0 100K Running Challenge

Before I start with this challenge, I'd first like to say that I'm not going to suggest this for beginners or for people who are not fit. This is aimed at runners who are definitely past the beginning stages. However, there's still no reason why you couldn't train yourself so that you could do this challenge in the future, in which case you may find this helpful: How to Start Running. ;)

I thought about writing this a while back but didn't get round to it, but now I am. I actually got the idea for this challenge from when I was at high school, a good few years ago now. During my time at high school there was a challenge called the 100k challenge. Basically you had to run 100,000 metres and you would have your place on the 100k-victors 'wall of fame'. The challenge was spread out over the school year so that even if you weren't fit and/or didn't run a lot you could still take part and complete it by doing it in smaller chunks So for example, you could run 1,000 metres (2.5 times around our school running track) every school day for 20 weeks and you'd complete it. People who were attempting it often did it after school so that they had the time to do as much as they wanted and so they wasn't sweating through the school day.

I think there were two main things that the school wanted students to learn from this challenge. Firstly that it's good to be fit (they were a sports college so their was things about fitness everywhere), and secondly (and I think more importantly), that you can achieve anything if you are dedicated enough. Both of these reasons I think are good enough to host the 100k challenge.

So because of that, I though why not share the 100k challenge with you lot. However, there is a slight difference in my 100k challenge at school and this one I'm proposing now, and that is that this one must be completed in 10 days or less - making it exponentially more difficult.  
The key is consistency. If you were to run the 100,000 metres in 10 days then you will need to run 10,000 metres for 10 days, which is the equivalent of 6.2 miles per day!
  

Whether you do this in the evening or morning doesn't matter, that's a choice of preference. Me personally, I'm a morning runner but just go at whatever time you want.

Also you're not limited to just one run a day. You could split 10km a day (assuming you're doing it in the course of 10 days and not less) into smaller more frequent chunks. So for example, that could be two 5km runs a day, or maybe four 2.5km runs. Although splitting it up into too many chunks may prove trouble some to stick with.

 

It's a good idea to keep track of what you've done. If you're going to do 10k a day then I suppose you would think that you wouldn't need to. This is true but that's only if you definitely do 10,000 metres a day. Some days you may fall short by a bit which will mean that you need to overcompensate on other days, but you may also go over 10k some days which will mean you have less to run. It's just more convenient if you do keep track of how much you've ran.

 

Well then, good luck. :)

 

"Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?"

Peter Maher

Detail: 100K Running Challenge

0 Book Reading Challenge

A figure that I recently read was that 1 in 6 adults struggle to read. I myself had no idea that there are this many people who struggle to read, so understandably this figure shocked me. That's 1,000,000 out of 6,000,000! I think the reason why it shocked me so much is because reading is such a big part of the world today, and I don't there's a day that goes by when I don't read something, so to hear that that many adults struggle to read shocked me.

So after reading this statistic I wanted to write this post to (hopefully) encourage people to read more or for them to get into a regular reading habit. If you want to know about some of the benefits of reading, then a post of mine that you may want to check out is: The Benefits of Reading. A challenge is something that I felt would help spur people to read, so here it is.

This challenge is designed for anyone, so if you're a book-fanatic (who may already be reading this many books or someone who doesn't read at all, please take it on.

Monthly Reading Challenge:

I know that for some people this is going to be a stretch but I also know that for some book-fanatics they may already read this amount anyway, in which case I apologise if this isn't challenging enough.  

The challenge is to read 6 books in a month. It doesn't matter how large of a book it is, 1 book whatever the  size still only counts for 1 book. It is up to you to choose which books you want to read. Also the book length of each book has to be 100 pages or more. There are loads and loads of books that are over 100 pages so it will be easy to find books to choose from. This is mainly to stop people from reading 10 page books, it wouldn't really be that much of a challenge then would it.

You will have to read on average 1 book every 5 days to complete this challenge (,5.16 for a month with 31 days, and 4.66 for February - unless it is a leap year in which case you will have to read 1 book every 4.83 days).

