back there again.
Food for today
I brought home leftover petit filet of beef with horseradish aioli from lunch today and had it again for dinner. The sauce probably has some non-Paleo elements in it, but it is amazing! Also, Emily made a “pot liquor” of collard greens and bacon. Yum!
Just starting with crossfit and this workout scared me. This was 56 minutes of getting my ass kicked. Only my first 35 pull ups were body weight. The rest were heavily assisted. I alternated push ups and squats. Not sure if that is “legal”. What a workout.