Okay, so if you've been a long-time ShrinkGeek reader, you've probably figured out that Rafe loves nothing more than to push his body to some pretty extreme ends in his Pursuit o' Ab-ness. Today we're going to step up the challenge a bit, but admittedly not quite to the crazy levels we've seen Rafe go to.

For today, we want you to drop and give us 50 push-ups!

Some people who have been working more than the first part of the year will find this very easy to do. Others who are new to the workout idea may be looking at this and saying "holy crap, 50? That's more than I can do!" (That would also be me, for what it's worth.) As such, here are a couple of suggestions on how to complete today's Daily Quest without hurting yourself.

• As opposed to trying to do all 50 at one go, split them up into manageable chunks. Try one push up. If you can do that easily, try two. Work your way up to 5 or more, paying attention to your body. If you can only do 5, no problems! Wait an hour or two and try to do another 5. (Alternately, if all you can do is 5 all day – that's still more than none!)
• If doing old-school push-ups is a bit too difficult, why not try a modified push-up? The Mayo Clinic has a great instructional how-to video on modified push-ups that should help you find a version that will work better for you. 

Once you're done, check in and let us know how it went!

(Legal disclaimer: Always consult a medical professional before beginning on any course of exercise!)

Post edited 7:03 pm – January 8, 2010 by Rafe Brox

Heh.  Hold on, I need to refresh Hunter's Mark on my ass, since everyone's gunning for me.

50 @ 8:00

50 @ 9:45

50 @ 10:45

50 @ 14:00

I'm not even going to lie on this one – I'm going to do the modified knees-version push-up. My upper body strength is crap, and I know hurting myself will achieve nothing.

That said, I have 5 of those down already, and will be taking them in easy stages throughout the day.

I also realized I need to sweep in here. There are kitteh-fur tumbleweeds forming. hehe

See, I'm still on the "weak" end of the scale. I've managed to get in 15 more for a total of 20.

Still, that's 20 more than I would have done, and I have the rest of the night to finish. Just have to keep going!