Jack Clancy – Page 4 – Fat, Broke and Stupid

Much can change in nine months. For some, it’s the miracle of childbirth. For others, it could be a new job or a big move. In more dystopian times, a global pandemic could place the world in quarantine. For me, on the other hand, I have seen my body change in many ways as a result of doing 100 push ups every single day for the last nine months. The human body is capable of incredible change. Depending on your nutrition and training, you can lose weight, gain muscle, gain strength, develop incredible endurance, or do the complete opposite. Today, I am happy to share the changes that I was able to accomplish with my 100 Pushup A Day Challenge. This article is intended for any normal person who is interested in starting this challenge, too, and who is curious about what kind of results you might expect to see. Exercise Caution, Too! Pushups are a physical exercise. You can injure yourself doing pushups. Consult your health care professional of choice before starting this challenge. This article is not a substitute for medical advice or professional personal training coaching. My Pushup Journey So Far… Me when I was about 270 lbs.8 Years Ago? - About 275 lbs.Day 1 - 198.0 lbs. I used to be obese and ashamed of my body. I played sports, but my nutrition was garbage. The sports faded over time due to injuries and my weight skyrocketed. At the age of 17, I weighed 296 lbs. (134.5 kgs.)! It took some time, but I eventually made healthy living more of a priority in my life. I started hiking, going to the gym, swimming, and I learned to cook and enjoy healthier food options. By June 15, 2019, I had lost 98 lbs. (44.5 kgs.) and I had kept it off for many, many years. I was 33 years old at the time and in the best shape of my life at that point… Awesome! On that date, I also decided that it was time to take my training much more seriously. Being inspired by before-and-after body transformation videos on YouTube, I decided to begin my own 100 Pushup a Day Challenge and document the results. And here they are… Results After 100 Push Ups A Day for 9 Months Day 1 - 198.0 lbs. Month 3 - 187.2 lbs. Month 6 - 189.7 lbs. Month 9 - 185.0 lbs. You are about to see my personal progress photos taken over the course of nine months. The specific dates for each period are as follows: Day 1: June 15, 2019Month 3: June 15, 2019 – September 14, 2019 (92 days)Month 6: June 15, 2019 – December 14, 2019 (183 days)Month 9: June 15, 2019 – March 14, 2020 (274 days) Weight is also important, so I tracked that, too. Here is my weight for each update: Jun. 15, 2019: 198 lbs. (90.0 kgs.)Sep. 14, 2019: 187.2 lbs. (85.1 kgs.)Dec. 14, 2019: 189.7 lbs. (86.2 kgs.)Mar. 14, 2020: 185.0 lbs. (84.1 kgs.) Let’s look at each three-month period individually, shall we?!? Before and After Results: Day 1 to Month 3 Day 1 - 198.0 lbs.Month 3 - 187.2 lbs. In many ways, the first three months offer the highest potential for major change in the body, at least compared to the changes that took place in the following three-month periods. To begin with, I was able to more easily lose some of the excess fat still remaining on my frame, and that allowed my muscles to finally before more visible after years of being hidden. In total, I lost 10.8 lbs. during this period, and that’s significant when you consider that I also added some muscle to my frame in addition to the weight loss.Secondly, for the first three months doing 100 pushups every day was a serious physical challenge for me. I was unaccustomed to training this frequently and with so much intensity. It was much more stress on my muscles, and they responded as muscles do… by growing!This was also a period of trial-and-error for my pushup challenge. At first, I wanted to do as many pushups in a row as I could. My goal was to get to 100 consecutive pushups. Eventually, this changed. Instead, I determined that proper form and added intensity on my target muscles (the chest muscles, of course) was more important than doing more lower-quality repetitions. I worked on my form and tried to improve it each day. I also experimented with the number of sets and repetitions I would do, how much rest I would have between sets, and the time of day I would perform them. Before and After Results: Month 3 to Month 6 Month 3 - 187.2 lbs.Month 6 - 189.7 lbs. As you can see, I continued to make progress during this three-month period, but the progress was different than during the first three months. For one, I actually put on a few pounds during this period… 2.5 lbs. to be exact. The easy weight loss had stopped, and I found myself in a weight-maintenance period. Additionally, I started going to the gym more and getting more protein in my diet. I feel like this was a good period for putting a little more muscle mass on my body, and particularly on my chest muscles.This was made all the more challenging given the time of year. It was much colder during these three months than the first three months. This is something to consider if you want to embark on a year long pushup challenge. It is less fun to be outside when it is super cold, and the food is typically more of the comfort variety (more calories). It is also