Sit-ups And Press-ups can help Fix Musculoskeletal Pain.
If you don’t like going to a gym, I recommend you do these three strength exercises regularly.
These exercises are outlined in the Strength Training Diary attached to the Fix Back Pain program.
For situps and press-ups, I recommend several strategies.
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- Do the exercises daily and aim to do one more situp/press-up each day.
- Do 40 or 50 of each exercise each day, breaking them into sets of 10 repetitions (or less).
- Pyramid situps/press-ups
Do one and take a breather.
Then, do two repetitions and take a breather.
Then do 3, and then four and then 5 …
Then come back down, doing 4, 3, 2 and 1.
Over the weeks and months, you can see if you can pyramid
up to 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 of each exercise.
When you can do up to 10 and back, report back. You’ll have done 100 situps or pushups and be in good nick.
Start doing them on your knees if you’re not good at press-ups. As a rule of thumb, one knee press-up is worth about half a ‘regular’ press-up. If you’re a woman, knee press-ups will probably suffice – though once you can build up to 40 or so on the trot, you may be ready to do them on your toes. Age doesn’t have much to do with it. One of the fittest women at the gym I used to run, who’s well into her seniority, can knock out 40 good press-ups on the knees and 30 on the toes.
You can vary your situp training program. Do crunches with your feet up on a chair. Do some with your feet held under a piece of furniture. Do some with your feet flat and legs bent at 90 degrees. Mix them up for the best results.
If you’re diligent, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can improve at sit-ups and press-ups. By the end of 12 weeks, I’d aim for 40 or 50 of each.
Set a weekly target based on the number you can do now. Write the weekly target down.
FLEXIBILITY
Purchase the Fix Back Pain ebook, and you’ll learn the exercises to loosen the muscles, putting your skeleton out of alignment. They are best done after an aerobic exercise session or while watching TV.
MOBILITY
The mobility test measures how many times you can sit down on the floor (with your legs straight out) and stand up straight in 30 seconds. 10 is a good score.
The best I’ve seen is 20, but you need to be as lean as a greyhound and have a high gymnastic ability to get to that level.
Do it every couple of weeks to improve your score on the functional mobility (sitdown and standup) test.
LOSING WEIGHT
If you want to lose weight, here are a few things you need to do:
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- Set yourself a target weight loss for each week. Half a kilogram is reasonable.
Imagine if, at the end of 12 weeks, you weighed 6 kg less than you did at the program’s start. You’d be puffing your chest out further than John Howard, Tony Blair, and George Bush put together. Losing half a kilo a week is not a crash weight-loss program.
- Cut out the carbohydrates – flour and sugar.
- Exercise with aerobic vigour—four times a week is good, five is better, and six is best. Twenty minutes is good, 30 minutes is better, and 40 minutes is best. A heart rate 120 is reasonable, 130 is better, and 140 is best.
IS THIS ROCKET SCIENCE?
Nope, just persistence, discipline and consistency!
They say 12 weeks is a reasonable time to get and stay focused on getting fitter and healthier, regardless of where you start. At the end of that time, I’d be optimistic that your performance will considerably improve. Just set aside a bit of time each day. Remember, it’s one step at a time.
In the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says, ‘Start with the end in mind.’ Write down the goals you want to achieve by the end of a 12-week program. Break them down into manageable bytes for each week, and then set your daily program to achieve them.
Finally, I heard it said that the most challenging thing world champion marathon runner Robert de Castella had to do daily was put on his shorts and sandshoes every morning and get outside his front door. After that, it was one leg at a time.
Take a leaf out of de Castella’s book. You’ll achieve your goals and come out at the end of the program fit as a trout, lean as a greyhound, toey as a Roman sandal and smelling like roses!
In the meantime, stay highly tuned if you want to relieve back pain, improve your strength and flexibility, and lose weight.
Regards
John Miller
