Adding Glipizide

So even with my more healthy eating and all of the exercise the Metformin hasn't been cutting it lately. My last A1C was good, but I get some real high numbers after eating; especially after breakfast. So now my doctor has decreased my dosage on the Metformin and is supplementing it with Glipizide. So far so good; I've only been on it a week, but it seems to be helping a lot.

Master the Stair Master - Week 1

Let me start by saying I absolutely hate the Stair Master. I have tried it several times and I am no good at it and feel dead tired after 2 minutes, so I always just go right back to the tread mill or the bike where I feel much more comfortable.

My end goal here is to be able to do 45 minutes continuous on the Stair Master.

I started out this week by doing 5 minutes on the Stair Master Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This isn’t much but it is a start.

I am going to start off with a modest goal of increasing the duration by only 1 MINUTE each week. So next week I will do the Stair Master for 6 minutes for 3 days. Week 3 will be 7 minutes, etc… With just that modest of a goal I should hit my goal of 45 minutes in 40 weeks; that seems quite doable and it gives me a time frame that I can hit this year.

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Finally! 100!

I can’t believe I finally completed this goal! By 85 I was hurting and the last 10 were absolute hell; my arms were shaking like hell, abs had completely given out, my back was screaming for me to stop. But I did it! Woohoo! This is a great start to the new year!

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100 Pushups : Final Week? (Day 3)

Tonight’s sets were as follows. The first 4 sets were an increase from previous sets. By set 4 though my arms were shaking like jello. I only eeked out a miserable 60 for the max set. My total was slightly higher than my last day.

Set 1 : 70
Set 2 : 70
Set 3 : 60
Set 4 : 75
Set Max : 60

Total=335

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100 Pushups : Final Week? (Day 2)

I bumped the sets a little more today. Sets went well, but I could definitely tell I was hitting my limit. My max set was lower today than last time. It was a struggle to hit the 80; I do believe this was still a step in the right direction. I’m so close now.

Set1: 55
Set2: 70
Set3: 55
Set4: 60
Max: 80
Total = 320

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100 Pushups : Final Week? (Day 1)

As I mentioned in a prior post I have strayed from Week 6 of the program as it just hasn’t been working for me. I started by repeating Week 6 Day 1 a couple of times, then mixing in some more difficult push-up variations (one-armed/inclined/etc)... but without a solid direction.

Eventually I decided since what was working for me about the initial weeks of the program was the gradual increase of reps per set that I would just tack on some of my own days that just have higher per set reps than Week 6 Day 1.

So today’s sets were as follows.
1) 50
2) 65
3) 50
4) 60
Max) 90!

Total=315!

Today was amazing and a huge accomplishment while simultaneously a incredible frustration! When I was performing my max set I was feeling a serious burn by 75, sheer determination kicked in telling me that I could do more reps than last time. At 80 the pain was sort of hiding in the back of my mind while this loud voice was screaming in my head, “You are going to get the 100 tonight, do it! DO IT!” As I was pushing out the next ten though my arms turned into a jiggling screaming mass. The last 2 reps were a totally incredible feat and I literally rolled onto my back and screamed out loud in frustration knowing that the 100 just wasn’t going to happen tonight! :(

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100 Pushups : Week 6x2 Day 1

So it has been a while since I posted, but I have still been hard at work on the program. I made it through Week 6 ok, but I still wasn’t quite prepared for the 100. I’m having a bit of concern regarding this 6th week as well, because I’m not 100% sure that it is the best way to achieve the 100. The first day of the week has larger reps in the sets which I believe helps with the strength gains and endurance needed to hit the 100 better than days 2 and 3. I know that days 2 and 3 have a higher number of total reps, but it is my personal feeling that the extra rests are not allowing me to build the needed endurance.

That said I started Week 6 a second time, but I have changed several things to try and help myself close this final remaining gap to the 100.

1) Rather than going straight through Week 6 again I have just been repeating Day 1 and trying to increase my reps each time for the max set.
2) Mixing in some very small sets of one arm push-ups on off days since since they require more strength.
3) Performing an extra max set of modified push ups following the normal max set to help increase endurance.

So today I did Week 6 Day 1 again and the sets were…
Set 1—45
Set 2—55
Set 3—35
Set 4—30
Max —75!!!

Total-240

Two things I take away from this so far. This is let push ups total than I was performing on Week 6 Day 2 and Day 3, however 75 is my highest max ever! That is even higher than my highest max test which was 68; so I think I’m doing something right here.

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