much darker during the day. All of these things play a role in adding some seasonal weight. Fortunately, the gains remained.Aside from my chest muscles, I feel like my shoulder muscles really began to increase in size during this three-month period. As you can imagine, performing my daily 100 pushups was much easier during this three-month period than at the beginning of the challenge. My strength had increased, and it was becoming much easier to perform them. Whereas my chest used to feel like it was on fire all of the time, I now rarely felt this. A sign of progress, but also a sign that perhaps 100 pushups is no longer enough to truly stimulate muscle growth?!? Before and After Results: Month 6 to Month 9 Month 6 - 189.7 lbs.Month 9 - 185.0 lbs. In many ways, the change between Month 6 and Month 9 is the least spectacular of the group. The first thing you will notice is that I lost some weight again, 4.7 lbs. to be exact, and that the month 9 photo is the leanest of the other photos in this article. Being leaner, you can imagine that my muscles look more defined, and they do.Note that I do not attribute my daily pushups to my weight loss at all! I lost the weight through better nutrition and managing my calorie intake better. Pushups alone will not result in weight loss. If anything, you might gain more weight because you eat more because you feel like you earned it because you did pushups. It’s a trap, so be careful!As you might expect, performing 100 pushups a day during this three-month period was by far the easiest of the group. Honestly, I feel like I could easily do 150 pushups a day, or even 200. Perhaps I should, but in the spirit of this year-long challenge I will refrain from doing so.Still, once YOU are at this point it might be time so consider increasing the number of pushups per day. Either that, or you can add other forms of resistance like weighted-pushups, more challenging pushup variations, or slowing down the speed of your pushups to increase the amount of time-under-tension during your workout. Anything, really, to make them more challenging would be recommended. The Most Important Things I Have Learned So Far As you can see, I have physically changed quite a bit over this nine-month period. I have learned quite a bit, too. Here are the most important things I have learned during my pushup journey so far: You are what you repeatedly do! If you do pushups every day, you will get really good at doing pushups. If your practice a new language every single day, you should eventually speak it well. Same for learning a new musical instrument. Consistent, daily practice is such a powerful life skill and practice to have and apply. It can be applied to any area of your life where you hope to make personal change, not just pushups.Practice does not make perfect; rather, perfect practice makes perfect! One of my coaches in high school used to say this to us. Oh, how wise he was. If you do pushups with poor form every day, all you will do is get good and doing pushups badly. Instead, by focusing on doing pushups with excellent form, you can get better gains and better avoid injury.Have faith and stay the course! It is hard to see small changes made on a daily basis. It can be easy to get discouraged and lose faith. It’s especially true when trying to make changes in our bodies and physiques. I would encourage anyone interested in doing a 100 Pushup a Day Challenge to stick with it for the long-term and to not get discouraged if you feel like you are not seeing the results you want as fast as you want them. The changes ARE happening, and one day you will wake up and realize that suddenly you are a totally different person. Documenting your progress with update photos helps with this… trust me! The Importance of Daily Exercise Today is April 13, 2020. I would be remiss if I did not point out that I am writing this article while under quarantine in my apartment due to the global Corona Virus pandemic. I guess that dystopian future is a reality after all, no? I point this out because in addition the current health risks around us, there is also a risk that quarantine lowers our normal daily physical activity. That, coupled with binge watching TV and emotional eating can lead to weight-gain. This only adds to the importance of maintaining and/or developing good habits of daily, physical exercise. I sincerely hope that you are staying safe, and I wish you the best as you continue to become the person you wish to be. The Jack Clancy YouTube Channel Pictures are one thing, but wouldn’t you like to see the before-and-after VIDEO, too?!? Not to worry, I have published the full before-and-after video results on my Jack Clancy YouTube Channel. Check it out right here: https://youtu.be/EGreRpLmF_M Remember to hit the subscribe button and the notification bell. By doing that, you will get all of my monthly update videos sent to you directly as soon as they are published so you will never miss an update! See the Results from the Other Months, Too! This article only showed day 1, month 3, month 6, and month 9. You can see ALL of my before-and-after pictures, articles, and videos by checking out my 100 Push Ups A Day for One Year website page.