, on March 1st, 2009 
Financial February Formally and Finally Flopped.
More Momentum Mounting for Monetary March.
I had this plan to do all kinds of financial planning and thinking in the month of February. And you would have thought the my creative alliteration moniker would motivate me to action. But I only managed procrastination. I now have my hopes set on “Monetary” March. Luckily, Tax Attack is coming and I can’t avoid it. The one glimmer from February is that I did manage to tabulate all of the actions that I wanted to take, so I already have the plan prepared for March.
From the financial fact fabrication failure and on to the semi-successful self sharpening strategy. About five weeks ago I started doing the OneHundredPushUps.com exercise routine. I chose it because it was a completely pre-fab routine. I didn’t have to do any figuring myself. You start with and periodically repeat a progress test, which is simply the maximum number of push ups you can do. My initial test was a measly nine push ups. The basic work out is five sets of push ups in varying difficulties with a break in between each set. Fairly standard. The part that I found difficult was the last set, which is always doing as many push ups as you can. Quite a feat after doing the tough previous sets. Now although it says to do your max there is a little catch, you have to at least a minimum number. I could never achieve this minimum. It was always a few more than I could do. But that little oversight wouldn’t stop me so I struggled on!
After the first two weeks I was able to do 20 push ups in a row and after four weeks I managed 25. However, to progress to week five you have to be able to do at least 31. In essence, I flunked week four and was held back. This and my inability to reach the daily maximums has lead me to skip the rest of the program. I plan to come back and do push ups again, but I am going to customize the program. I guess cookie cutter routines can only do so much for you before you have to adjust them to yourself. And I suppose I could have been doing other exercises besides just push ups, but Ultimate is starting in a few weeks so that gap will be filled shortly.
Maybe some sit ups will tone this flab!
2009.03.01 13:16:15 | 
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Ok, from reading your blog entry I have surmised that you’ve inherited both the Serebin weak upper body strength and the Serebin procrastination genes! Congratulations! I always marveled at the kids when I was growing up (as well as when you were growing up) that could do the monkey bars with ease. My body was just too heavy to do that (or muscle too weak)! Over time I realized that I could specifically strengthen all the major muscle groups in my trunk, shoulders, chest, and arms to overcome this weakness. The key is to strengthen the opposing muscle groups – the muscles that flex and extend each joint – so that no imbalances occur. For example see: http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_100/110_fitness_tip.html – he gives a simple explanation.
I still can’t do the monkey bars with ease, but I can do more push-ups than most g’mas my age! Ha! For a really cool variation on regular pushups, try decline pushups – use a low bench for your feet (so your feet are 8 to 12 inches higher than your hands. Keep your body as straight as possible when you do your pushups – this will not only work out your arms and chest but also your core. It’s actually a much better exercise to do.
As for the procrastination gene, we’ll save that for another day! Ha! Keep up the good work!
I’m really sorry your push-up routine didn’t work out to your liking. The push-ups your mom suggested sound like something to try next!
As for Financial February, I’ll try to be more helpful during Monetary March. We’ve especially start fighting back against Tax Attack, but I’m sure we’ll be good since Arcadia joined in the fray.
Honey, are you going to join me for the next exercise routine?
Yes, I would like to do some sit-ups. Will you let me do them with you?