The 20 Minute Exercise Challenge originated from me bantering with colleagues about how hard it is to stick with our exercising. I’d read an article that suggested that accountability was a top factor to successful exercise plans. So, I offered to make a “cool” t-shirt as a reward for anyone in the office that could exercise for 20 minutes for 50 days. My thinking is that if I’m keeping someone on track with exercising, I’m darn sure going to have to keep it up myself. I call that a win-win. There were a couple of restarts but there were three of us the first go round that completed the challenge. So far I’ve awarded shirts to a few people in my office, my parents, wife’s mom, and several friends.
The only rule to the game is that you exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes everyday. I keep track of my progress by writing “Day 1” on my paper calendar. I record it when I make it 10 days, which I think is the toughest part of the challenge. My co- workers and I will simply ask each other “how many days?” Often the response is yes and let me tell you about this cool orgruelling exercise I learned. Everyone that I’ve shared the challenge with has appreciated the encouragement and I benefit from the accountability.
You can do anything to get in your 20 minutes. You can walk, jog, or dance. You can also break the time up however you want. If it takes you three minutes to walk to the office from a far away spot, then count that 3 minutes. I count every set of push-ups, sit-ups, or squats as 1 minute. Every morning I get in a set of push-ups before my shower, a set of squats in the shower while washing my hair, then another set of squats when I brush my teeth. With that I’m already 3 minutes towards my goal before leaving the house. If I’ve not gotten in my 20 minutes by bedtime, I’ll take the dog for a walk to finish off my 20 minutes. Please share this blog with your friends and put them up to the challenge. I promise that you and you’re friends will thank you.
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