Good morning!
So after rejoicing in all my kids’ challenge accomplishments last week, I was feeling a bit left out and wished someone had granted ME a challenge I could try too ;) And particularly, one around exercising more as I’m now 20 pounds overweight from all the meds I’m on!
And then out of nowhere, BOOM – a challenge fairy swooped by and dropped off a doozy in front of me:
The 100/day #PushupChallenge:
100 push-ups every day, for an entire month – eek!
At first I hummed and hawed as it seemed like A LOT, but then I did what you always do when you secretly want to do something but are too scared to commit – I tweeted it out loud ;) And just like that, I got dozens of accountability partners and it was on!
So as of November 1st, the push-up challenge has officially been activated and so far it’s been going brilliantly… I’ve knocked out all 100 of them each day so far (amazing what you can do when you actually try hard enough!), I’m motivated, I feel like I’ve got way more energy, my confidence is up, and I’m actually having some fun! Exercising – hah!
But best of all – my family started seeing what I was doing and now they’re in on the action too :)
So what started out as a simple personal challenge, has now turned into a community of 20+ of us doing it together and cheering each other on – so cool.
We even have a spreadsheet tracking it all like nerds ;)
[Add in your own name and join us!]
It reminds me of my early days in the PF community… Where you stumble across a whole new world and one challenge leads to another, and then before you know it it’s gone on to completely change your entire life :)
Which I know is a long shot here since exercising really does NOT interest me and we’re only on day #3, lol, but I can see how the community and side effects of it all might change my mind. Or at least get me into the HABIT of exercising more which is really the ultimate point of it all!
The push-ups aren’t going to do much to my weight, but it IS getting me going so far, and if there’s one thing I know about myself it’s that I’m really good at habit stacking once I get rollin’. One of the guys doing this with us has even added *other* exercises to the challenge which I can totally see myself doing later too!
One habit leads to another, and then another, and then before you know it it’s just your usual routine!
This is the hope with it all, at least :) Perhaps next week I’ll burn out and have to come back here and delete this whole post, haha, but in this moment I’m feeling good and really hopeful it’s the start of a brand new (healthy) me.
If you need a push too, come on over and join us!! Just add your name to our spreadsheet or follow along on Twitter and we’ll gladly welcome you aboard.
Even if you can’t do the full 100, *any* will work as again, it’s the habit we’re really going for here. And if you prefer to stick with *money* tracking instead, I’ve got some goodies for you there too!
- The “Financial Snapshot” Spreadsheet
- The Early Retirement / FI Spreadsheet
- The “When Can You Retire” Spreadsheet (pay particular attention to the “years to live” line, lol…)
Whatever your mission though, JUST BE SURE TO TRACK IT ALL!!!
It’s all in the tracking…
and the starting…
and the wanting…
and especially in the surrounding yourself with accountability partners…
It’s never an overnight thing though. Big goals take daily practice and commitment. But one day compounds to more days, and before you know it you’re a rock star millionaire with 6 pack abs becoming the best version of yourself you can be ;)
And I don’t know about you, but that’s sexy as hell.
Let’s get it.
UPDATE: It looks like I had tried this challenge over 10 years ago too! But never made it past Day 1, lol.. I’m proud to say this time around we’re much better, now going into week 3 without a single day missing it ;) It’s actually getting easier as the days go by – I’m already feeling stronger!
UPDATE 2: Mission completed!!! Over 72,000 push-ups combined from the community and the habit has now sunken in… So much easier to do with other people joining and cheering you on :) Month #2 of challenges will be 100 SQUATS a day – spreadsheet here if you want to join/track! #LETSGO
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J, there’s an easier way to knock out 100 push-ups a day or more. Every time you walk through a doorway, knock out 10. You will be amazed at how many you will do daily. BaS!!!
P.S. Just don’t do it in the bathroom.
Haha… I like the way you think 👍
Despite being quite physically fit in many ways, I was never able to do proper pushups. So beginning of 2021 I decided to start where I was and set out doing 30 pushups (3 sets of 10) every morning. First few weeks were inclined at the kitchen counter and I worked my way down from there, utilizing steps on my staircase. Now I do 30 strict pushups every day on the floor while the coffee brews. I’d like to do the same thing with pulls ups but I need to figure out a way to modify inside my house.
YES!!! BEAUTIFUL!!! I’m looking into pullups and other exercises for the next challenge too… I really want one of those bar things that you put in the doorways, but there are NONE on our main level where we hang out so would have to put it in the bedrooms and not sure that’s as helpful :( I’ll figure out something tough, I want to keep the momentum going! :)
Pumped to be a part of this. For a long time, I was doing 40-50 pushups a day, but then I switched to doing hand stands about a year ago and stopped with the pushups. Now that I have handstands under control, it was time to switch back.
But man, 100 push ups really knocks your arms and chest out. I might have to do some of these inclined ones that Sarah is talking about to get a rest day in heh!
Interesting about the hand stands! Do you just do them for a certain amount of time? do you do them walking? are they supposed to work out similar muscles? Can I ask like a million more questions???! lolol…
Good for you. I love the pushup photo with your “helper.”
Thanks, Rita :)