We’re proud to introduce our guest blogger. Please welcome Army Staff Sargeant Natasha Gibson. She’s currently stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Though she’s from Southern New Jersey, Natasha says, “I was born in Germany and lived there with my parents for seven years. Yes, I am a military brat. I have been serving the U.S. Army for nine years exactly.”

The Push Up

I’ll finally took my first Army Physical Fitness Test since giving birth to my 8-month-old daughter on Dec. 29, 2008. Prior to getting pregnant, the push up part of the test was always a breeze. My goal was always to “max out” by hitting a level of 100 percent fitness for my age group by doing at least 45 push-ups in a two-minute period. “Too easy”

On Sept. 8, I took a PT test and discovered that what was once a quick 45 push-ups in well under two minutes turned into a slow 23 barely keeping myself from collapsing face first in to the dew-coated grass beneath me. I asked myself, “Am I still out of shape? Have all those months of training up after child birth been in vain?”

The answer I was given was “No.” I had just forgotten the correct form and thus worked twice as hard only to produce half the results. So I did some research and found this help video. In this video, two Army Drill Sergeants demonstrate how to execute the a correct “Army” push-up. Check it out.