Peanut Butter Jelly Time peanut butter jelly time!

ready to rock... :)

tomorrow morning...IT BEGINS.

Site should be mostly ready. Just adding people to the wiki editing list. We're starting Monday, July 21st (easier to remember than Thurs start for us simple minded folk :) )

got it! Monday it is. ;)

Get'r done son...DO WORK!

Jeff, thanks for setting this up. Accountability is exactly what I need! I'll hate you during the challenge but will thank you after.

yes! thanks, jeff, for setting this up! ditto scott's sentiments. :)

Ditto'ing what Scott and Luz said. See how lazy I've become??? :)

Hello everyone! I don't think we've met. I'm Sam. http://twitter.com/samgrover/

Do we test now, or on Monday? BTW, I feel like I've got an unfair advantage...at karate twice a week I already do over 30 pushups....

I'd say test whenever you want, but challenge starts Monday. I put the chart on the sub-page but think I'll move it to the main page to make it easier to find.

initial test: 363 push-ups...does that put me at an advantage? oooooooh, beer curls don't count. make that 2 then. :)

I'm gonna test at karate tonight.

Big thanks to the Jeff for setting this up. I've been following Sean and Tara for the past 4 weeks and have been wanting to get started. Hard to motivate myself so when I saw your tweet today I was all over it. Very excited to see the local turn out as well.

Let's get it on!!

Love the training schedule. 2 push ups - rest. 2 push ups - rest. 2 push ups - rest. Dang! I can do that! :-)

What about adding the Initial Test and Internediary Test, as well as the Final Attempt to the Chart? Maybe we need to add a separate page?

I like the idea of adding the initial test to the chart as well. I did 30 last night for my initial test.

Just came from the gym. 57 true form pushups.

Howdy folks! I'm an RCG at the Santa Clara site. I know I won't be able to make the Pushup Party, but I want to be STRONG - Intel STRONG. Great idea here :-)

Ouch! Just did 10 push ups. Not sure how I'm going to get to 100. We'll see.

Shoot , if the pachanga (party) is scheduled such that it coincidentally fits my schedule, my wife and I will drive to AZ!!

I'm in Rio Rancho,BTW.

Wow, I've got some work to do!

so, if i am only able to pull off "alternative" form push ups (i was able to do 15), is that ok for our challenge? it seemed to be an option on the main website, but i appear to be the only wimpy-armed-mcginnis around here.
:(

Haven't been well. Taking myself out for this challenge. Hope you all have fun!

@chanelle richardson so long as you are giving 100% it doesnt matter if you are alterno or doing them from a handstand.

use whichever form works for you! There is no competition here, just marking your own improvement.

I was surprised I made it to 20. Will be super stoked if I am able to do 80+ by the end of this. Just in time for my 40th.

@chanelle - I am switching to alternative, so don't feel bad. I could do 3 of the normal pushups, but not very well.

thanks all for the encouragement! alternative form it is for me. my poor wimpy little arms...
;)

Dang - I gotta admit I'm impressed how many people are checking in. I'm getting constant Update notices in email! Way to go, people!

Hi folks. Wanna offer some helpful pointers.
For your max out set---prep mentally--and get in a good breathing rythm.
Inhale going down and exhale pushing up. Good luck to all!!!

Thanks, Rich. I think one thing that a lot of people don't understand is that good-form pushups aren't just about how you hold your body; they're about making sure you keep breathing, too! It's pretty common to try to hold your breath when your body is in a demanding position (this also applies to disciplines such as yoga), but it's very important to try to keep breathing steadily throughout your workout.

Quick safety tip: if you have a 1 year old, have just completed your reps, and feel like grabbing said little one and throwing him up in the air like you usually do, DON'T do it. Not the best idea. Just saying, not that I know by experience or anything like that...

2nd day was tough. I'm not even hitting the stated minimum on the last set... I fear for the challenges to come.

adding my 2 cents:
i have found that in addition to good breathing techniques during my workout, stretching during the "rest" period between sets really helps!

here are a few yoga poses i like to do:
http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/a/downdog.htm
http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/a/childspose.htm
http://yoga.about.com/od/yogasequences/ss/catcow.htm
http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/a/seatspinaltwist.htm
http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/a/warrior2.htm

Good lord...people showing good gains already...guess that extra 100lbs more than everyone else that I'm luggin' around is gonna make me extra sexy? LOL

I'd love to see all this progress in a more visual way. I know it would be a PITA though. Go everyone, go! Looks like everyone's getting stronger.

since it was friday i added a little extra credit (3 stella artois)...tasty. little dizzy now though. :)

Chanelle, great advice on the stretching. Sips of water for hydration and staying mobile rather than sitting idle will keep you warm for your next set. Stick with it everybody. IF you've got the energy, time, equipment and/or desire -by all means- finish your pushups and throw in some crunches, leg lifts and bodyweight squats and lunges for your core and legs.

A few notes. First, keep up the great work people!

If you're getting drowned in emails from the wiki updates, look at the bottom of one of the emails for a link to change the frequency of email updates. Set it to once a day or once every 4 hours to slow it down.

