There are times in your life when you’re in sort of exercise hibernation mode. Like you have to approach your workouts like a scared kitten you’re coaxing out from under the bed…
“Come here little guy…I won’t hurt you if you won’t hurt me…”
Then there are times when you need to reach under that bed, grab that cat and…okay, never mind.
You should never, ever, reach under the bed to grab a feline without some serious protection.
The point is, this time of year brings tons of energy and we can use that energy to take control of our workouts.
To that end, your mission should you choose to accept it is to set some challenges for yourself. Pick 5 consecutive days and set a goal for yourself each day – Something that pushes you a little out of your comfort zone.
Some ideas:
Daily Challenges – Pick Your Poisons
- How many minutes can you exercise? – How many minutes of exercise can you accumulate in one day? My minimum is 30 minutes, so I’m going out on a limb to say I’ll get in 60 minutes at least one day in the next 5. How many minutes will you get?
- How many steps/miles can you walk? – If you use a tracker, you have this information available but, if not, you can simply use distance. For example, could you walk 1 mile one day this week? Could you walk more? Set a goal and do it.
- How many calories can you burn? – If you use a tracker like a FitBit or Apple Watch, you probably get a summary of how many calories you burn each day. Mine, for example, is 400 calories. My goal is to burn at least 450 calories one day this week. What’s your goal?
- How many exercises can you do in 10 minutes? – For this, pick a series of moves – Wall pushups, squats, lunges, step touches, crunches, bicycles – Any body weight moves (see some examples here). Write them all down and do 20 reps of each one. Keep repeating for 10 minutes.
- How many times can you stand up? – For this one, pick a day, set a timer and stand up as often as you can. Keep track of how many times so you can see how awesome you are. Bonus: Do some stretches or walk around during your breaks.
Those are just some ideas…what about you? What would challenge you? Leave a comment and let us know!