Hundred Goal’s Challenge: 100 in 25
October 16, 2009 3 Comments
Motivating myself to exercise has been a huge challenge.
My motivation to exercise tends to come in waves of pure determination followed by long periods of lethargy. Much of my summer was spent pushing my physical abilities in a multitude of ways from climbing Mount Saint Helens, Angel’s Landing and Half Dome to going on 70 mile bike rides to exercising so hard on the elliptical machine that the sweat would pool beneath me on the gym floor. Then, like a flip of a switch, I fell into a routine of sloth. I seem to be incapable of settling into a routine somewhere between these two extremes.
For a while I am unaffected by my laziness but soon I am feeling guilty for not exercising. I get angry and then disgusted in myself. When I begin to feel this way, the switch flips again and I find myself at the other extreme where I push myself as hard as my physical limits will allow.
I suspect that I am not alone in my battle to find middle ground in my life. While I am currently struggling to find balance in an exercise routine, I have struggled in the past with finding balance in my finances and other aspects of my personal life. We all have areas in life where finding balance would benefit each of us. Where is your life out of balance?
In order to get myself back into the routine of exercising I’ve decided to create a challenge for myself. The challenge is 100 in 25, in other words, 100 push ups (at once) within 25 days. In order to accomplish this I will start out by doing 4 push ups and increasing it daily by an increment of 4. By the 25th day I will be up to 100 push ups. At least that is the plan. This gives me a deadline to work against and a definite goal to work towards. Whether or not this will lead to further exercise is obviously unknown at this point but what I do know is that I am not making any progress thinking about going for a run or thinking about doing 100 push ups.
While this challenge is a challenge towards myself, I encourage you to join me. Maybe doing 100 push ups isn’t your goal. Maybe your goal is to pay off the remaining balance on your credit card. Maybe your goal is to run 10 miles without stopping. Maybe your goal is to repair your relationship with your spouse or children. Whatever your goal, define what you want to accomplish (make it challenging! 100 push ups isn’t a walk in the park) and stick with it for 25 days. At the end of those 25 days, if you have worked towards your goal everyday I can assure you that even if you didn’t accomplish your goal, you’ve at least made notable progress towards success.
Join me on the Hundred Goals Message Board to share your goals and discuss your progress & challenges during the next 25 days!
About Steven
A goal, for me, was absolutely necessary to keep up with exercise. It still is. I started exercising last fall and made a goal of running a half marathon, but after accomplishng that I again started slacking. So now I am planning to beat last years time and run two more half marathons next summer. I’m still not willing to run a full marathon. Perhaps after you reach 100 push ups (and you’re feeling slothly again without a goal) you could train for a triathlon or something that involves more than one part of your body. It could keep working out more varied and fun. Or, some people are good at exercising if they go with a friend.
Another thing:When I first started running I was on and off a lot like you seem to be. I’m not sure what exercise you are doing, aside from your arms, but the down times might come more from your body trying to tell you to slow down before you injure yourself. I can’t tell you how many leg strains I’ve had from just being too eager to make progress. Maybe being on and off with it is just your nature, but I am sure that if you keep going too hard too fast you will injure something and stop your progress in its tracks.
Hope that was somehow helpful. Good luck with your fitness goals!
Thanks Sheena! Actually, I did have a couple of injuries this summer, the first being hitting a tree going about 40 mph on my road bike. My back is still sore & that has been 5 or 6 months ago! My knees are the next problem. They have been causing me more problems than I would like to deal with. After hiking Half Dome and Hetch Hetchy Valley I wasn’t sure if I would be able to walk another inch! That is a huge reason why I’m sticking to my arms for now, to give my knees some time to recouperate.
I definately think it helps to have a goal to work towards accomplishing to provide motivation to exercise. Dealing with injuries really creates problems & it is easy to get frustrated and lose all of that motivation.
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