Yearly Reading Challenge

The yearly reading challenge is basically the same as the monthly reading challenge excepts it is repeated 12 times to make a year, and is designed for people who want a longer-term goal rather than having just a monthly one. This challenge is to read 72 books in a year. So whatever date you start this challenge on, that will be the date you finish the challenge next year. That's an average of 6 books per month.
Like I said before, this is the monthly challenge repeated 12 times. So, if you wanted, you could just do the monthly challenge each month and still reach the same number of books over the course of a year - it's more about preference, having 12 smaller goals or 1 larger one.

Detail: Book Reading Challenge

0 Walking Challenge

Challenge: Walk 12,000 - 20,000 steps per day depending upon how active you are now.

Challenge Duration: 21 Days

Walking is healthy for us and is exercise, and our bodies need exercise (as well as other things) to maintain good health.  Something I briefly went over in two recent posts of mine is about the 10,000 steps guideline. 10,000 is the number of steps that is advised for us to try and reach each day. Researchers have said that by walking these 10,000 steps a day you are likely to significantly improve your health.
 
Before I get into this challenge I will first say that you are going to need a pedometer as it is based on the number of steps you take, unless you are willing to count them. There are three different levels to this. The first is the 'normal' level, the second is the 'intermediate' level, and the third is the 'difficult' level.
The three different levels are in place to cater to everyone. If you are unsure about which one to go for then I would first suggest wearing the pedometer for a few days so that you know how far you usually walk in your day.
Also, the duration of the challenge (21 days) is the same whichever level you are doing.

The main aim of this challenge is not for you to be able to say "I walk 12,000+ steps a day" (although you could say that if you wanted) but simply to get you to walk more and get into the habit of regular exercise. 
Here's a post which discusses the good things about walking: 9 Benefits of Walking.

Normal Challenge

I would suggest taking on the normal level of this challenge if you walk around 10,000 or less steps a day.
The normal level is to walk 12,000 steps every day for 21 days, which won't have you walking huge expeditions every day but will make sure that you are active enough to notice a difference.

Intermediate Challenge

The intermediate level is for those already pretty active people out there who either will find the 'normal' challenge too easy or already walk around that amount of steps per day anyway.
I would suggest taking on this level if you are walking 11,000-14,000 steps a day. This level cranks up the amount of steps by three thousand steps making your daily target 15,000 steps per day for 21 days. 

I think out of the three levels of this challenge, I personally would take on this as it is something that would feel challenging yet at the same time not out of my reach to achieve.

Difficult Challenge

Finally we come to the hardest of the three different levels of the challenge which is the 'difficult' challenge. This is meant for those who are very active each day and do a lot of walking. If you are already doing around 15,000+ steps per day then this one is for you, although I don't want anyone to overdo things and injure themselves, so only do if you are in peak physical condition and know you could handle it. For this one, your daily goal to reach is 20,000 steps.

Detail: Walking Challenge

0 No T.V Challenge

Are you an avid watcher of television? Do you find it hard to go a day or two without having to glue your eyes back to the screen? Can you live without T.V?

Many of you who have come here to read this will be thinking, 'nope that's not me, I can go without t.v for more than a couple of days, and yes I could manage without it'. Well if you are one of the people who could live without television, good for you (that's not meant as sarcasm ). It's surprising though how much we do watch t.v and how 'addicted' we might actually be. It often makes me smile when I hear people say (not very often granted) "I haven't watched t.v for ages" and in reality it was four or five days ago when they last watched it. It is kind of sad as well that 'ages' for many people when it comes to t.v is only the space of a few days.

I thought then, it would be an interesting idea to write an article challenging people not to watch t.v for two months - this is quite a good indication to yourself if you are addicted or not. I was originally going to make this challenge for 2 weeks but really two weeks isn't going to have that big of an impact, but two months will. Now two months when you think about it is quite a duration to go without something if you are used to having access to.

If you are somebody who watches t.v regularly but are confident that you could last without t.v for 2 months, you may be surprised at how challenging this may be. The first couple of weeks are normally the hardest as you are trying to get into a new rhythm, but after third week it's likely that you will have got yourself into a new routine.

