Yesterday you should have taken your push up max test (the number of push ups you could do with perfect form). You’ve written that number down and are keeping it someplace safe.

From today to February 28th we’re going to post a new workout every day.  No, that’s not a typo.  Every.  Day.

As promised, I’ll provide some variations to take the difficulty level up or down, depending on where you start. For these first 4 or 5 workouts, however,  we’ll stick with Military or Modified push ups as we get acclimated to the daily workouts.

Here’s your workout for today:

Warm up 3-5 minutes (walk in place, do jumping jacks, jog up and down the hall)

Perform 4 sets of push ups as follows (with a 15 second rest in between each set):

• 2 push ups
• 2 push ups
• 4 push ups
• 4 push ups

As a reminder, here is how to properly perform a Military or Modified Push Up.

Military

• Start on your hands and toes, in full plank position, with your hands slightly to the sides of your shoulders.
• Engage your core muscles by trying to bring your belly button toward your spine, then slowly lower your body toward the ground while keeping your neck and spine aligned — no drooping allowed.
• To keep your neck in proper alignment is to stare at a fixed point about 6-8 inches in front of your hands.
• When your chest is about a fist-distance away from the ground, slowly press back up to full plank position.
• Repeat until you can’t perform your push up with good form.

Modified Push up 

• Kneel on a mat or the ground, walk your hands out slightly to the sides of your shoulders
• Engage your core muscles by trying to bring your belly button toward your spine, then slowly lower your body toward the ground while keeping your neck and spine aligned — no drooping allowed.
• To keep your neck in proper alignment is to stare at a fixed point about 6-8 inches in front of your hands.
• When your chest is about a fist-distance away from the ground, slowly press back up to full plank position.
• Repeat until you can’t perform your push up with good form.

Note:  Make sure that your body creates a straight line from shoulders to hips in either position.  Do not hitch your hips up to the sky.  

Have fun and check back tomorrow for our next workout 🙂

Now go run!

Keli 🙂