Further support of my workout plan…

Now that I’m eleven workouts in to augmenting my karate training with perfect pushups, I thought it would be good to take some stock. The testimonials on the box of the Perfect Pushup handles claim results in only 10 workouts… and I actually have to say that it works!

Two different elements spring to mind when I have to quantify the improvement. First, I have more stamina and strength. I can now do the 8-6-4-2 plan with relative ease when you compare it to how difficult it was at the start. I have some plans to add the second set of regular pushups to the mix, which would be my fourth set of 20 pushups per workout. In addition to the incremental strength, I was able to accomplish a “max session” of 100 perfect pushups in a two hour span. For me, that’s astonishing.

The other noticeable improvement is the improved definition. Granted, I had almost no visible upper body muscles when I started so the argument can be made that starting from nothing ANYTHING is an improvement. But I can really see a difference in the definition around my chest, arms, shoulders, and back. I have some visible muscle where there was none before!

To further bolster my body’s ability to add muscle I have started to drink some whey protein powder that I started on during my Sochin training in 2006. I tapered off from drinking it after awhile for some reason, but I still have half of a large jug left.

For those of you that are interested, I ran across this article on Lifehacker that explains why adding pushups to your workout routine is a good thing. Its a short, good read so go for it!