As many of you know, one of my goals for my 60th birthday is to perform 60 push-ups on that day. To that end, I’ve been doing test push-ups. Until yesterday, I was progressing. Unfortunately, I regressed, going from 38 last month to 36 yesterday. As I said at the end of the video, it’s “back to the drawing board.”

Immediately after the test, I knew what the most obvious fix was. While I’ve done bench presses, dumbbell presses and chest flys as part of my chest routine, I was not consistently incorporating push-ups. If I want to do 60 push-ups by my 60th birthday, I need to do….push-ups. Duh.

Want to become great at free throws? Practice free throws. How about improving your putting? Putt like hell. I once asked a high school friend with a phenomenal vertical leap, “What kind of exercises did you do to achieve your vertical leap?“

His answer? “I just jumped every day for the entire summer.“

DOH.

Despite being 5’10”, he was once called for goaltending when he trapped the basketball against the backboard above the rim. To my high school friends, can you guess who I’m talking about?

Anyway, back to the push-up situation. It’s just simply being more consistent with push-ups. I immediately incorporated push-ups into my routine this morning. As part of going “back to the drawing board,” I will scour YouTube for push-up tips. My instructor, Professor Chuck Gauss, texted me a link to this fantastic video.

If you are not able to view this video, go here.

While I am confident that consistent push-ups are the answer, my re-evaluation does not stop there.

After initially losing 12 lbs, my weight loss has stalled out, meaning I need to take a second look at my diet and increase my cardio. The strength in my right hip has improved considerably in the last six months. Given the improvement, I need to ramp up my cardio. I have to be mindful of the type of cardio I can do. High-impact activities such as running are discouraged. The reason is that the artificial joint will wear out faster. I have no desire to do that. To date, I’ve been content with long walks. From a weight loss perspective, that is insufficient.

So, I’m taking a second look at my push-up routine (or the lack thereof), diet and cardio.

What is the point of re-evaluating my fitness routine?

I find a setback like this useful as it will lead to necessary tweaks and changes to my routine. I cannot measure my progress toward 60 push-ups by my 60th birthday without testing myself. Setbacks allow us to identify areas that need improvement and make necessary adjustments. I gotta be honest. I was quite disappointed in the recent push-up test. But it’s better to face reality than to coast along in the false belief that I’m doing well.

But, instead of wallowing in disappointment, evaluating the entire process and seeing where you are falling short is better. AND KEEP GOING. That means you are going to fail and have setbacks. Just go for it.

If you are not able to view the video, go here.

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