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By Adi, October 18, 2009

A lot of my friends have been on the whole Cross Fit band wagon. While I liked the idea, I found a lot of the exercises difficult to do without a gym, weights, and some experience with these exercises. I stayed away from it for a long time though I occasionally went to the site to check out the workout of the day.

One day I discovered an exercise they called “Cindy”; complete as many rounds possible in 20 minutes
i) 5 pull-ups
ii) 10 push-ups
iii) 15 squats

It seemed like a simple workout without any complicated routines that I didn’t understand.
The only problem? I couldn’t do even 1 pull-up.

I decided that this was something I wanted to work on. It took me almost a month before I could do one un-assisted pull up.

For the first week, I used to jump up on the pull-up bar, and slowly come down, so I at-least did the second half of the pull-up. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. I still couldn’t do a full pull-up (without jumping to build momentum, which didn’t really count).

The next week, I tried a different approach. I started doing assisted pull-ups with 6 or 7 plates. I used the assisted pull-ups to do my five reps and complete the Cindy workout. The pull-ups were still brutal, the squats a little easier. The push-ups, especially after the hundred push-ups challenge were the easiest part of the workout.

For almost an entire month, all I did every day was a one mile run and then Cindy. No other workout. Either the hundred push-up challenge, Cindy or running. After a few days, one plate came off, then another.

One month after I began, I was able to do 5 pull-up sets with just one plate. This is when I realized that I didn’t need the plate any more except as a mental crutch. The last plate came off.

Being able to do 5 quick unassisted pull-ups changed everything for me. I could be doing any other exercise, and for a quick break I would do 5 pull-ups and then get back to whatever I was doing. Soon I was doing 20-25 pull-ups every day in sets of 5. Today I can do 10 rounds of Cindy effortlessly.

Since I started this exercise, my upper body, arms and shoulder feel amazing. Include a run and squats, and I get a pretty good workout for all the large muscles in my body.

The visible results have got me a lot of positive comments and feedback from friends and family. Everyone notices that “I must work out” and “I look really lean and trim”.

The best thing about this workout is I need very little equipment, and it finishes so quickly it hardly feels like effort. No more 1 hour of cardio, no more heavy weights and complicated exercises.

And the results speak for themselves.

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PS: Now that I can do 5 pull-ups without any problem, my next goal is the twenty pull-ups challenge.

PPS: After the pull-up challenge, I integrated pushups, pull-ups and squats into my new daily workout

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By Adi, July 20, 2009

I used to be 210 pounds with a 38 inch waist size back in high school and then halfway through college. I was shy and preferred to stay indoors and read books while other classmates went out and had fun. I rarely participated in sports. I tried dieting and exercising but could never sustain it for long.

And then in one magical year, I dropped down to 170 pounds and a 34 inch waist size. I started playing basketball, could run several miles, hung out with different groups of friends and started loving my life.

So what changed?

I didn’t start any special diet. I didn’t eat any magical pills. I didn’t start a super workout or buy an ab-crunch machine.

The magic answer? I made new friends and learned to have fun…

It started with me going out to a basketball court during my summer vacation and watching some kids playing. There was a large crowd with some really good players and some who were just learning. They let me join in even though I sucked at basketball.

It was amazing – being a part of a team, cheering others on, trying my best to play and being totally accepted by a group of strangers – that day I had a lot of fun. I came back the next day, and the day after, and then kept coming back every day. To me it wasn’t just about the basketball, it was about being a part of this amazing fun group of people. We would play till it was dark so we couldn’t play any more, and then we would just hang out and laugh and talk. It was one of the best summers of my life.

When I went back to college, I had already lost a lot of weight and everyone noticed the difference. The best part was, I hadn’t even been trying for it – It had just happened while I was having fun. I now liked exercising and staying fit, and I didn’t want to go back to being unhealthy and shy and unhappy ever again. I loved this new me.

I hung out with a friend circle that enjoyed staying in shape and motivated me. I started going out for runs and to the gym with these friends every day. I started playing basketball at college. I started socializing and going out with my classmates and friends more often. Without even meaning to, I realized that I had also started avoiding unhealthy eating and living (probably because all my friends ate healthy). If I ever spent a few days eating unhealthy, my body would just raise an alarm and I would feel a strong urge to exercise and get back into shape. I was used to being healthy now and my subconscious mind did not want me to change.

Since then I have always found some form of exercise that I enjoy wherever I go. I went for long four day treks, or rock climbing or whitewater rafting or skydiving. Life became an adventure of trying new fun things wherever I went.

Now days, I try out new things like training for a marathon or the hundred push-up challenge just because they seem like fun. I keep weights and use an exercise video at home so I find it convenient to exercise anytime I want. I stay in shape because it has become a habit – my new way of life.

If you dislike gym and exercise, don’t try to force yourself to do it.

If you find making these changes too difficult to implement and need a way to build these good habits slowly, take a look at how to implement large changes easily using the kaizen way. Since I started the Kaizen experiment, I go to the gym every day no matter what and find it effortlessly easy.

If you dislike gym and exercise, don’t try to force yourself to do it. There is always a fun way that you will enjoy that will give you the results you want. Find it. For example, a really fun way to exercise is dancing – either with dance dance revolution, or going out for Salsa dancing. I went out for taek-wando for a long time. It was grueling exercise, but I had so much fun doing it with my friends that I kept going. Building a community and going out with others to do it is what makes it sustainable and fun.

No matter what you decide to try, don’t do it because you want to lose weight. Do it because you enjoy it. Just have fun doing it, and everything else will take care of itself.

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By Adi, July 13, 2009

I recently discovered the website hundredpushups.com. The site provides a simple, progressive, training program to get any person doing one hundred consecutive push ups within just six weeks.

It doesn’t matter whether you are at “I can barely do two push ups…” or “I can already do thirty…”, the program works for everyone.

It starts off with an initial test to establish where you are right now. Based on your initial level, you then follow a customized workout program that is only three days a week for a total of six weeks.

I am currently on Week 3, and did 90 push ups today (in small sets of about 15 push ups each with one minute breaks in between). It wasn’t too hard. Hopefully I will be at 100 continuous push ups by Week 6.

I personally found the information on the website more than enough to get started. However, for those who need it, the site owner has published a book called 7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups. The book has detailed workout plans and effective warm-up exercises and stretches to safely complete the program.

The reason I love this workout is that it takes only a few minutes a day to complete, and ramps up in gradual, easily manageable steps, which fits in with the Kaizen Principle for achieving massive change effortlessly

Also, push ups are something I can do anywhere (without needing a gym) and anytime I have a few minutes.

Besides, the idea of being able to do hundred push ups is just plain cool!!

In the words of the site owner -

It really is amazing how grateful people are for having a solid workout plan to follow, and it’s fantastic to have so many people on board with the notion of challenging themselves and doing something positive to be a stronger, fitter and healthier person.

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UPDATE: I enjoyed the final week of both the push-ups and pull-ups challenge so much that I incorporated them into my daily workout routine. It is a reasonably hard-core workout that is focussed towards getting fast results while being sustainable and is an ideal way to get toned and in shape without needing too much gym equipment.