Exercise is an essential component to healthy living. I wish it wasn't. Sometimes I hate dragging myself off the couch to get moving. But I realize it's a necessity, and I think if I can find some kind of exercise that I enjoy doing, it will be much easier for me to be motivated to do it.
For me, I get discouraged by the idea of forcing myself to come home from work, change clothes, and do a routine of exercises every day for the rest of my life. I get caught up in the "infinity" aspect of it all. The daily grind gets me down. If I could see a tangible end in sight, I might be more apt to stick to an exercise regimen for a period of time. I think setting short goals will help me to work consistently so that I can accomplish what I want to.
With that in mind, I've been doing a little bit of Internet research. I would love to hear your input on these ideas, and see if there is anyone who wants to join me in a few challenges I've found that piqued my interest. Or maybe you have a few ideas of your own!
I'm trying to decide between these first two plans. I can't implement both of them right now, so I think I would like to hear some input and see if anyone else wants to join me in either of these challenges, and then I'll make my decision.
Weight Watchers Ultimate Walking Challenge
The first plan I found is a very long-term one. It's a 48 week walking plan to train yourself to eventually walk a half-marathon (about 13.5 miles). The 48 weeks is broken into shorter, 8 week segments, and we could break it down even further than that if we wanted to. The plan consists of walking different distances at different speeds 6 days a week. The first day of the challenge is to walk 1/2 mile in 10 minutes, and the last day of the challenge is to walk a half-marathon distance. If we started this week, we would accomplish our goal sometime in late January 2011. To me, this challenge seems a little daunting since it lasts so long. It might be easy to get lost in the big scheme of what you're doing somewhere around week 16 or so when you're sick of the same old thing. On the other hand, it would be great to be able to build up to that goal of walking 13 miles. I can't imagine myself being able to do that right now.
Sweat 365 Walk to Run Challenge
The second challenge I found is a 12-week plan to transition from walking to jogging. This plan requires you to walk/jog every other day (3-4 days per week). The workouts start out around 30 minutes at the beginning of the program, and gradually build up to about an hour toward the end. I've never been able to jog for an extended period of time, so I think this would be a great way to challenge myself with something I never thought I would be able to do. I like that the challenge is long enough to expect to see some real results, but it's short enough that the proverbial finish line would still be in sight, even from the very first days of the program.
For me, I get discouraged by the idea of forcing myself to come home from work, change clothes, and do a routine of exercises every day for the rest of my life. I get caught up in the "infinity" aspect of it all. The daily grind gets me down. If I could see a tangible end in sight, I might be more apt to stick to an exercise regimen for a period of time. I think setting short goals will help me to work consistently so that I can accomplish what I want to.
With that in mind, I've been doing a little bit of Internet research. I would love to hear your input on these ideas, and see if there is anyone who wants to join me in a few challenges I've found that piqued my interest. Or maybe you have a few ideas of your own!
I'm trying to decide between these first two plans. I can't implement both of them right now, so I think I would like to hear some input and see if anyone else wants to join me in either of these challenges, and then I'll make my decision.
Weight Watchers Ultimate Walking Challenge
The first plan I found is a very long-term one. It's a 48 week walking plan to train yourself to eventually walk a half-marathon (about 13.5 miles). The 48 weeks is broken into shorter, 8 week segments, and we could break it down even further than that if we wanted to. The plan consists of walking different distances at different speeds 6 days a week. The first day of the challenge is to walk 1/2 mile in 10 minutes, and the last day of the challenge is to walk a half-marathon distance. If we started this week, we would accomplish our goal sometime in late January 2011. To me, this challenge seems a little daunting since it lasts so long. It might be easy to get lost in the big scheme of what you're doing somewhere around week 16 or so when you're sick of the same old thing. On the other hand, it would be great to be able to build up to that goal of walking 13 miles. I can't imagine myself being able to do that right now.
Sweat 365 Walk to Run Challenge
The second challenge I found is a 12-week plan to transition from walking to jogging. This plan requires you to walk/jog every other day (3-4 days per week). The workouts start out around 30 minutes at the beginning of the program, and gradually build up to about an hour toward the end. I've never been able to jog for an extended period of time, so I think this would be a great way to challenge myself with something I never thought I would be able to do. I like that the challenge is long enough to expect to see some real results, but it's short enough that the proverbial finish line would still be in sight, even from the very first days of the program.
The 30 Minutes and More Challenge
I want to challenge myself, starting this Saturday, March 6th, to workout for 30 minutes a day, for 5 days out of the week. Then beginning on Saturday, the 13th, I will increase the length of my workout by 5 minutes. I will continue increasing my workouts by 5 minutes each week so that by March 27th I will be ready for a 45 minute workout 5 days per week.
Spring is here and I am sick of being in the house! I think I need to spend some time being active outside. With this 3 day per week challenge for the entire Spring, I want to look at the weather forecast for the day, make note of the predicted High for that day, and spend that many minutes outside, doing something active. This may be going for a walk with a friend, riding a bike (which may be difficult considering that I don't have one), or taking my iPod as my companion and enjoying the scenery in my neighborhood. This outside time may or may not coincide with my daily workout routine. I just want to get more fresh air.
The Conquer the Couch Potato Challenge
Nobody enjoys commercial breaks unless it's the Super Bowl, right? So why not make the most out of those 3 minute breaks between segments of your favorite show and incorporate some movement? I want to challenge myself, and whoever else wants to participate, to get up and move during commercial breaks. This challenge will last through the month of March. Any time I'm watching TV and a commercial comes on, I am going to get up and do something to get my heart rate going. It may be that I do some jumping jacks, or take a flight of stairs a couple of times...or even go downstairs and get the laundry. I'm going to get up and make use of those couple of minutes of commercials.
So what do you think of these challenges? Does anyone want to join me in one or all of them? Do you have any other fitness challenge ideas we could incorporate, either for this month or in the future? Let me know in the comments section.
The Conquer the Couch Potato Challenge
Nobody enjoys commercial breaks unless it's the Super Bowl, right? So why not make the most out of those 3 minute breaks between segments of your favorite show and incorporate some movement? I want to challenge myself, and whoever else wants to participate, to get up and move during commercial breaks. This challenge will last through the month of March. Any time I'm watching TV and a commercial comes on, I am going to get up and do something to get my heart rate going. It may be that I do some jumping jacks, or take a flight of stairs a couple of times...or even go downstairs and get the laundry. I'm going to get up and make use of those couple of minutes of commercials.
So what do you think of these challenges? Does anyone want to join me in one or all of them? Do you have any other fitness challenge ideas we could incorporate, either for this month or in the future? Let me know in the comments section.
I like the Conquer the Couch Potato challenge! It is easy to just "sit" through a commercial ... I'll start getting up and doing something!
ReplyDeleteI'm up for some kind of regular physical activity. I like the 12 week challenge thing. Don't know if I could run, but for right now, it's about 16 weeks until the wedding and I would love to see some physical changes in my body before the "big day".
ReplyDelete