Rules to the challenge:

1. You can't watch t.v for two months, not even for five minutes - if you do so them you have failed the challenge.
2. You can't watch it when others are watching it and then make the excuse that it was others watching it and you was just in the room, for example family members - this still counts as you watching it.  
3. You may not use other devices (such as smart phones or computers for example) to watch television shows, however, you may use other devices to see what the weather is and what news has been happening, as long as you make sure that you are getting it from a source that does not involve you watching a screen.

If you manage to complete this challenge, well done. :)

You may decide to carry on not watching t.v or reduce on the amount you used to watch, or go back to how you was before and watch it on a regular basis, whatever you choose it's interesting to note how much a screen with images can consume so much of our time.

Detail: No T.V Challenge

0 Exercise Chalenge: Mountain Climbers

Challenge: 400 Mountain Climbers a day

Duration of exercise: ?? (As fast as you can manage)

Duration of Challenge: 60 Days

Exercise is as much a mental workout as it is a physical one. The physical side of exercise is hard to get through, but without the right mental attitude you won't be able to get through it. Anyone who has made great results with exercise is down to having the mentality to push through the hardships of the temporal physical challenge.

This challenge will have you wanting to stop, it's not the kindest routine but without effort how are you supposed to get results? Once you start - don't stop. It doesn't matter how long you take to complete this little routine, whether it's 2 minutes or 20 minutes...but try to do it as fast as you can without a break. This will have a bigger impact on your body. Once you get into the routine of doing it, it will become slightly easier and you'll notice your time spent doing it decrease. 

It is a quick effective micro-workout that can have great results. I find early morning to be a good time to do it when I get up but that's just my preference. 

Mountain climbers work on your abdominal muscles and does cardio at the same time. This is a tough exercise and can gain results, but if your diet is rubbish and you don't at least eat a little healthier - the results won't be nearly as good. I'm not saying that this quick routine will turn your body into the peak of physical appearance but it will give results in weight loss and an improvement to core muscles - as long as you don't ruin the work done with bad food choices.

Instructions

First of all you need to position yourself into the standard pushup position. Once there you will then bring one leg up to your chest. Next that same leg will return to it's previous position and whilst it does your other leg then comes up to your chest - it will be like running but having your arms stationary in a fixed position on the floor. Each time one of your legs comes up to your chest and returns backwards counts as 1 rep. You will need to do this until you reach 400 reps! 

If 400 reps is too easy then feel free to do more and make it that more challenging for you, maybe five or six-hundred? maybe even more? Or maybe you could do this routine twice a day instead? It's up to you and how ambitious you are feeling. 

Detail: Exercise Chalenge: Mountain Climbers

0 My 10,000 Hour Challenge

Some of you are likely to have heard of or about the 10,000 hour rule which was popularized in Malcolm Gladwell's book 'Outliers'.
The 10,000 hour rule in summary, is a theory that suggests that in order to become an expert, or to gain mastery, in a field of one's choice, one must put in enough deliberate practice to get to that level...10,000 hours worth in fact.  
The term deliberate practice refers to practice where you are engaged and fully concentrating on what you are doing, not just messing around or doing what you like, but challenging yourself and pushing yourself to improve. 


There are mixed opinions when it comes to the '10,000 hour rule'. Some people are fully behind the concept 100%, whilst others are more on the skeptical side. I won't go into the arguments for and against as you can just Google them, but I will state my opinion on the theory.

I believe that it differs from person to person, different learning-rates and intelligence being a factor, also depending upon how you learn/the way you are taught.. I've heard that practicing 2 hours a day the wrong way is equivalent to 30 minutes practicing the right way, which is why 'deliberate' practice is mentioned, or 'quality' practice. I wouldn't say that 10,000 hours is a magical benchmark in which you automatically gain mastery status upon achievement of, but 10,000 hours is a lot of time put into a field of choice and so is feasible that you could become an expert. 10,000 hours whatever the outcome,is going to leave you in a much better position than when you first started. 

