New Year's Resolution - Want to Get in Shape? Streak!
This is the time of year when people compose their list of New Year's resolutions. They vow to lose weight, exercise more, etc. The memberships at health clubs soar as the reborn workout evangelists charge forward vowing to keep their resolution.
Sadly a couple of weeks later most have stopped going to the club or watching what they eat. Their brand new $150 workout shoes barely broken in. Their Fitbit becomes the latest member of the exercise gadgets they have purchased to end up in a drawer never to be seen again.
Why do people fail so frequently at keeping their resolutions? I believe it is because they either set too aggressive goals (I will lose 50 lbs) or they fail to set any goal at all. The former leads to disappointment when the weight gained over many years fails to "melt off" in just a few days. The later leaves one rudderless and when the workouts get difficult those without a goal in mind start to wonder why they are putting forth the effort.
Before I describe an approach that has been successful for me and others let me clarify a few things. I am someone who is committed to exercise in fact to not workout feels strange to me and mentally tougher on me than not working out! That being said, it isn't always something I enjoy or necessarily look forward to. My ex-wife use to say that I "enjoyed" exercising and that was why it was easy for me to workout. She of course never went on a run with me when it was zero or 90 degrees and humid! The truth is exercising on a regular basis isn't easy just as pretty much everything else in life that is good for you (getting in shape, staying in shape, continuous learning, eating right,etc.). So if getting and staying in shape are hard to do how can we possibly make it happen? Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Streak!
What is the Streak? Let's first talk about what it isn't. The streak costs exactly $0 but sadly does not come with a set of ginzu steak knives. It isn't the last fitness craze a (Think P90x, The Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, or the Tummy Tucker). Instead the Streak uses the effort you have already expended to motivate you to exercise more. It is the perpetual motion machine for fitness.
Let's now describe the Streak and how to use it to not only get in shape but stay in shape so that next years resolution can focus on some other area. The Streak started for us back in 2006. We had always been active running, biking, hiking, climbing and kayaking but by 2006 our workouts had become more and more sporadic. We had the usual excuses, work demands, family demands, etc. but we knew the actual problem was that we lacked a goal to get us motivated. One day out of the blue we started The Streak and it immediately helped turnaround our fitness funk. The concept of The Streak is simply (a concept we follow in all aspects of life is K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid) working out each and every day for at least 20 minutes a day. We know some hard core workout fanatics will dismiss the 20 minute minimum but if you consider the percentage of Americans who exercise for 20 minutes a day you would be in the top quadrant so hence or reasoning for this threshold.
We started our own version of The Streak by running with some co-workers for approximately 30 minutes. When we got back from our run we created an Excel spreadsheet that had the following columns
· Date
· Day count
· Duration
· Type of Workout
So the date was of course the date we exercised, the day count showed us how long we had kept The Streak intact. The duration logged the amount of time we had exercised, the type of workout categorized what we had done (bike, hike, run, lift,etc.).
After Day 1 of The Streak our day count stood at one. After 7 days of exercising our count was at seven, after 2 weeks our count was up to 14. After a month of daily workouts our count was up to 30! This is where the power of The Streak really kicks in. Having invested 30 days I found myself unwilling to stop exercising even for a day knowing that if I did the counter would get back to zero. Thirty days turned into 60 then 90 as I headed towards a half year of consecutive workouts my goal turned towards trying to make it an entire year without missing a day. I not only made that goal but went far beyond it going almost a year and a half working out every single day. An injury cost me The Streak but nonetheless it had worked its magic. It had restored my health and fitness and reaffirmed my dedication to staying in shape.
If your New Year's resolution is to get in shape try The Streak!
We've found a no cost way to help anyone interested in working out more and getting in shape. No gimmicks, no easy formulas, just a program that works.
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