This week we are lunging! You can do forward lunges, reverse lunges, side lunges, or my favorite walking lunges; or mix it up and do some of each version. But, the challenge is to get a total of 2,000 lunges this week! Yes, you read that correctly! A total of 2,000 lunges (1,000 per leg) by the end of Saturday! So, who will be accepting this challenge?
This week's challenge is a timed challenge, so you want to get through all 5 rounds as quickly as possible. The way this one will work, is you will time how long it takes you to complete all 5 rounds of the workout and record the time, because your goal is to beat this time the next time we do this challenge (which we will do again sometime next quarter). Now, if you really want to push yourself, do this challenge this week as many times as you want and record your best time. I've got a spreadsheet that I'm keeping track of individual times, so feel free to track it yourself or shoot me a message or e-mail with your time and I'll track it for you. The challenge is......
Complete 5 rounds of the following exercises for time:
20 sit-ups
20 leg raises
20 bicycle crunches (per side)
20 v-ups
Week one challenge done! Hope everyone survived 1000 burpees! If you didn't get all 1000 completed, don't fret about it, that's a lot of damn burpees! But, be proud of what you did accomplish. Regardless if it was 50 or all 1000 burpees you completed, that's more than you would have completed had you not accepted my challenge.
Now, this week our challenge is to plank for a total of 60 minutes! You can break that down however you need to, but the goal is to hold the plank for as long as possible each time. If you are new, you might be able to only hold the plank for 15 or 20 seconds. If that's the case, it's okay, just keep track of how long you hold it each time and continue to add it up until you get a total of 60 minutes. Below is a image with some tips on how to hold a proper plank.
When I start a new post for my blog, I just let my thoughts and feelings flow out onto the screen. Then I go back and organize my thoughts to make sure it's easy to follow and makes sense. But, the other thing it allows me to do is truly process my thoughts, and sometimes I'm able to figure out what my issue is. When I started writing this post, it was because I was feeling lost and questioning my purpose. After a long and stressful week with work and feeling lost with my health and fitness program, by Saturday I felt like shit mentally, emotionally, and even physically. And I asked myself, why am I doing this? What's my purpose?
Yesterday I had an opportunity to chat with a friend and the best advice I received was, "Do this for yourself and let others make their own minds up....they have the same opportunity as you do....the decision is to act or not act. You don't always have to be the nice person....let others find their way."
After that great advice and processing all my thoughts, I came to a couple conclusions and figured out part of my issue. First, it's not about purpose, but focusing on my passion. And second, not being the nice person all the time isn't a bad thing. Now, I know my friend who gave me this advice wasn't saying to disregard others needs, or that it's okay to be a bitch; but that it's okay to not always be the one who misses out on opportunities to let others have them. I can still be supportive and encouraging without always being the "nice one", because as he said, "the decision is to act or not act."
So, what does all this mean for me? Well, I'm still working through some of my thoughts and feelings. But something I realized, is that because I tend to step back and let others take advantage of the limited opportunities, that I sit back and start feeling like I'm missing out on something great. In reality, WE ALL (including ME) deserve that same opportunity. And one thing I know for sure is I will no longer be sitting on the sidelines encouraging others. I'll be smack dab in the middle of every opportunity I can take in life, and then they can decide where they want to be on the playing field. Do they want to sit on the sidelines, or do they want to be by my side kicking ass in life as well? Whatever they decide, I'll always support and encourage anyone who is on my team, but I'll just no longer be doing it from the sidelines. Especially since I have such a strong passion for health and fitness, I want to be a leader for others, and the only way to be an effective and great leader is to strive to always be in front.
Lesson I'm taking away from this, is by focusing on my passions, I'll always find my purpose!
I figured why not make the first challenge the exercise that I love to hate the most! The BURPEE!!!! It's definitely my least favorite exercise, but in reality it's one of the most effective exercises and I will incorporate them into my own cardio workouts.
So, here's the challenge and it starts today! You have one week to complete 1000 burpees. If you're a beast and want to knock out all 1000 at once, go for it! Or you can split them up over the week. Just get 1000 in before next Sunday!
Have fun and good luck!
