jonfinchy: In the Army | 17 Pushups @ Wish & Whimsy

Saturday 7 July 2012

In the Army | 17 Pushups @ Wish & Whimsy

Jul

06

2012

This post is coming to you live from Starbucks. Because of ?these hot summer days, I?ve been sucked into cold coffee drinks on occasion. Don?t worry, this cup of beauty is just a Tall Skinny Double Blended Coffee Frappuccino, No Whip. That?s a mouthful to simply order a frozen coffee without the sugary syrups. Ordering a Frappuccino ?Double Blended? is key if you want less ice chunks. It makes a world of difference!

A week or so ago I received the July issue of Women?s Health Magazine. It?s among my favorite health and fitness magazines. What I love most about this particular magazine is the way they present interesting facts by numbers throughout the pages. While I?m not keen on doing math myself, I love hearing number facts (when someone else does the work to present the information, like Women?s Health Magazine).?This magazine provides number facts on a variety of topics including Health, Fitness, Beauty, Weight Loss, and Average Women number facts. Here are a few random examples I?ve pulled from July?s issue:

While Women?s Health presents many interesting number facts, there was one number that I could not get out of my head from their Fitness section:

17 = Number of Pushups 22- to 31-year old women must complete in two minutes to pass U.S. Army?Personnel?Standards (39 to 42 [pushups] is considered excellent.

First, I want to say that ?while I?m not in the Army, I do have a lot of respect for those brave men and women who are currently serving or those who have served. I thank each and every one of you for the?way you protect our country to give us the freedom to enjoy life freely. Secondly, this statistic challenged me to want to push my body more. I?m slightly competitive. While I have no plans, at all, of?joining the Army, I want to be able to compare my physical fitness and current capabilities. A hard number like this challenges me to want to perform at this level, striving for the ?excellent? score.

After reading the statistic, I dropped down and gave ?em 20?not really. But I did attempt the 17 pushups to see if I took the Army Personnel Standard?s test today, could I pass this component? A year ago, no way. I struggled through 10 push ups and couldn?t go much more than that. within the allotted two minute time frame. With the strength training I?ve added in the past year, I?m proud to say I could accomplish 17 pushups in two minutes. HOWEVER?past 10, my form became lazy and poor. I was cheating myself. If I, hypothetically speaking, wanted an excellent score, I wouldn?t pass even with the mediocre 17 I performed. I have a lot to strive toward.

Many of my fellow bloggers and FitFluential Ambassadors have posted July goals. While monthly goals inspire me, It?s hard for me to commit to a full month of something because if I miss one day, I feel like I?ve failed for that month. But if I focus long-term, say 3 months or so, I can make that goal a reality. I can make it happen.

While I have many ?mini? goals already, I?m adding a goal of ?17 perfect pushups in under 2 minutes? to my to-do/to-achieve list. And then, I want to surpass it. I want to keep going. I want excellence.

Wishing you the best and wishing you excellence. Katie

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:

What fitness or health magazines do you read?
What are some mini goals you are working on??