Today is the 1st Saturday of the Belly Off! 2008 challenge. That means today was our day for the first Bodyweight challenge. I just finished my Bodyweight 100 a few moments ago. In fact, I’m sitting here at my desk dripping sweat while I type. I wanted to get my initial impressions down before I forgot.
Let me start off by saying, I had mixed feelings coming into today. I was excited because I wanted to see just how well I would do with this first “test”. I was also a little anxious. It looked like a fairly easy routine to get through. But that’s what I said about Workout A and Workout B when I first decided to get into this. So, with mixed emotions, I put on my workout clothes, turned on my XM Radio to Squizz, hit my timer and set off on this first of many Bodyweight challenges.
For those of you who haven’t signed up for the Belly Off! 2008 plan over at Men’s Health, here is what you have to do for the Bodyweight 100.
- (20) Prisoner squats
- (20) Push-ups
- (20) Jumps
- (5) Chin-ups
- (20) Forward lunges
- (15) Close-grip pushups
Here is a video from Craig’s YouTube page that covers the Bodyweight 100. It is slightly different from the video (different training programs) but you’ll get the idea.
That doesn’t sound too terribly difficult, looking at each movement individually. With the Bodyweight 100, the catch is, you have to do each one right after the other without resting in-between. I believe Craig says in order to graduate to the next level (Bodyweight 200 I think?), you must complete this set in nine minutes or less.
So, how did I do? I started off strong with the squats and push-ups but had to take a break when I reached jump number 7. I watch my kids jump around all day long. They jump down the street, they jump on the beds, they jump in and out of the car, and I never see them have to take a break. But believe me, the jumps will kill you. Your legs and abs start screaming WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STOP!!!! I think I took about a 15-30 second break at the 7 jump mark, the 12 jump mark and the 17 jump mark. That was tough and my legs and abs are still feeling it.
Next came the chin-ups. I don’t have a chin-up bar, so I substituted the inverted rows for this. And to do that, I have to run down 13 steps to get to my weight bench. My basement has short ceilings, so there is no way I could do the jumps downstairs. In Workout B, after learning from Workout A, I did modified inverted rows (knees bent). As I got ready for my 5 rows here, I briefly thought about doing them modified but decided to go with regular rows since it was only 5. Besides, how will I ever measure myself or get stronger if I always take the easy way out. I pumped out the 5 rows quickly and with surprisingly good form. Back up the steps (that should count as something extra, maybe a Bodyweight 100+) to finish off with the lunges and close-grip push-ups.
The lunges killed, I had to take about 3 breaks to get through the 20 reps and my legs were burning. One thing I have to do next time is slow down a bit more and make sure I’m doing the lunges properly. Once or twice I caught myself getting sloppy. And finally I was down to my last 15 reps. The close-grip push-ups.
I know I’m weak in the upper body. I couldn’t do all the walking push-ups in Workout B, and had to do modified Spider-man push-ups as well. Nothing different here, those close-grip push-ups made me work. By the time I was pushing up on my last rep, I had maxed out.
As soon as my elbows locked, I rolled over and lay on the floor for a few moments evaluating my situation. I had made it through the Bodyweight 100. A quick look at my watch and it looks like I did it in just around 13 minutes (I have to estimate because I pushed the wrong button on my watch to pause the time as I ran downstairs for my rows). As far as I’m concerned, that’s not too shabby for a first effort. After a few minutes, I feel pretty good. My arms are shaking a little bit, my thighs and abs are a bit sore, but overall it wasn’t too bad. Like everything else Craig has laid out for us, this was challenging, but not unattainable.
I’ll take the rest of the day to have fun with my boys, get some chores done and then hit the treadmill for a quick 20 minute interval tomorrow. After that, it’s on to week 2.
How did everyone else do with their first Bodyweight challenge? Leave me a comment and let me know.
No More Fat Dad 
I had similar problems – the jumps murdered my legs. I too had to stop a few times. I needed 100lbs of displacement for my chinups but knocked out all 5. The lunges absolutely wiped me out. I had to stop 3 different times. The close-grip pushups weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. The pain during that was in my thighs, not my arms or shoulders.
I did this yesterday over lunch – I went back to my office and felt like my legs were somebody else’s. They seriously felt detached from my body – a foreign object.
I got up to play 3 hours of football this morning, as per most Saturdays – still a brutal burn but running around loosened them up for a little bit.
This workout has been a challenge, especially the cardio intervals right after A & B, but keeping focused on the goal and referring to this site and MH.com for support/encouragement/or at least to know others are suffering as I am, very much helps keep me going. A little Advil and everything’s OK, right?
Keep up the hard work – love the blog.
The 100 was not too bad for me. I was kinda proud of myself. Now, was I up to form on all of the jumps, no, not really, but I figure that’ll come with more practice. Took a 1 hour hard core Tae-Bo like class on Sunday (1st time in months) and sweat like a hog. Felt great though. Very excited about tonights work out (although that Swiss ball mountain climb is really difficult without any support). I’m nervous about the weigh in. But I have been pretty good. Keep up the blog. It motivates and helps.
Great job Johnny & Ari, the BW100 was our first test and it sounds like we all passed (well, I didn’t make it in 9 minutes if that’s the time Craig said we should have it done in). Thanks for the comments and support, you can’t imagine how much it helps me and I’m glad the blog helps you. Stay strong!