For an explanation of what we're up to, click HERE
Hazel had gotten stuck under a carmen cat before she started her pushups, so she tried to do them around the cat - one handed, since the cat was on the other one...it didn't quite work, but she got some nudges out of the deal:
James is still resting his back, but the girls decided to massage it with there pushups...or something...
Cadence did it first:
And then Calliope followed suit...in her own goofy, silly way...Love that Hazel tried to help her with her form, if it hadn't been so late Calliope probably would have loved having the help!
And as for me, well...Puy was my assistant for the evening. She was on my back when I set up for the pushups, so I started with her there and then for some reason didn't adjust when she left, so these are super bizarre...based on my body shape I'm gonna call them "w" pushups...a bit more tricep heavy than what I have been focusing on, but I was also on my knees with a weirdly curved back, so...yeah not the best.
And for my double challenge today, I decided to attempt to do some ball V planks...on the cat scratcher, which is not flat. They're sloppy, and I lost count when I noticed the cat chewing on something she shouldn't have been, so hopefully I actually made it to 22. I'm not counting before I post. Blissfully ignorant.
...And then I did some extra exercises because I am waiting for the dryer to finish anyway...I will save that silliness for another day, suffice it to say Puy was again quite helpful.
...and then I realized I haven't done any pull-ups lately and I should probably see if I am still capable of doing them...and that's how I got a bruise on my head. Evidently I can still do one; pulled myself up right into the doorframe! Not my most graceful move...
For an explanation of what we're up to, click HERE
OK, so life got busy (inevitably) and I fell behind in our documentation...There was a day where the kids filmed theirs but then James and I didn't film ours, and then Hazel and Calliope and I did ours but we forgot to record Cadence, and James hurt his back so he hasn't been able to do it... and there was one day when I actually filmed two in case I missed a day - so labeling the headers with the days has ceased to make sense.
Anyway, here are all the videos that I have that I have failed to post lately:
Callie's up first:
Then Hazel took her turn:
And finally Cadence...who was evidently somewhat possessed:
And since this was the day that the grown-ups didn't record our pushups, I will instead show you the bonus push-up video I made back on day 2, when it was pouring rain outside and Cadence suggested that I should do a set of pushups in a swimming suit and goggles. Wanting to prove that it's good to be able to not take yourself to seriously, I obliged...even when I couldn't find half of my bathing suit and resorted to using a dance costume Jean's daughter had outgrown and given to my kids as a dress-up...It should be noted that Cara, Jean's daughter, is a beautiful, tall, thin young lady. I'm definitely not tall, and at the moment I am carrying more weight than I ever have - when not pregnant at full term - thanks to the regimen of meds I've been on...so the fact that this thing even kinda fit me made the whole thing more ridiculous and silly fun.
I have to admit, I was a little bit proud of myself for recording my Ridiculous Outfit Ill Fitting "swimming-suit" and Goggles Push-ups to post ON THE INTERNET because I want to show my kids - and anyone who needs a reminder, really - that "imperfections" don't need to be hidden, and that if you own it you can flaunt it and people's criticisms lose their power over you...but then I watched the footage, and realized that, thanks to the three-year-old behind the camera, who was evidently exploring alternative cinematographic storytelling styles, most of the video is kinda nausea-inducingly unclear anyhow, so I guess I can't really claim all that much moral superiority for posting a potentially embarrassing video of myself thanks to my daughter's (probably unintentional?) censoring. You can't even really tell that I'm in a big ole muddy stream and splashing about! ah well, c'est la vie! It is still pretty fun, and ridiculous.
So anyway, back to the present:
Hazel and Callie decided to do inchworms for their pushups today!!
For my pushups, I walked the silks off axis so they would be providing a bit of resistance as well...
...Also edited out the bit in the middle where the kids came and wanted turns on the silk and I had to stop and negotiate, and then calliope wanted to be my videographer, taking over from the box that had been doing that job...I think I accidentally edited out some pushups in my attempt to edit all that out, though and evidently the videos were in different formats thanks to the switch between front and rear camera...oops.
And for my bonus exercise today, Mermaid crunches!
(I modified them a bit - normally I would do one side, then crunch in the middle, then the other side, which would count as 1...but since I had little time in the studio before the next class started (and because I'm out of shape and knew my arms couldn't take 22 of those AND 22 pushups...) I decided to simplify it considerably. Still fun, but harder to control the momentum to keep from cheating by just swinging back and forth!
Hopefully we'll be back on track now...maybe?? Only time will tell...
For an explanation of what we're up to, click HERE
I *thought* Cadence, Hazel, and Calliope were gonna do this challenge this evening, but somehow we ended up with just these feet!
(Don't worry, they did all their reps, but the phone died before they were complete.)
Once those three crazies were in bed, James and I took our turns. Here's James...with some judgement from Lily:
As for me: I was initially put up to this challenge by my friend Jean...but then today, my friend Melissa tagged me in it, too! This has happened before within this peer group (namely, to Melissa, who was tagged by both Jean and Kendra on the same day!) so there is a precedent for how to deal with it.
