When in Doubt, Shut Up!: Week 4, Day 3

I was standing in the bathroom last night brushing my teeth before bed when my brain finally decided to remind me I was supposed to do push-ups. It was nearly 1 o'clock in the morning at that point. I thought to myself you could do them right now, stick to your schedule and make this happen. Then I thought, why? Why do that? I'm ready for bed. It's been a very long day full of work, even though it was Saturday. Give yourself a break. The push-ups will still be there in the morning. They are. I am.

Today's sets are 29, 33, 29, 29 and at least 40. I think whoever designed this workout's progression got a little bored after week two. It's fallen into a predictable pattern. What am I complaining about? I'll be straining to finish by the end, and I'm getting the results I was after, more strength and endurance.

Those 29 were a struggle. Not sure if I'm in too deep here. Should I back off? Go down by one column? I think I'll try the 33-rep set and see how it goes. After a couple of minutes rest I'll have a better idea. Going to give it shot...

It's good to question yourself. It's good to know why you're doing something. So, as I stood there thinking about whether or not I could do 33 push-ups, I realized that of course I could. The real question is do I want to? Yes. The answer is a simple "yes." But why? To be strong. To improve posture. To slow down the aging process as much as possible. To have endurance. Then, is achieving those desires worth the minor aches and pain, worth risking injury? Yes. Then I got down on the floor and pushed them out. I started to flag around 20, but reminded myself I am able and the mental block evaporated. I could have kept going past 33, but I've got three more sets to get through, including the max-out. I'm confident now I'm on the right track, and knowing why I'm doing this allowed me to have the attitude I needed to press on. Speaking of which...

I accidentally did 30 instead of 29. Shows I've got some gas left in the tank. The big differences here are the attitude I already mentioned and the added rest. Taking enough time to let my breathing return to normal and my shoulders stop aching gives me much more oomph. I'm rested; next set...

Human beings just like round numbers, I guess, because I did it again, 30 reps instead of 29. I was just in the zone and was already doing No. 30 when my brain registered I'd just done No. 29. That's fine. Sometimes shutting down the conscious brain lets you achieve things you'd otherwise tell yourself you couldn't do. Sometimes you have to listen to that small, quiet inner voice when it gives you advice. Other times you've got to tell it to shut the hell up. This is one of those times. One last set of at least 40 to go...

I had to stop twice and even broke form. There's an endurance test to take before I start Week Five, and I'll reassess myself then. I think after a night's rest I'll be able put myself in the third column again. We'll see tomorrow.

EDIT: I forgot to total up the week's push-ups! Including today, I did 425 push-ups on the week. Holy cow that's a lot of push-ups!