2,200 down, 70,800 to go. Yep. Before I tell you what I'm talking about, I need to tell you what sometimes, I DID NOT do in the past few years. I have this morning routine that I intended to do on a daily basis. It's short, it takes between six and 20 minutes. It is a quick routine. You may be familiar with it, as I am mentioning it in my THINK Yourself® HEALTHY book.
This 6 to 20-minute weight-lifting routine is just to stay toned and make sure that, no matter what, there's an exercise that I do every day. So I teach fitness classes three times a week at night. This is not my living, it's a sideline. I used to teach a lot more. I used to teach 16 to 20 classes a week. Now I'm a Life Coach, full time and I am a Speaker, and I'm on the road a lot. When I am in a hotel room, I don't have the weights. Sometimes the gym is not open if I'm up at 5:00 am, so instead, I do stair-work. So, I do something else. I realized that my morning routine was not consistent. Even though I had good intentions, a lot of times it did not happen.
So this year, I was trying to figure out what is one thing that I could do every day, the same way I brush my teeth. Because I do every morning; I brush my teeth. So I asked myself: “What is one thing that is easy, that I really want to be a routine that I will do for the rest of my life?” I was looking for something that I could do every day, that it could be part of my life and that no matter what, no matter the equipment, no matter the space, I would be able to do that.
So I remember when I used to be at the top of my fitness game. I used to do a lot of push-ups. I was teaching a program called #bodyattack in Toronto. These were the years when I won the Award of Instructor of the Year for Canada. And, back then, I was ripped. I remembered that one of the exercise that we did a lot in #bodyattack was: push-ups. In order to train to be able to teach that program, I was doing a hundred push-ups a day. So I thought: “Okay, why don't I get back into doing push-ups?” So in October, I started to do push-ups every morning and I thought, I'm going to do 20 push-ups every day. I started with 20 push-ups. I started easy. 20 push-ups only take you a minute or two minutes, it's not that long. So I thought, okay, so I need to challenge myself more. I did thirty push-ups and then the next day, I did 40 push-ups and then, I kept going. I has been two or three months and now I am at a hundred wide push-ups, to work the chest, and then I also do a hundred triceps push-ups so that I work the back of my arm. You know, that stuff that jiggle when we waive at someone? So I think I got my “thing.” I think that's what I am going to do. I will do 200 push-ups a day. And I know it's doable because I have been doing it. Not regularly in October or November, but most of December I was doing it. And now since January 1st I've done my 200 push-ups a day. I have done 2,200 push-ups, and in total in the year, that will mean 73,000 push-ups.
I even equipped myself. See, I get up super early. I get up around 4:45 am in the morning and sometimes I do have a meeting right away at six. I like to have time to sit for breakfast. So sometimes, I don't have a lot of time. I know that my morning routine starts in the bathroom. So , I brought my little mat in my bathroom, and some mornings I just grab the mat, like I brush my teeth. I do my push-ups right there on the bathroom floor, and then jump in the shower right away. So it's really cool. It is called: the world's smallest mat by #Airex. It's, it's perfect for me.
When I have more time, if I don't have a client at six, then I have time to get dressed in my workout gear and have a longer workout. We have a little room in our my house that we use as a gym. So I go there when I have more time. But this little mat is pretty useful and it fits perfectly in my bathroom when I don’t have time.
So, what is it for you that you feel that you can do every day? Now, full disclosure, I don't do 200 push-ups on my toes. I start on my toes and then I drop on my knees. I don't do them all in a row either. So I start on my toes. I do until I can't do anymore, then I take a break and I make sure to open my chest and I relax in an open position.
Remember the work of Amy Cuddy that says that if you are in a rounded position, then it makes you feel not so good. So you don't feel like continuing. But if you open yourself and you do a power pose, as you breathe and relax, then it makes you feel good and you can continue and keep going. So I do open up and I take a short break and I keep going. I try to start on my toes and then I drop on my knees and I keep going. I would do maybe 40 and then I do 30 and then I do 20 and then I do 10. And then when it is time for triceps push-ups, I only do like 20 at a time. And usually by the end I go 10, 10, 10 and then the last five and then… I jump in the shower.
So, my objective is by the end of the year to become more and more comfortable and maybe eventually I'll be able to do all my push-ups on my toes. That'd be great. I'm just progressing to it because I'm willing to try that and, and I feel it's something that I can implement in my routine, for the rest of my life.
So what is something that you feel is doable that you want to test out for yourself and say: “Hey, that would be a really good thing that I could do no matter what.” And some mornings I do add my 20-minute routine from my THINK Yourself® HEALTHY book. When I don't, at least, I'm happy I started the day with my push-ups. I succeeded already and it has taken me maybe six, seven or 10 minutes.Then I'm ready to start my day feeling successful.
Choose something for yourself. And it doesn't have to be an exercise. It can be making a cup of tea at night and relaxing. It might be going for a walk at lunchtime. It might be taking a 10 minutes to close the door of your office and then close your eyes and take deep breaths. So choose something that you can do for yourself. So that you can implement that into your routine and you will do this for the rest of your life.
Have a great day. Everyone.