Friday, December 12, 2008

When Did You Last Do A Pushup?

Guest Blogger: Tom Rancich

LaLou recently bought a Perfect Pushup – she very kindly agreed to share her story with the readers of Charlie Mike.

“So I bought some Perfect Pushups. I am trying to get more fit. I have a lot of physical limitations, including a bad shoulder. I opened the box at home and took them out. I tossed the instruction dvd’s on the table and set the pp’s on the kitchen floor. I gripped the handles, assumed the position and began to lower myself.

SNAP CRACKLE POP CRUNCH! Wrist, elbow and shoulder joints all sounded off in protest – and that was just the down motion. Up was just as loud, if not louder. I thought, “Well, there’s one” and stopped before something snapped. Hah! Luckily I am strong from years of mucking stalls and such. I’ll shake out the arms and do some more today.”

Tom Rancich with the $64,000 Question:

“Hi LaLou – so my question to you is---when did you last do a pushup? The ability of a body to get weak is only equaled by its ability to get strong---so---if you haven’t done a pushup in forever, start on the wall or on stairs to decrease the stress. Get the muscle thinking again. When I first used the PP it did not feel good, not just the physical part but the rotating etc. My body was totally conditioned to regular pushups. The PP, though better and more efficient for me, was way uncomfortable to do the new movement. But I was strong enough to just decrease reps and work through it: that might not be your situation and you will have to adjust.”

And LaLou responded:

“I haven’t done a pushup in probably 20 years. I was in an accident when I was 19 … I spent 2 years before I could walk without crutches, then canes. But now I toss hay bales around all year and clean stalls and run a heavy wheelbarrow. I have strength, but not apparently for that particular motion.

I’ll start slow. Maybe use the wall. I thought the PP would be good by reducing rotational stress on my shoulder. I think it will be, once I get used to doing pushups again.

There is nobody more stubborn than I.

And now, in conclusion, Tom’s advice to “use your stubbornness only when it is advantageous."

"Stubborn is great---stupid is not. So before ya get mad that I called ya stupid, I didn’t. So I go to the doc about three months after being in a helo crash and she says, “When did you break your neck?” And I say, “Hmmmmm, got an idea.” Anyway, she tells me I must stop all physical contact. I say, “No rugby? And she says, “You can’t wrestle with your kids.” I say, “Pfffft” ---and go play rugby. I wind up laying on the ground with no feeling anywhere: that is stubborn and stupid. Stubbornness is a great quality but it has to be balanced with smart. How am I to reach my stubborn goal? By doggedly taking it one tiny step at a time.”

___________________________________________________



Lt. Commander Thomas Rancich, US Navy SEAL (Ret.) is the co-founder of VRHabilis, a disabled veteran-owned small business that seeks to employ the highly trained and motivated veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for work in construction and related fields. Rancich and co-founder Elliott Adler are pioneering the concept of using adaptive technology to bridge the gap between industrial and medical technology. On a very serious note---to all the people who have seen the worst of this conflict---knowing the hollowness and lack of joy some returning veterans experience daily, Tom has said, "If things aren't going well, contact me at Off-Shore Consulting or visit the Veterans Hotline".

Through his consulting firm, Off-Shore Consulting, Tom provides professional advice on leadership and team building, often as a motivational speaker, in addition to being an expert consultant to the entertainment industry. The YouTube clip shows some recent work for a production company.



Alden Mills and Tom Rancich served together in the Teams. Longtime “on-line” coach for Team Perfect, Tom blogs monthly on Charlie Mike.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

"When Did You Last Do A Pushup?"
After thousands, I'll never do 1 again.
-
Warrior Women,

Keep doing your Perfect Push Ups, keep maxing out your muscles, do sets of 10 at at time until you're up to 100's a day every couple of days for a full year. POWER THROUGH THE PAIN! Also do the Perfect Pull up and the Ab Straps. These products are amazing! They can age you so fast and permanently ruin your telomeres http://www.tasciences.com/science.html until you keep aging rapidly and can no longer do exercise without your face aging further. Power it out! Eventually you don't feel the pain in your muscles, your face just ages.

Definitely products for a feminine, sexy look!

Too bad it doesn't come with a warning like, "women if you do these products made for Navy SEAL Men, you could become ugly and aged, you're role model could become Kurt Cobain or both."
-
BTW, What does this mean?
"The ability of a body to get weak is only equaled by its ability to get strong."

Joe G. said...