Intrigued with idea however, I decided that I would test out this theory for myself. I know that there is going to be a long road ahead and that it won't be an easy feat by any means, and is going to reveal how committed I can remain, and if I have enough self discipline for the task in front of me. If I do manage to get to the end of this long road (which I plan to), I'll be able to see if hard work really can get you to an all new standard.

To put into perspective about how much practice is required to meet the 10,000 hour benchmark, it will take you 10 years of practicing 3 hours every day of the year (365 days) to reach 10,000 hours...well 10,990 hours to be more precise. You can see the level of commitment that is required to achieve this ambitious landmark. Some inspiring and motivating present 10,000 hour challenges can be found here: TheDanPlan and DevinWilliams712.

So what is my 10,000 hour challenge? Well, some of you may be aware that I play the piano. I've managed to get past grade 8 but am definitely not an expert. I've never enjoyed practicing and have always found it a chore, so I would do the minimum I could get away with or none at all.

Around a year ago, maybe a little less, I quit lessons for various reasons. As a result of quitting lessons, I no longer 'had' to practice, and stopped playing almost altogether, familiarizing myself once or twice every couple of months before stopping again. 
However, I am now wanting to get into a consistent and self-disciplined routine where I see myself get to a much higher level.

I started the piano coming up to 10 years ago now, but because I hardy practiced - I would be surprised if I had even reached 1,500 hours of practice, and I'm guessing that around 500 of those hours is all you could say were 'quality' hours. So you can probably tell that even though I'm not new to this field, I still have so much to improve upon to even come close to an experts level.

The amount of determined practice per day that I'm going to aim for is 2-3 hours minimum. From only touching the piano a few times in the last year to setting myself a target of 2-3 hours of practice a day is going to be a big shock, but is something I'll need to get used to. 
I didn't want to do an hour a day as I felt that that was too little time to spend on improving, taking 28 years to finish!!! No, 2 - 3 hours seems like a good daily target, and I can always play much more than that if I feel like it. 

Detail: My 10,000 Hour Challenge

0 Water Drinking Challenge

Aim: To drink 2 litres of water every day

Duration: 40 Days

Our bodies need at least 2 litres of water every day to keep ourselves hydrated. If you don't know about the benefits that your body gains from drinking lots of water, I'm not going to go into it on this post as I have already written an article about that which can be found here: 10 Reasons for Drinking Water. 


Seeing that I have just mentioned that our bodies need 2 litres of water a day, it should come of no surprise that this challenge is all about getting yourself to drink 2 litres of water a day. This challenge will have you drinking that amount for 40 consecutive days.
To give you an idea about how much 2 litres is, it is roughly equivalent to 8 average sized glasses. Before starting this challenge I would recommend reading a previous post of mine; 11 Tips to Drink more Water, for some ideas and advice to help you drink more water.

The goal of this challenge is to get you to drink 2 litres of water a day, however, this target is only a minimum so feel free to drink more than this if you can manage - don't go overboard though and don't drink too much water in one go. 

On a calendar mark down the day that you start this challenge, and for every day that you complete, cross that day off (to show that you have completed it). Once this string of crossed-off-days reaches 40, you will have completed the challenge. :)

Detail: Water Drinking Challenge

0 30 Day Walking Challenge

In general as we get older we in turn start to do less and less exercise. As kids we are always wanting to be active and mobile but this wears off for many as we get older and other things take over as our commitments, leaving you not wanting to exercise or without enough time to do so.

People aged from 19 - 65 are advised to do two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week (walking for example), or 1 and a quarter hours of intense exercise (running for example) a week. 

With this walking challenge you'll be doing over double your advised exercise guideline.

Rules

1. You Must Complete the Daily Goal

This may seem like a very obvious rule as otherwise you fail the challenge if you don't complete the walking goals, however I feel like I should just make it clear that no exceptions can be made. If you are supposed to walk for 1 hour during the day and you walk for 59 minutes, although it may be tempting to allow yourself that, you shouldn't. 59 Minutes is not 1 hour and anything that is lower than an hour in length would mean failure if the challenge. 

