Do you know why most people struggle or just plain fail at their fitness attempts? Often it comes down to one of these two things: inconsistency and not really challenging themselves. Some folks, with all the best intentions and dreams, just aren’t consistent. Others are consistent but never push themselves outside of what’s comfortable 

If just thinking about getting fit were enough, we’d have a nation packed with healthy, strong, fit men and women. Most people think a lot about getting fit. The hard cold truth is that thinking about, planning, or even talking about working out just isn’t enough. It won’t get you fit. You have to be consistent and you have to push yourself past your comfort zone. Welcome to reality, folks.

It’s what we do and how we do it that matters. No more excuses. No more good intentions (“I’m going to start on Monday”). No more taking it easy on yourself. Without a consistent, challenging workout you just aren’t going to get fit and be the healthiest you can be.

Here are 17 ideas that can help you get more out of your workouts – the first nine will help you with consistency and the last 8 can help you push past your comfort zones.

1. Workout With a Friend – Nothing gets us moving like knowing someone is expecting us, waiting for us, counting on us. And it’s just plain more fun with a friend.
2. Earlier Rather than Later – When you really want something done, do it early in the day. As your day goes on, things happen that crowd out your workout time. The people who put their workouts at the start of their days, are the most successful.
3. Lay out your clothes – before you go to bed at night, lay out your workout clothes for the morning.
4. Schedule It – Write down your workout time like you would a doctor’s appointment. Use your calendar, your daily planner, Outlook, a piece of paper with your Daily To Do List. If you wait to see if there’s time for a workout, there won’t be. If you make time, there will be.
5. Use the Fridge or the Mirror – Leave notes for yourself on the mirror or on the fridge. Something that reminds you or drives you to do your workout. Maybe a quote, your workout plan, a picture of you working out, or your own words to yourself.
6. Mix it Up – Don’t do the same old thing all the time. Try new activities, new workouts, new places. Keep it fresh. Boredom will kill consistent workout plans.
7. Join an Event – Sign up for some fitness related activity. Try a 5/10K, a swim, a bike ride, a hike, a ½ marathon, a triathlon, something to work toward.
8. Get a streak going – Starting tomorrow, see how many consecutive days you can go doing some sort of workout. Don’t go intense everyday. Take it really easy and short a couple of days a week. But set a new personal record. Keep track and see how long you can go.
9. Before you get home –If you can’t do a morning workout, do your workout before you get home. Stop at a park or meet up with a friend. Something happens in our heads once we get home for the evening and it becomes almost impossible to get back out the door for a workout.
10. Talk to yourself – don’t get mindless in your workouts, coach yourself, call yourself names, whatever it takes to get over the hump - out of the comfort zone and into the challenge zone. Talk yourself through each and every step of your workout. Do it out loud. Hear yourself.
11. Mantra – Come up with phrases that inspire you, that bring out your inner superhero. Example “I will do this.” “I will not quit.” “I’m not a quitter.” “I will not stop here.” “I will not give up.”
12. Put It In Writing – start a workout journal  (record what you do each day, rate each part, what was your Push Factor, how did you feel during and afterward.)
13. One Easy day – Take one day a go ahead and do a mindless workout. Just cruise through it and keep that Push Factor (PF) at 5 or lower.
14. Make it a Competition – Compete with yourself. Focus on beating a previous time or score.  Or compete against someone else.
15. Visual Motivation – Post a picture or poster of a goal or fitness dream in your workout area. Seeing it will inspire you to push yourself. Use visualization. Purposefully bring up an image of something that will make you push past the usual stopping point.
16. Go Primal – Right when you are at edge of the comfort zone and everything in you wants to back off or cruise or quit altogether, yell, scream, or breathe hard to provide a release to that urge to give up.
17. Be aware – Take measure your PFat many points during your workout. Get in touch with yourself in an honest way. Are you really pushing? Can you talk or say the alphabet smoothly and easily? If so you ain’t pushing. Are you hanging out or working out?
    

This piece by my son, is just the creature I have in mind.

There it stands before you – ugly and scary, huge and terrifying. The beast snarls at you, baring its huge sharp fangs. It glares down at you with its glowing red eyes full of evil. As you look into those eyes you can see the image of the beast eating you for lunch. With its razor sharp claws, huge size, and reptilian scales you wonder how you will ever manage to survive. But it’s not just survival that you are after, it’s victory. You must defeat the beast.

And the battle begins. You are immediately shaken to your very core as you get a taste of the immense strength of the creature. You force yourself to fight, to keep battling, refusing defeat. Finally, after what feels like hours, you sense weakness and fatigue in the horrible beast. You take the opportunity and strike. You plunge your weapon deep into the beast and then drive it even deeper.

The beast goes limp and falls. There you stand, bloody, beaten, sore . . . victorious. You are ready fall to the ground in utter exhaustion, and that would be okay . . . now. Because now you are the champion, you have slain the beast.

Today’s workout was the Beast. We alternated jumping rope and doing bear crawls across a football field. 100, then 90, then 80, then 70 . .  . all the way down to 10 of each. (Reps for jump rope and yards for bear crawls.) There were moments where it just felt so huge, so hard, so unending. There were moments where my workout buddies and I felt like quitting. 100 yards of bear crawls were pure torture for Melina, Dolores and Laura. I did my 100 yard on my Power Wheel and it was like getting battered repeated by a huge beast. I couldn’t do the 100 yards without stopping today – but I did make it 42 yards. Those first few rounds were killer. My poor legs couldn’t quite remember how to jump rope when I got to that part. I did the first 4 rounds on my Power Wheel, then middle 4 doing bear crawls and then finished with the Power Wheel again for the last two rounds.

This is me on my Wheel at home. Sorry no pics from the workout.

