I've been working out scehe 9thgrade, on and off so I think I had it easier preparing for the pushups and such. Running is a whole 'nother matter.
Pushups involve alot of different muscle groups. Your triceps and chest mainly, but also include the deltoids (muscles around the shoulder cuffs), upper back, and lower back muscles for stabilizing. Whatever muscles group fatigues first is usually the group that is the weakest. FOr me it's my deltoids. There are plenty of exercises you can do for those, but mainly I would concentrate purely on pushups itself. Your basically just going to have to tough it through and exercise. To maximize your reps for the 2 minute test I recommend doing 20-30 off the bat within the first 40 seconds or so, wait 10 seconds do 10 more and so on. Don't try to do as many as your can consistently over the 2 minutes but rather do some and then rest in the up position. You can do 21's which is where you go from bottom position(chest touching the ground) to a 90 degree angle at your elbows. Do 7 of them and then do 7 more from the 90 degree position to the top position, then do 7 more from chest on the ground all the way to the top. Hence 21's (7+7+7) This will work out all aspects of the pushup. If your weak going from bottom position to mid position, or weak from mid to top position this will remedy that. I think the easiest pushup is to go from bottom to mid position, but since that's not how you're tested you need to do the full range of motion. It will be harder training but it will make your testing easier. no cheating!:icon_rage
Alot of it is mental just like everything else you do. If you think you will be tired at rep # 20 then you will get tired, but if you concentrate on something else or just tell yourself it's all cake it should be. I've benched 185lbs. 10 times as a sophomore in H.S. but it was after preparing myself mentally all day, I was just so anxious to them for some reason. I still find it hard to find that kind of mental preparation these days. I think the world record is like 11,000 pushups in a row(with food and bathroom breaks) that man must have been prepared.
Pushups involve alot of different muscle groups. Your triceps and chest mainly, but also include the deltoids (muscles around the shoulder cuffs), upper back, and lower back muscles for stabilizing. Whatever muscles group fatigues first is usually the group that is the weakest. FOr me it's my deltoids. There are plenty of exercises you can do for those, but mainly I would concentrate purely on pushups itself. Your basically just going to have to tough it through and exercise. To maximize your reps for the 2 minute test I recommend doing 20-30 off the bat within the first 40 seconds or so, wait 10 seconds do 10 more and so on. Don't try to do as many as your can consistently over the 2 minutes but rather do some and then rest in the up position. You can do 21's which is where you go from bottom position(chest touching the ground) to a 90 degree angle at your elbows. Do 7 of them and then do 7 more from the 90 degree position to the top position, then do 7 more from chest on the ground all the way to the top. Hence 21's (7+7+7) This will work out all aspects of the pushup. If your weak going from bottom position to mid position, or weak from mid to top position this will remedy that. I think the easiest pushup is to go from bottom to mid position, but since that's not how you're tested you need to do the full range of motion. It will be harder training but it will make your testing easier. no cheating!:icon_rage
Alot of it is mental just like everything else you do. If you think you will be tired at rep # 20 then you will get tired, but if you concentrate on something else or just tell yourself it's all cake it should be. I've benched 185lbs. 10 times as a sophomore in H.S. but it was after preparing myself mentally all day, I was just so anxious to them for some reason. I still find it hard to find that kind of mental preparation these days. I think the world record is like 11,000 pushups in a row(with food and bathroom breaks) that man must have been prepared.