The daily goal is a minimum set limit so anything that is lower than the minimum set goal is a fail, however, you may walk more than the daily walking plan if you so choose.

2. You Can't Split Walks up

You must walk the daily walking goal in one-go and may not split it up into segments. For example: If you are to have a goal to walk an hour in a day then you must complete this in one walk, you may not be allowed to split it up into (let's say for this example) 2 half-an-hour walks.

3. Walking Plan Choice

There is a choice from two walking plans. The first is a walking plan based upon a minimum set time you must walk for, the second is based upon a minimum set distance you must walk. Once the plan is chosen you cannot switch and must stick with that plan.

4. Ignore the Weather

You must carry this challenge out in whatever weather, so if it is pouring with rain so be it. Make sure suitable clothing is worn dependent upon the weather.

Walking Plan (Time)

Day 1: 1 Hour

Day 2: 1 Hour

Day 3: 1 Hour

Day 4: 1 Hour

Day 5: 1 Hour

Day 6: 1 Hour

Day 7: Rest

Day 8: 1 Hour

Day 9: 1 Hour

Day 10: 1 Hour

Day 11: 1 Hour

Day 12: 1 Hour

Day 13: 1 Hour

Day 14: Rest

Day 15: 1 Hour

Day 16: 1 Hour

Day 17: 1 Hour

Day 18: 1 Hour

Day 19: 1 Hour

Day 20: 1 Hour

Day 21: Rest

Day 22: 1 Hour

Day 23: 1 Hour

Day 24: 1 Hour

Day 25: 1 Hour

Day 26: 1 Hour

Day 27: 1 Hour

Day 28: Rest

Day 29: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Day 30: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Walking Plan (Distance)

Day 1: 4 Miles

Day 2: 4 Miles

Day 3: 4 Miles

Day 4: 4 Miles

Day 5: 4 Miles

Day 6: 4 Miles

Day 7: Rest

Day 8: 4 Miles

Day 9: 4 Miles

Day 10: 4 Miles

Day 11: 4 Miles

Day 12: 4 Miles

Day 13: 4 Miles

Day 14: Rest

Day 15: 4 Miles

Day 16: 4 Miles

Day 17: 4 Miles

Day 18: 4 Miles

Day 19: 4 Miles

Day 20: 4 Miles

Day 21: Rest

Day 22: 4 Miles

Day 23: 4 Miles

Day 24: 4 Miles

Day 25: 4 Miles

Day 26: 4 Miles

Day 27: 4 Miles

Day 28: Rest

Day 29: 6 Miles

Day 30: 6 Miles

Detail: 30 Day Walking Challenge

0 30 Day Reading Challenge

The point of any challenge is to either get you to improve upon a certain something, create a new habit, or break a habit. This challenge is all about getting you into a consistent reading pattern whether you are familiar or unfamiliar with holding a book in your hand.  
Reading is a great thing to do as I've explained in a previous post: 10 Benefits of Reading and the best way you can improve your reading ability is by reading more. 

Rules

1. Pick a Book

The first thing for you to do is to pick out a book of your choice that you would like to read. It doesn't have to be anything in particular and so you are free to choose what you would like to read.

2. What happens if you finish the book before 30 days?

This challenge is based upon reading 1 chapter per day every day for 30 days. If your book however is less than 30 chapters in length then it is going to be obviously finished in less than 30 days, if this is the case for you then carry on reading 1 chapter per day but start with a new book. It's not important if you finish or don't finish the book you are reading in the 30 days, the more important thing is that you read a chapter a day. So if you do finish your book in less than 30 days just continue the challenge with a different book.

