This really works! [upper body PT progress report]

[screescrambler]

In late May, addressing a reply on my intro thread ...

viewtopic.php?t=34521&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

... I mentioned that I was stuck at 60 pushups, 15 pullups and 74 situps. I had made good progress, up to a point, using a couple of workouts bastardized from Stew Smith's 'Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness.'

I mentioned I was gonna ramp up the intensity, and promised a progress report.

After four weeks on the new regimen -- still based on Smith's workouts, but somewhat more faithful and less bastardized this time -- I'm pleased to say I've broken through. I took three days off, then yesterday administered myself a sort of mini-SEAL PFT: just pushups, situps and pullups. [I didn't have access to a pool, and I'm not concerned about the run].

I'm up to 68 pushups, 82 situps and 16 pullups -- that's max pushups and situps in 2 min each, a 2 min break after each; then max pullups with no time limit. I tried the pullups again today, with no preceding pushups/situps, and managed 18. So I'm making steady progress -- and if it'll work for me it'll work for anybody, especially a 20-year-old DEP. Upper body development has never been my forte.

I used variants of two different workouts, one a pyramid and one a 'superset.'

At level 1 of the pyramid, I start off with 1 pullup, 4 pushups and 6 situps. Each successive level increases the number of reps by the initial increment ... so level 2 is 2 pullups, 8 pushups, 12 situps; level 3 is 3, 12 and 18; and so on. At level 10 I do 10 pullups, 40 pushups and 60 situps. Then you work your way back down the pyramid ... which in case you hadn't guessed is just excruciating.

Initially I was doing 3, not 4 pushups for each pullup, at each level. I was able [just barely] to work my way to level 10 and back down without crapping out, at any point. Since I switched to 4 pushups for every pullup, I find I can't quite make level 10 on the pushups; I usually manage about 33, then -- after a 10-15 sec break up on my knees, and off my hands -- I can crank out those remaining up to 40 pushups. It's like that all the way back down the pyramid to about level 5 -- I can't quite do 4 pushups for every pullup at each level on the way down, I have to stop a few shy, rest for 10 sec then finish the level [throwing in a couple of extra reps whenever possible]. The whole thing takes a little over an hour.

The 'supersets' take 4 min each; I do ten of them. A typical superset for me is 8 triceps pushups [hands together under your lower chest; fingertips & thumbs form a triangle, thumb tips touching], 8 pullups, 15 regular pushups, 30 situps, 15 wide pushups, 15 slow knee-ups [I prefer doing these in the roman chair, to isolate my abs, but you can do them hanging from a bar as well].

If you add up the numbers, you find you are doing impressive quantities of reps of each exercise, in a relatively short period. On the pyramid, if you complete every level up to 10, you've done 100 pullups, 400 pushups and 600 situps, in just over an hour. With the superset regimen I described above, you do 80 tricep pushups, 150 reg and 150 wide pushups, 80 pullups, 300 situps and 150 knee ups -- in only 40 minutes!

I did one pyramid workout and two superset workouts a week for the first two weeks. The third week I substituted some light lifting for one of the superset workouts, and the fourth week I just skipped a workout because I felt run down and didn't want to overdo it.

Clearly someone who is just starting out may not make it all the way to level 10 of the pyramid ... especially with pullups, which many people seem to have trouble with. Doesn't matter: Just go to the highest level that you CAN finish. On the way down the pyramid, if at any level you find you can do extra reps, do 'em! Push yourself to muscle failure at each level!

A final note: You aren't supposed to take breaks at any point, between supersets or during the pyramid. You're using different muscle groups for successive exercises, so that is your 'break'! These are almost cardio workouts too ...

[screescrambler]

Another progress report ...

Aug 16 mini-SEAL PFT results: 76 pushups [2 min break], 82 situps [2 min break], 16 pullups. So I'm still making good progress on the pushups, up 8 -- always my weakest area, hence the one I've focused on -- but languishing a bit on the pullups (no improvement over last month) and situps (only up 2).

I think the pullups were a fluke: My grip was wrong. My forearms gave out early, which is unusual. Next day, as I did last month, I tried the pullups again with no preceding pushups/ situps, and slightly wider grip; managed 20 ... up from 18 in July.

I'm satisfied, for now, with this slow but steady improvement, because I scaled back the intensity a bit over the past six weeks. My excuses: [1] I'm training concurrently for the Pikes Peak Marathon, which is tomorrow, 19 Aug; [2] I live and train at altitude, and [3] I'm doing upper-body workouts on what are supposed to be my 'easy' running days. The Stew Smith upper body workouts are aerobic, or even anaerobic like running sprints/intervals, if you do them correctly -- esp here at over 10,000 feet. I want my 'easy' running days to be just that, for heart/lungs as well as legs.

Since mid-July, I've done just one superset and one pyramid, each once a week, plus some light supplemental weight training (eg, curls and wrist rolls) focusing on muscle groups not specifically targeted by pushups, pullups and situps.

I knew I was making progress, because I was able to do more reps one both the pyramids and supersets. On the pyramids, last week I got to level ten -- 10 pullups, 40 pushups, 60 situps -- without crapping out on the pushups at any point, on the way up or down. Also, I was able to repeat level 10 twice before starting down the pyramid.

My typical superset has increased to 12 pullups, 12 triangle pushups, 40 situps, 24 regular pushups, 16 knee-ups in the roman chair, and 7 dips. (Dips are another weak area for me). These sets take about 5 min now, and I take a minute break between each, though you're not supposed to. Again: I don't want to maintain an interval-run heart rate on what are supposed to be my 'easy' running days.

DEPs listen up ... If I can make this kind of progress ANYONE can. Now drop ... ! :D