So, in addition to my 22 pushups each day:
I will be adding 22 reps of an additional exercise to my tribute. To kick off my inaugural double challenge day, may I present: Cat Squats.
(Kat, with Carmen Cat and Puy Kitty.)
(And in case you feel like something is off here, you are correct that these are not in chronological order. I actually did the squats first, then shaved my head, and did the push-ups.)
For an explanation of what we are doing, click HERE
Tonight we managed to get all the way to bedtime before remembering to do our push-ups! So the videos are kinda silly fun today.
First up was Cadence, although our kitty Carmen was pretty set on enforcing the bedtime curfew, so Cadence worked around her!
And then James and Hazel were up, with kitty Carmen acting as coach and providing nudges at the bottom of each rep!
As you can see, calliope required some setup time, so when she was all set, we captured this little gem:
And last but absolutely not least ( in number), I was up. I did a good solid set that i was pretty satisfied with and climbed into bed...but then the kids informed me that it hadn't been recorded and therefore didn't count. So here is my second set of bedtime push-ups:
(Oh yeah, and did I mention I had a three year old, distracted videographer? Silly kiddo.)
For an explanation of what we're doing here, click HERE
We have been hoping to have cool creative videos each day, but today I was so beat by the time we got home I fell asleep on the couch, so James got the kids all ready for bed, then woke me up to do pushups and bedtime. So, messy living room shots all around!
Calliope filmed for Cadence and Hazel:
(Fun fact; the shirt Hazel is wearing as a nightgown is from a YMAA tournament I participated in at least twenty years ago...)
And then Hazel filmed for the rest of us...but the phone ran out of storage and stopped recording before we finished, so this shows most but not all of our set. Despite my passenger I tried my best to do fully planked pushups, made it about halfway through before I had to switch to my knees. Better spinal alignment this time, but worse hair management, makes it look like I'm dropping my head even worse than yesterday!
Every day, we lose too many people to suicide, and unfortunately a large percentage of those deaths are combat veterans. The popular quote is that we lose 22 combat veterans (and 1 active duty soldier) to suicide every day. It's a stunning statistic that shows how deeply we are failing these courageous sons and daughters when it comes to proactive and aggressive mental health care; and while the exact statistic has been questioned, I nevertheless believe this is an important cause to rally for.
In order to raise awareness about the need to care for our returning soldiers, we will do 22 push-ups every day for 22 days and post videos here to encourage other to join us.
So, if you'd like to join in by doing 22 push-ups in honor of the 22 veterans lost to suicide each day for 22 days, please join us in any way you can! Not army strong? No worries! doing them in sets with breaks, or doing them on your knees is a-ok. Fall outside the category of 'able bodied'? Adapt them! Show us your power and do whatever variation/approximation/totally different exercise but still in full spirit that you feel comfortable with.
For more info on the challenge, please check out https://www.22kill.com/22-honor-pushups
Most of you have probably noticed this challenge making its rounds across social media, which is where I first encountered it myself. Many of my friends have stepped up to do this and have put out some awesome and super creative videos...it was only a matter of time before I got tagged, and I'm happy to join in for an important cause.
Cadence, at 9 years old now and at the bleeding edge of being wholly embarrassed by me and everything I do, was right on board with this...until she realized I intended to do it in public. OMG. I'm so embarrassing. But! Cadence is a fearsome not-so-little awesome, and even though I invited her to do something wholly embarrassing to any sane pre-teen, I never told her she had to do it...and she impressed me (as she always does) by putting her self-consciousness aside and letting her beautiful confidence shine, in the name of a good cause - but y'know, at lightning speed so that we can be done with this and just walk around on two feet like all the other homo sapiens around. {Cadence, I know you read these now, so I just want to tell you - I love you more than I could ever, ever say, and I am always, always in your corner...I will never force you to do anything you genuinely don't want to do (unless its a matter of safety, 'cause, DUH.) but I am so glad that you joined me in this. You make me proud in every single way. But even if you didn't, I'd still love you to pieces.}
Hazel, age 6, quick to latch on to the prevailing mood in a group, was also hesitant at first, but declared she'd be happy to, as long as it was on her terms (which of course, it always is - your body, your domain!) and well...you can see what her terms ended up being at the outset.
Calliope declared that "those are too many pushups for me, I'm only 3!" but was more than happy to participate by acting as the all-important videographer!
Obviously not on camera duty here...this was right after I asked her what she was doing, and she declared "I'm being a panda."
As for me...well, my heart is in the right place, even if my sorry excuses for push-ups were beyond lamentable...But, with the help of this challenge, maybe I'll be able to work back up to having some decent form. (fingers crossed)
So, here is our first offering...and what better way to kick off our challenge than to jump in altogether, in front of some unimpressed lionesses!