Beginner Reading Plan

Day 1: 1 Chapter  

Day 2: 1 Chapter

Day 3: 1 Chapter

Day 4: 1 Chapter

Day 5: 1 Chapter

Day 6: 1 Chapter

Day 7: 1 Chapter

Day 8: 1 Chapter

Day 9: 1 Chapter

Day 10: 1 Chapter

Day 11: 1 Chapter

Day 12: 1 Chapter

Day 13: 1 Chapter

Day 14: 1 Chapter

Day 15: 1 Chapter

Day 16: 1 Chapter

Day 17: 1 Chapter

Day 18: 1 Chapter

Day 19: 1 Chapter

Day 20: 1 Chapter

Day 21: 1 Chapter

Day 22: 1 Chapter

Day 23: 1 Chapter

Day 24: 1 Chapter

Day 25: 1 Chapter

Day 26: 1 Chapter

Day 27: 1 Chapter

Day 28: 1 Chapter

Day 29: 1 Chapter

Day 30: 1 Chapter

Advanced Reading Plan 

This is for those of you who would like a bit more of a challenge than 1 chapter per day. The same is true for this, if you finish your book withing 30 days then pick another book and continue with the remaining days of the challenge.

Day 1: 3 Chapters

Day 2: 3 Chapters

Day 3: 3 Chapters

Day 4: 3 Chapters

Day 5: 3 Chapters

Day 6: 3 Chapters

Day 7: 3 Chapters

Day 8: 3 Chapters

Day 9: 3 Chapters

Day 10: 3 Chapters

Day 11: 3 Chapters

Day 12: 3 Chapters

Day 13: 3 Chapters

Day 14: 3 Chapters

Day 15: 3 Chapters

Day 16: 3 Chapters

Day 17: 3 Chapters

Day 18: 3 Chapters

Day 19: 3 Chapters

Day 20: 3 Chapters

Day 21: 3 Chapters

Day 22: 3 Chapters

Day 23: 3 Chapters

Day 24: 3 Chapters

Day 25: 3 Chapters

Day 26: 3 Chapters

Day 27: 3 Chapters

Day 28: 3 Chapters

Day 29: 3 Chapters

Day 30: 3 Chapters

Detail: 30 Day Reading Challenge

0 30 Day Pushup Challenge

After posting the 30 Day Squat Challenge for the ladies, I thought it fair to post one for the men...so here it is: the 30 day pushup challenge.
Depending upon how good you are at pushups will determine which challenge I think you should go for. If you can do 0 - 25 I would suggest trying the beginners 30 day pushup challenge. If you are someone who can do 50 pushups or upwards then I would recommend trying the advanced 30 day pushup challenge. For anyone who falls within the 26 - 49 range I would leave up to you to decide which challenge you should go for, in fact however many pushups you can do it's up to you which challenge you take on - just try to stay realistic about your abilities and don't go so far as to injure yourself.

The challenge is based on a number of reps & sets for you to complete per day. Many people who know about reps and sets won't need this explaining to them but for those of you who don't it's not something that is hard to grasp. Basically a 'rep' stands for a repetition, so if I were to do 10 reps of pushups that would mean that I have done 10 pushups - 10 repetitions.
A set is a group of reps. For example if I were to do 2 sets of 10 pushup reps that would mean I did two lots of 10 pushups. 

Beginners Pushup Challenge (30 - 90 seconds rest in between each set)

The number of sets is displayed first before the number of reps followed by the total of pushups.

Day 1: 2 x 10 (20)

Day 2: 2 x 12 (24)

Day 3: 2 x 14 (28)

Day 4: 2 x16 (32)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 2 x 20 (40)

Day 7: 2 x 22 (44)

Day 8: 2 x 24 (48)

Day 9: 2 x 26 (52)

Day 10: Rest

Day 11: 3 x 14 (42)

Day 12: 3 x 16 (48)

Day 13: 3 x 18 (54)

Day 14: 3 x 20 (60)

Day 15: Rest

Day 16: 3 x 22 (66)

Day 17: 3 x 24 (72)

Day 18: 3 x 26 (78)

Day 19: 3 x 28 (84)

Day 20: Rest

Day 21: 4 x 12 (48)

Day 22: 4 x 14 (56)

Day 23: 4 x 16 (64)

Day 24: 4 x 18 (72)

Day 25: Rest

Day 26: 4 x 22 (88)

Day 27: 4 x 24 (96)

Day 28: 4 x 26 (104)

Day 29: 4 x 28 (112)

Day 30: 4x 30 (120)

Total = 1,552

Advanced Pushup Challenge (30 - 90 seconds rest in between each set)

The number of sets is displayed first before the number of reps followed by the total of pushups.