If you have to drop to an alt form to finish the last set, go for it. Just don't give up!

If you need to drop to a different column or use alt form overall, do it. Just don't give up!

First week is almost over! Woohoo! (and ouch!)

Wanna say congrats everybody so far - keep up the good work - little bit everyday makes big gains later. Keep it up!

After week 1, the beginning of week 2 looks kind of easy. But then week 3 is a huge leap forward. Kinda strange.

@Aaron after the 2nd week we do a reassesment to see where things stand. On sat or sun you need to do as many pushups as u can. At this point u should be able to do more than before. The ramp needs to be steep as 100 pushups in one go is a lot. It ain't gonna be easy.

Cheryl - thanks for the example of a single line entry per date ... and I agree it would have been cool to see everyone's progress in a graphic.

Good point, Roger. Don't go just by the Single Sheet with all the pushups on it - there is a lot more good information on the site, including when to retest and how to keep yourself moving forward. This hasn't been easy, but I'm definitely moving forward!

I'm just looking forward to when I'm not doing these things on the nasty floor of a hotel. Tbbbbt!

@Roger I know about the reassessment, but it still seems strange that week 1 to week 2 is very gradual, but then week 3 is a huge leap forward. Same pattern in the following weeks -- 3 to 4 is gradual, while week 5 is a big jump.

youch that didnt feel good till the last set. i guess missing monday and cramming yesterday with today was not so good. gotta keep an eye on my form too. butt likes to sag a bit.

The bump up in number of pushups for Day 2 this week (Week 2) was a killer for me. Totally ran out of juice in the final set.

@Jeff Perhaps because you did 16/13/13/11? Should have been 16/13/11/11.

I wonder how long everyone is resting between sets. Are you going by the recommended time, or taking more? Or just not timing it?

@Aaron I do it by the second using a little secret learned from the proctors of all of my college engineering/science exams: time.gov :)

A little extra rest in between reps helps quite a bit in my experience so far. If I think I'm going to struggle to get the final count, I'll take an extra 30 secs or so between the last couple sets of reps.

you can take a little extra time but drop sets work because you don't take time to cool down. Just keep pushing. Never say die.

wowzer these guys are getting tough. i am having trouble remembering to do them on schedule during the week. i figure i will do the Test on Monday to guage where i am at. trying to finish the sets strong and do more than the min.

* Crap! Series of guests passing through. Completely forgot to keep up with the pushups. D'oh. I'll have to do tow days in a row to keep myself on track. Will consider it penance. Also, did week 2 day 2 first - completely skipped day one. So I made a new day two. Aw, heck, at least I'm still working at it.

Week three is starting for most of us, and so far most of us are going strong! Keep at it! Even if you miss a day or get a little off schedule, just get back in the groove as soon as you can.

My end of week 2 test yielded the same result as the pre-test. I felt very "weak" Sunday morning. The huge jump up to start week 3 in reps seems awfully difficult right now.

Oh, and I follow the time schedule pretty close. Haven't needed extra time yet, although this week, that may change.

Today was brutal. I couldn't complete set 3, then took a 20 minute break before trying set 4. Did that fine, but 60 seconds later fell short again on set 5. The jump up between week 2 and 3 seems extreme.

Late in joining, but here thanks to drinking with @soul4real ;-) Cutting it into 4 weeks? Just stay with it! Blogged http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/04/wikis-and-pushups/

This is really tough! I can do a few *real* good form push-ups now though, as opposed to the start where I could barely do one. I can feel my arms getting more muscley :-)

Hoochy-Mama!! That WAS a big jump in intensity for week 3!! I did better on set 5 than I did on the test 2 days prior--crazy. Oh well I am sticking with this thing and I hope you ALL do the same. Mr. Axman you are kicking A__!!

Yup. This is officially hard. I'm making all my reps but they're tough and I'm resting 120 sec on all days now. Nice to see everyone sticking with it!

Agreed with the sentiment that the jump from week 2-3 was pretty drastic ... my test put me in the far right column and I could complete the first set, but after that it was a struggle. I'll likely repeat week 3. Just wondering if it's more important to keep the timing and attempt the sets closer together, or is it more important to actually complete the full sets. Hmm ...

Thanks Rich! This is by no means easy. It sure is fun to see those numbers ruse every time. It is pretty strange with that week 2 test. I could only do 2 more than the previous day's set 5. Crazy indeed.

I went from top tier weeks 1-2 to middle tier on week 3, and it was still too big of a jump to handle for me. I couldn't even complete the 4th set (3 short). In the first two weeks, I usually fell under the declared minimum for the last set. But I didn't have problems completing set 4.

I was scared to start week 4 after seeing the 2-3 jump, but it's barely more than week 3. Light at the end, folks! Halfway there!

if you cannot finish a set its okay. keep going. at the start of week 4 you will test again, same with week 5. if you cannot make the cut for week 5 then you should go back to week 4 and keep building strength till you can move on. ideally you should do this in 6 weeks but it may take longer.

yikes, that was really tough. big jump for sure. that last set was really nasty.