One day at a time. I thought I would move from the 20, 12, 8 workout on the Perfect Pushup chart to the 26, 14, 10 within two or three months. That was wishful thinking. It may take a year - maybe longer.

the healthy fit mom said...

For another view on women working out...

I know, for me, when I turned 35, my body started aging rapidly. I had let my workouts go and I was starting to get fat where I'd never seen it before. But when I started really working out again, I started getting muscle back and I started looking a lot younger again.

I think the key is, as Tom said, to start slow and adjust. I have my own limitations due to injuries and I've found that they continue to give me trouble, but if I don't workout, then they trouble me more. Every doctor and therapist that I've seen has advised me to keep up my workouts, just do the "right" stretches and exercises, and to listen to my body.

Sorry to disagree with Barbie, but I think the correct plan and follow through does not age us, but helps us look and feel younger, not to mention makes us healthier.

Anonymous said...

Well, Hooyah for all of you with better genetics.

Too bad you never started out gorgeous and turned ugly from exercise at 26.

"The correct plan" won't make you strong. The body gets stronger by specializing.
Then again, the body hates doing the same thing.

Keep doing the same movement with the Perfect Products. The body loves it. If you have great genes, you win.
Trust Tracy who never laid out her exercise plan.

Alden Mills said...

Comment from guest blogger Tom Rancich

Barb---why so bitter? We, or rather I, am simply offering advice from my life long experience with fitness and cutting edge performance on how to maintain a life style that includes fitness. Doing push-ups will not age you, though scowling at life and others efforts will cause crows feet.

the healthy fit mom said...

In agreement with Tom - I get that little wrinkle in between my eyes from frowning when I stress too much. I try to smile more to counteract the wrinkles. LOL!

Barbie, it sounds like you made some workout mistakes when you were younger, and now that you're older, you're paying the price. Isn't that the situation for a lot of people? The thing is, just because we shouldn't do pushups for every workout, doesn't mean we shouldn't do them at all. I really prefer the elliptical. Most of my workouts are on the elliptical because it's the easiest on my body. I've been advised to cross train with swimming, water aerobics, the bike and weights, but that does NOT mean I should avoid the elliptical. It just means it shouldn't be my ONLY workout.

I don't think my workout is best for everyone. My workout is specific to me because I have limitations. What works well for me may not be the best for someone else and vice versa. I can't run without causing extreme pain for myself. I ignored my injuries for too long and now too much damage has been done. But just because I can't run doesn't mean that other people shouldn't. It also doesn't mean that I can't still exercise.

I think it's important to remember that our exercise plans are individual. And with the right instruction, we can do many things. Sometimes we just have to overcome a few obstacles. Keyword being OVERCOME. And we have to work with what we have. We have to ADJUST. Which is exactly what Tom was saying.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ranitch, this blog wasn't about you. It was about some chick named Lalou or was it all made up and you're Lalou?

"Doing push-ups will not age you" -Tom Rancich
How many a day per week are you talking about?

Also, yes, that maybe correct for Navy SEALs because they have superior genes and they can do millions.

-
These products work a lot of muscles at once. That stresses the body. Are you going to now tell me that stress does not prematurely age you?
-
Tracey- Why don't you use some Desitin (the one with cod liver oil) the skin absorbs it the best or Aida Grey's Regeregatrice line for your skin.
I don't have wrinkles. It sounds like YOU are the one who has the wrinkles, Ms. Self-Projector.

I'm talking about my face aging as in nose and forehead my won't stop growing and my hairline won't stop receding (That is from PERMANENT damage to telomeres), which I can see in other people who do workouts with high stress and tension. People in the military don't have it because they have superior genetics.
However, watch the channel on TV that has the infomercial for "Barry's Bootcamp". Look at their "before" and "after" pictures. You can clearly see that ALL of them who actually did the workout, ("featured" (i.e. payed) celebrities not included; what b.s.) their foreheads grew, their hairline receded and their noses got bigger.
"Look at the cover of the woman on the "Combat the Fat" book. Her nose is big and her bangs are hiding her huge forehead and receding hairline.

Yes, I made mistakes in my training for the last year because these products like I wrote above put enormous stress on one's body. How do you think you get such fast results?

I used to look 10 years younger than I was. Now I look 20 years older than I am. No one in my family has this. They all look young for their age. They have not used these products and since I can no longer use my PP, my mom said she wanted it. No way in hell am I going to give it to her and let her get ugly like I am now.
-
Again, no mention of Ms. Self-Projector's Perfect Push up workout, how many repetitions and sets she does or how long she's been doing the workout.