Day 1: 2 x 20 (40)

Day 2: 2 x 24 (48)

Day 3: 2 x 28 (56)

Day 4: 2 x 32 (64)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 2 x 40 (80)

Day 7: 2 x 44 (88)

Day 8: 2 x 48 (96)

Day 9: 2 x 52 (104)

Day 10: Rest

Day 11: 3 x 28 (84)

Day 12: 3 x 32 (96)

Day 13: 3 x 36 (108)

Day 14: 3 x 40 (120)

Day 15: Rest

Day 16: 3 x 44 (132)

Day 17: 3 x 48 (144)

Day 18: 3 x 52 (156)

Day 19: 3 x 56 (168)

Day 20: Rest

Day 21: 4 x 24 (96)

Day 22: 4 x 28 (112)

Day 23: 4 x 32 (128)

Day 24: 4 x 36 (144)

Day 25: Rest

Day 26: 4 x 44 (176)

Day 27: 4 x 48 (192)

Day 28: 4 x 52 (208)

Day 29: 4 x 56 (224)

Day 30: 4 x 60 (240)

Total = 3,104

Detail: 30 Day Pushup Challenge

0 30 Day Squat Challenge

Quite recently there has been a challenge for women floating around the web that has gained much interest. It seems to becoming more and more popular, having Facebook, Tumbler, and other website pages devoted to it. I first heard about this challenge through my sister who decided to take it up, in fact it was yesterday she started. After hearing it from my sister I also found out that 3 female colleagues from work, well actually 2 colleagues as 1 of them has now got another job, so 2 colleagues and 1 ex-colleague has taken up this 30 day squat challenge. 
I hear that it is quite the challenge so prepare for some hard work!
So here is the plan:

Day 1: 50 Squats

Day 2: 55 Squats

Day 3: 60 Squats

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: 70 Squats

Day 6: 75 Squats

Day 7: 80 Squats

Day 8: Rest

Day 9: 100 Squats

Day 10: 105 Squats

Day 11: 110 Squats

Day 12: Rest

Day 13: 130 Squats

Day 14: 135 Squats

Day 15: 140 Squats

Day 16: Rest

Day 17: 150 Squats

Day 18: 155 Squats

Day 19: 160 Squats

Day 20: Rest

Day 21: 180 Squats

Day 22: 185 Squats

Day 23: 190 Squats

Day 24: Rest

Day 25: 220 Squats

Day 26: 225 Squats

Day 27: 230 Squats

Day 28: Rest

Day 29: 240 Squats

Day 30: 250 Squats

A useful motivational and tracking technique you can use to go alongside this would be the 'Don't Break the Chain' technique.
 

Detail: 30 Day Squat Challenge

0 No Complaining Challenge Day 1

Recently I posted an article about the 'No Complaining Challenge' and said how I was going to have a go at it myself. I started on Thursday (11/04/13) and it is now a Monday (15/04/13), and yet I am writing about day 1? You may be wondering why I am doing so or maybe for some of you it's not a mystery? Well to put it bluntly: I complained! Argh! I was very disappointed in myself. 

At first it was fine, I was up early and ready to go. I was the only one in the house who was up and so talking was either to myself (thoughts out-loud I suppose) or minor comments to my dog, so complaining was easier to avoid. I spent the time getting ready for work. Once at work I noticed that not complaining became harder, mostly I think because of being around complacent colleagues, but still not complaining was manageable. After work I went to the gym and was fine throughout my workout, it was after whilst in the changing rooms that I made the complaint. I had bought some milk before heading to the gym as I had gotten a text from a family member requesting that I buy some while I was out. In the changing room the milk dropped out of my locker when I removed my bag and split...which lead to it leaking...which covered the changing room floor...which lead to my complaint. 

