This is the time of year that people start thinking about what they want to accomplish over the next twelve months and some sort of a health and fitness goal is most likely in the mix. Setting a new years resolution that has to do with health and fitness is pretty common, actually achieving some of those goals that you set is the uncommon part for most people. Over the last fourteen years as I have cut my teeth in the fitness industry I have learned a few things about the new years resolution crowd. If you can add in some proper motivation and discipline then the success rate goes way up. If the average person is left to motivate themselves then the dream will usually die out within a week or so and it is right back to the old unhealthy habits. This year I have come up with a challenge to help you out!
Here are the basics of my new years resolution one rep challenge:
- You will pick an exercise that you want to focus on. My recommendation for this challenge is the push up.
- On January 1st you will do ONE rep.
- On January 2nd you will do TWO reps.
- On January 3rd you will do THREE reps.
- Hopefully you are seeing the pattern here! You simply add one rep every day.
- The reps continue to accumulate every day. They do not reset at the end of the month. You just continue to add one rep every day.
Now this may seem pretty simple to many of you and that is the point. This will start out as an exercise in discipline. You will not have much of a problem for the first month or two as the reps are lower. You just have to have the discipline to make yourself stop and do them. As you do your daily reps think about the new years resolutions that you set on January 1st. Use that short break from your day as a reminder to make some progress towards your goals.
Now as the reps start to build up and you are doing 100 plus reps every day you are going to get more out of it from a fitness standpoint. You do not have to do the reps continuously. You can break them up throughout the day so that you can hit your total goal number. I recommend adding your daily reps to any calendar that you keep so that you can hold yourself accountable and track what your daily reps are supposed to be.
I assume that some of you out there are thinking “Can I start with higher reps?”. For example should you start at fifty reps instead of just one on January 1st. My recommendation is NO. I would suggest that everyone start at just one rep. You can do more if you would like to but you are only required to do just the one. That way the pressure is off and you are more likely to last longer with this program. Use the first few weeks of lower reps as kind of a fitness jumpstart for your day. Once you get going on a few reps you might just decide to knock out some abs also. Then you might feel so good that you decide to go for a run after work. That is the idea! Build that daily momentum!
So it all comes back to that word DISCIPLINE. If you accept my challenge you are going to have to make a choice every day. Will you choose to do your reps or choose not to do them? For the first several weeks you will be able to do your reps in just a few minutes a day so time isn’t going to be a valid excuse. If for some reason you can’t do push ups because of an injury or a physical limitation you can always choose a different exercise to start with. Another fun option might be a plank and hold. Start with one minute of total planking time and add one second every day. You could also do pull ups if you wanted to really make this tough.
Setting some new years resolutions can be a lot of fun. Actually achieving those goals is way better though! I hope that you will give my challenge a try and be sure to keep us posted as you make your progress with your daily reps. Will someone make it to 365 reps? Will it be you? The choice is up to you!
Happy New Year from your friends at NGPT!