Holy OW! The jump to week 3 is a killer. I tested into column two like Aaron did. Total struggle to finish the 5th set on day 1. Doesn't help that I'm trying to make up time to stay on track with the weeks. But that's the point, isn't it? - challenge. Consider me challenged!

My guess is the Week 3 jump in difficulty is where we really shock and stress the chest to get it strengthening. Week 1 and 2 got us warmed up so we wouldn't rip our own arms off by the time we hit this week.

I'm finishing the last few reps of my final sets in an alt position, but I'm plowing through. Almost at the halfway point for the program!

yo clintus! nice work man, looks like you are seeing the biggest benefits so far! well done.
i am slacking on this thing a bit finally getting around to day 2 of week 3 on saturday of week 3. feeling stronger for sure.
holy shit day 2 wk 3 just kicked my ass, feeling good but definitely pushing hard.

cleaned up the frontpage and edited the sidebar... ocd kicked in on this site... :/

Where'd y'all go? Don't perpetrate the kick sand in my face geek stereotype!

Urgh... I am in week 4, I just have to take my notes from my workout room to my computer and type them in. I'm a little behind (I'm blaming Ignite Phx) but not out of it yet. Will update my numbers this weekend.

@Chuck Reynolds: next time you get the urge to "clean up" the front page, please work that off some other way than actually touching the data on the page. You changed some values, so now I have to go verify the numbers I entered.

I really surprised myself this morning. Getting closer. It is really cool to see how everyone is improving! Way to go!

Finally back around to updating. I just cannot make those max numbers unless I take a really long break beforehand. Just gassed by then.

For those people who haven't updated (or fallen behind) just get back into the game! I'm running a little behind as well, but no surrender!

Just about forgot to finish this week. It's so hard to form new habits for me. Wanted to go to bed without finishing the week, but I'll be darned if I'm getting over the halfway point & then quitting. Power on! Like Jeff says, if you forget or fall behind, just get back into it. Keep going!

After seeing the progress I made during week 4, I thought I'd be getting to 100 pretty soon, but I really wasn't expecting to hit it during the test for week 4. Wow, that was tough, but I did it! I can't wait to see the rest of you get it. Keep going!

Great job Axman!! Hope to be rite with you in 2 weeks!! OOOO-Rah!!

Last Monday I tried to start Week 4, and couldn't even come close. So Wednesday, I tried to do Day 1 of week 3 (which I could do on Day 1 of the real week 3), and came pretty close. So again, tonight I'm going to try to start week 3, and hopefully I can actually complete week 3 on the program, without additional rest.

Wow, way to go @axrun262! You're done! Week 5 another giant notch up... Good breathing helps, dont hold your breath!

Been down with a pulled shoulder muscle. Sucks bad.

Just finished the 3rd try at week 3. I still only did days 1 & 2. I think I'll finally move on to week 4 next week.
I'm way behind schedule, but it looks like most everyone else is too. Oh well, I'm still making good progress so it's all good.

Hey, it's not so obvious, but starting with day two of week 5 there are 8 sets, not 5. You repeat level 1, repeat level 2, repeat level 3 before doing your max. I didn't notice this. No wonder day 1 of week 6 is tearing my arms out. Hell.

Cheryl--good catch on the 8 sets. Week 6 jumps to 9! I'm gonna back up and do week 5 again. Keep on keeping on , girl!!

Me too, Richard - I'm going back to week 5 to pick up the extra reps. I think week six would kill me without them.

wow my husband and i have had a crazy few weeks and fallen right off the wagon.
my appendix flared up and put me down for the count, and then my husband (clint richardson) was in a car accident and is starting PT this week. i'm going to re-do week three next week, but not sure when the husband will be beck in the game.

Having a tough time with week six. For day two I had to rest anywhere from 45 seconds to two minutes between sets. Heart rate a little too high for me + didn't want to trigger asthma attack. Had to stop for inhaler & rest 5 minutes before last set. But plowing through. I may have to do week six again to get to 100. We'll see!

I know I won't make 100 when I test on Sunday. I'll probably start with week 5 after the test results. But I'm not quitting until I attain the goal.

Skipped my last routine and went for it while in the Gila Wilderness--it just felt right. 107!!! Cheryl--you are one of the few still going strong. Don't give up girl!! Everyone else that is still hanging in there--- Just Do IT baby!!

Rich, you did it! Congratulations!! *applause*
I'm not giving up. Testing later today.

I waited awhile to do my 100 test. I could tell I wasn't going to get there, yet. So I gave myself a break. But I'm not giving up until I get to 100. Then I'll probably start again with full pushups instead of alt style. Anyone who gave up due to life happening, please join me in keeping on. I made a new table so we can start over or start again.

Work and travel forced me to put this on hold for a while - it was just too tough to keep up with unless I could make sure I was doing it regularly. But last week I got an email from the guy running the site who had some interesting updates.

First, he has tweaked the program to respond to feedback that some of the jumps were too tough (No kidding!). There is also a new logging tool for tracking progress on the site. I've posted his email on a page on the wiki if you want to check it out. Might be a great reason to get back on the program and keep the progress coming!