I
received two great emails this week from an Army Soldier and an Army recruit.
Both did free workouts offered through my
Article Archive page
at StewSmith.com --
The Pushup Push Workout and the Free Six Week Running Plan. Here are their
emails:
Before starting the workout my APFT 2 mile run was 17:38. I started this
run workout in January 06, here it is 12 weeks later and I ran a 13:10 - 2 mile.
I just about exploded, but I did it. I found the workout VERY EASY to do. I
pushed my self "gently", and low and behold, it works. By training smarter and
taking a slow, gentle, smart approach to physical training, I increased my PT
score from 244 to 320 in only 3 months. Can I get even faster?
and...
I wanted to let you know I did your Pushup Push workout and I did 150
pushups everyday for ten days. I took 4 days off from doing any pushups and
actually DOUBLED my pushup score. I went from 45 to 93 in 15 days! Wow! How do I
maintain this?
First of all, congrats and thanks for crediting me for your success, but YOU
are the ones who took a method and applied it to your workout programs. I cannot
make people workout -- I can just show them how to do it to get stronger or
faster. So, good job for being motivated to complete the workouts.
The answers to your questions:
To keep increasing your pace in the two mile run, all you have to do it apply
the same workouts you have been doing, but increase your mile pace slightly when
running quarter miles, half miles, and mile repeats. For instance, one workout
asks you to do the following:
Warmup jog -- 5:00 / stretch
Repeat the following 4-6 times:
Run 1/4 mile at goal pace
Jog or walk 1/8 mile
Rest / stretch 5:00
Run 2 miles at goal pace -- write down when you start to slip off the pace.
If your goal pace is to next run the two mile run in 12:00, then you need to
work on a 6:00 mile pace or a 90 second quarter mile run. Learn to maintain that
pace while being able to repeat it with little rest for 8-10 times. Once you are
there, your two mile run will be very close to 12:00.
As for pushups -- you do not want to keep doing pushups everyday. I only use
that workout once in a while (6-8 months) to kick start growth. Now, focus on
more
pyramid
workouts,
supersets,
and timed pushup test for 2:00 periods. If you do three workouts a week of
pushups try to do one of each of the above. Also see:
New - The Perfect Pushup Bible eBook!
Max set workout -- one of my favorite workouts is to pick a number like 300
or 400 and see how few sets it takes me to get that many pushups. If you are in
the 50 or less pushup zone -- make that goal only 100 reps of pushups in as few
sets as possible. Rest for a few minutes by doing abs like sit-ups or crunches
or pull-ups and stretching. See rest with crunches for a fun “rest” routine.
Good luck with your fitness journey. Thanks for the feedback. Keep those
emails coming to them all or use them in an article. Send them to
stew@stewsmith.com.