LaLou said...

Hey, LaLou here. Yes, I am a real person by the name of Laura. I am the one that conversed with Tom about my creaking joints and aging, complaining body.

I am 41 years of age and have been physically limited since the age of 19 when I was in an accident.

I did buy the PPs and try them only to find my body was somehow not quite as willing as my mind was to do Perfect Pushups.

Tom suggested doing pushups against a wall for a while to get my body back in the groove. I have done so nearly every day and I am already feeling better. The pushups against the wall take some of the stress out of the action and get my body used to the motion and alignment needed for horizontal pushups. I will get to them eventually.

I am quite pleased that I am able to do any pushups at all since I have an old shoulder injury. I am even more pleased that I have had no shoulder pain with my slow re-introduction to the pushup.

My current goals are very modest and not even a mote on what I was once able to do with a healthy body. Even so, I will be thrilled to reach them.

Just as an aside, my very fit teenage son has found the Perfect Pushups challenging. He can do about 50 normal pushups and could do less than 10 using the PPs. He has challenged himself to get up to 50 using the PPs.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience.
LaLou

Joe G. said...

Ranitch? Okay, maybe I missed something.

Barbie, Ken says the wedding is off until further notice.

Anonymous said...

"I have done so nearly every day"
Okay, this perfect. Not letting your muscles rest. Awesome.
See science articles http://www.sciam.com/search/index.cfm?q=telomeres&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&submit=submit for further in on muscles and the cells needing time to repair and if they don't, telomere damage.

Joe- You're clearly not training hard enough. Start with the PT pyramid:

1-P PullUp
2-P Pushup
3-Hanging leg raises w/ P Ab Straps

1-10-1 GO! Report back your time!
Hooyah!

Anonymous said...

Joe G- Ken has no dick or balls, so he's all yours

LaLou said...

Barbie you have entirely missed the point. I am disabled. I am making very small baby steps toward better fitness. I started with 5 push-ups while leaning against a door.

My success is in developing a daily habit of exercise and improvement. Yes, it is a success for me. At no point am I pushing myself to muscle exhaustion or injury. I have spent years in physical rehab after reconstructive surgeries. I know how much my body can take.

I will never be the 18 year old athlete I once was. I can be in better shape than I am now and I am working to that goal.

Other people with undamaged bodies will be going about their fitness routines in a different manner.

I am just glad that I can walk. There were times when that goal seemed unachievable.

Jeanne said...

Wow-Barbie, take a chill pill.
You sound like you need some form of exercise to release all that anger. Too bad you won't be having a honeymoon with Ken for him to help you with this task.

As far as Tom and Alden, they sound like a dream.......I would gobble up their advice.

Jeanne said...

Barbie,

A "real" man will look past the surface and into the heart of a woman. Don't fret, you sound like you have a pure heart of gold!

Girlfriend, I have to ask-Whatcha doing wasting your precious energy posting angry responses on early Christmas morning, the most amazing and joyful day of the year? This is just sad, girlfriend! Hope and peace sent your way for 2009! Chillax, it's all good,
Jeanne
P.S. Your pill recommendation sounds interesting-do they come in SEAL variety???
Remember, laughter is the best medicine! :) :) :) :) :)

Alden Mills said...

CM readers, we apologize for some of the vile language that has been posted in the last few weeks, but as we are made up of people who fought to defend the first amendment we will not arbitrarily delete those comments. That being said, however, Charlie Mike is a Blogger-hosted blog and we must respect Blogger Content Policy which is why we have removed a few comments in the last few days.

Here is Blogger’s statement:

“Blogger is a free service for communication, self-expression and freedom of speech. We believe Blogger increases the availability of information, encourages healthy debate, and makes possible new connections between people.

We respect our users' ownership of and responsibility for the content they choose to share. It is our belief that censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression.

In order to uphold these values, we need to curb abuses that threaten our ability to provide this service and the freedom of expression it encourages. As a result, there are some boundaries on the type of content that can be hosted with Blogger. The boundaries we've defined are those that both comply with legal requirements and that serve to enhance the service as a whole.”

The Charlie Mike Team respects Blogger’s Content Boundaries and one is particularly relevant to this discussion:

HATEFUL CONTENT: Users may not publish material that promotes hate toward groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity.”

The Charlie Mike Team