The next two days of the challenge went much better than the first and were absolutely complaint-free, it was the Sunday (yesterday 14/04/13) when the next complaint was made which would force me to start over. I was walking my dog at the time and was writing in my notebook (which you can read about the benefits of having here: Benefits of Writing a Notebook) when it started to rain causing my pages to get wet and causing my writing to cease, it was then a small complaint was made, and then another complaint a few seconds later about having made the first complaint.

Now today (15/04/13) is the restart of this no complaining challenge and has (so far) been complaint free. :) I think that I will be able to get further this time than previous as my recent failures have caused me to keep the no complaining rule in mind. I now have a much better understanding to how challenging this challenge is...roll on the next 20 days. :)

Detail: No Complaining Challenge Day 1

0 No Complaining Challenge

Complaining is such an easy and negative thing to do and so I am introducing this challenge, with the hope that you all try out for a learning experience as well as helping you to put off complacency. This challenge is called the 'No Complaining Challenge' and is exactly what you would expect from the title: not to complain. 

I think that whilst it's great getting people (myself included) to stop complaining, it is also a good idea for people to realise how easy it is to complain and how often they do it. I have noticed that as of recent I have been complaining more and is a habit that I am not fond of, therefore this challenge is one that I myself will try to carry out. 

I'm not just talking about those major complaints that you make but also those minor ones too. E.g. "the weathers horrible I hate it"! Also labelling someone with a negative comment such as: "(name not mentioned) is a rubbish singer, I don't want to listen to them" is not allowed. Now these may seem trivial to you but the aim of this challenge isn't to get you to become a mindless robot but to have a better grasp upon the amount of times a complaint is made by you and others - at the end of this challenge I'm hoping that people will think much more about what they're going to say instead of announcing a complaint.

A post that you may find helpful to read before taking on this challenge is: How to Stop Complaining. 

Rules

1. No Complaining

This golden rule to this challenge and is the most important one. Do not complain once, of course it wouldn't be a challenge if this was going to be easy so I expect people to break this one including myself (not on purpose)! If you aren't strict with yourself the only person you will be cheating is yourself and won't gain anything from the experience - so try your very best not to complain eve if it means stopping yourself mid-sentence to avoid doing so.  

Every time you make a single complaint, no matter how far you are into this challenge, you start right from the beginning. This may mean that you have to keep starting over but does an even better job at getting you to be thoughtful with your words. Even if you take a whole year to complete this challenge because of having to keep starting over and over, in the end the results will be good. 

The average amount of time it takes people who take on this challenge is 4 - 8 months!

2. 21 Days

You must keep this challenge up for 21 days, only doing it for 1-2 days won't pose the same challenge or have as big an impact upon the way you think and speak as 21 days will. Take note of the day you start (e.g. marking it on a calendar) and make note of when you finish.

Optional Rules

These are rules that you can either allow yourself to be bound to or not, they are fully optional and depends solely on the individual, you can include as many or as little as you want.

1. Duration

Instead of coping with this challenge for 21 day you can increase the amount of days to make it harder for you or to allow yourself more time to get into this good habit. A good step up I recommend would be to go to 35 days. This is a little over a month and it takes on average a habit 20 - 30 days to become cemented into ones life if practiced every day, so 35 (5 weeks) is perfect for making sure.

Then again hardly anyone completes this in the first 21 days as they normally will have to restart many times making it a lot longer so incorporating this rule is entirely your choice. 

2. Bracelet 

Will Brown is normally quoted as the originator of this technique and is a very simple and surprisingly effective one at that. The idea is to wear a bracelet and when you complain, take it off and place it around your other wrist and start again from day 0. 

3. Elastic Band

I've often heard of this technique when people are trying to break a habit, and that is to place an elastic band (or bands) around your wrist and each time you indulge yourself in this bad habit you in turn pull back and release the elastic band so that it snaps against your wrist. The idea of this isn't to cause yourself pain for the sake of it but that you come to associate this bad habit to the uncomfortable pinging of the elastic band(s).

4. Replace a negative with a positive

If you notice that you are about to complain or are on the verge of complaining then turn it into a positive and say it aloud. For example: "the weather is horrible" could become "we need the rain" etc.

Detail: No Complaining Challenge