Oh, how we all ached. We took short, mini breaks as needed. There were moments where I would look up from my crawl and see the end wayyyyy out there in front of me. It looked miles away.

In the end, I think we all just felt like falling over. But we also felt amazing. We survived. No, we did more than survive – we won. We were champions over our own bodies, over our minds, and over the Beast of a workout. Doing something that is really tough, and coming out on top, shows you that you can do more than you think you can. When you finish something that felt impossible, it makes you realize how tough you are. If you can fight through that and win, you can do anything!

We’ll face this beast again next week. We know what a beast it is now, and that will add another challenge – a mental one. I am going to face the big, ugly beast again and I will win again - this time even better. I’m going to make it at least 50 consecutive yards before taking a break. And I’m going to get through my jump rope sessions without as many errors.

Look out, Beast, I’m coming to get you!

Here’s an example of effective advertising. Every single time I think, type, or start a sentence with “weekends are made for . . .” the same dumb word comes into my mind. Yep, “Michelob.” Funny, I don’t drink beer. I don’t think I’ve ever even had a Michelob. But I was raised in the 70’s and had that slogan pounded into my brain – that one, and a bunch of other advertising jingles and phrases. On the other hand, I guess it wasn’t such great advertising. While it did achieve its product recognition goals, the catchphrase never got me to use their product. Actually I think weekends are made for fun – so there.

I do my WOW during the weekdays with my workout buddies, and then on the weekends I take a break. Hold on right there. If you think I mean I make a permanent home on my couch and veg out all weekend, you don’t get my idea of fun. Get this, I still workout on the weekends. Yep, it’s true. I find it fun. I usually do an easier workout, but I just love the feeling getting out, working up a sweat, and exerting myself feels.

So on Saturday at about 10 a.m. I went for a run. The route was from my house, down along Shoreline, past the pier, to East Beach, looping around, and ending in the Funk Zone to meet up with Shauna to go buy our Stand-Up PaddleBoards. I guess you could say I was “running an errand.” (Insert courtesy laugh here.) Anyway, turns out the Santa Barbara Triathlon was going on at the same time and along the same route, so I ended up having quite a bit of company on my 6 mile run. I got to run alongside a lot of different people along the way and noticed a few Dos and Don’ts, that I thought I’d share with you.

Don’t Number 1 – I know that all these triathletes had already finished swimming and riding their bikes. I know they were tired, I get that – I’ve been there. Why so many of them were wasting so much energy with icky running technique is beyond me. I see this same mistake so much when I’m out running. People stab their feet into the ground with each step – like they are almost trying to stop. Heck, that’s like driving around with your brake on – not super-efficient.  Here’s a tip to make your running easier and better. Be a quiet runner. You shouldn’t here SLAP, SLAP or THUD, THUD or SCUFF, SCUFF as your feet hit the ground. If you do, you are wasting a lot of precious energy. Next time you run, work on having quiet feet. And while you’re at it, try the same with your breathing (no gasping, wheezing or panting - more on that another day).

Don’t Number 2 – This one really pissed me off. So, I’m running along near the harbor, near a few male triathletes who are working their asses off. All good. Then a guy approaches and crosses over the course. No big deal. He was probably going out to brunch or something with his wife and kid. As he crosses the path, he makes faces at the guys running near me, then points and yells out, “Nice outfit, dude!” Then he continues to poke fun of the runner’s in their triathlon suites (made to work for swimming, biking, and running) and yells even louder to his wife, “Hey, hunny, how about you get me one of those really cool outfits?” He was snickering, so proud of himself, thinking he was so funny. Maybe this guy is actually a decent human at other times, but right then, he was a total jerk. I’d like to see him roll his out-of-shape ass out of bed on a Saturday morning, jump in the ocean and swim a mile, then hop on a bike and ride 34 miles, then finish it all off with a 10 mile run. I bet the most difficult thing he had done was crawl out of bed, throw his shorts on and get in his car. Honestly, Mr. Jerkman, you haven’t earned the triathlon suit. These guys are fit and have mental toughness you could only imagine. They deserve your respect and awe and maybe your envy not your teasing. It makes you look like a total idiot.

The one and only Do – I thoroughly enjoyed running with the triathlon participants on Saturday. It feels good to run in a group, to be among people who get what it means to be active and fit for fun. I really admire them. I’ve only done a duathlon and it was tough enough. It’s not easy to get your legs to run right after a bike ride. In a triathlon, you throw in an ocean swim as well and that’s the part of the triathlon that has me intimidated. I can totally handle the other two aspects. Running 10 miles on its own is difficult enough, doing it on the heels of the other two tiring events is awe-inspiring. About a quarter mile before the triathlon finish line (and my 5 mile mark) a woman runner pulled up alongside me and thanked me. “Thanks for setting such a great pace. I’ve been working hard to catch you for awhile now.” How funny it was to hear that I had  helped someone run a better race. That was so cool.

I know how good it is to have your eyes on someone ahead of you and to be focused on catching them. I did it when running the Half Marathon last year, and surprised myself at how well I did. I just had no idea that someone was getting inspired by me. It made me feel great and sort of like a part of the event by hearing that I helped that woman, someone I don’t know from Eve and couldn’t even pick out of a crowd.

I suppose I should have let Julie Foudy (former captain of the US National Women’s Soccer Team and one of my all-time sports heroes) know how much she helped me in last year’s half marathon, because it was her that I was chasing down for 10 of those 13 long miles.

Romero is our big golden retriever. He’s good sized, got a beautiful head shape, a very handsome face and  . . . is the biggest wuss of the dog world. He’s a big old scaredy-dog. Here are a few examples so you don’t think I’m just being harsh.

• When a teeny dog runs up to him, or, god-forbid, barks at him, he cringes, or wets himself, or, as he did the other day, he took off in terror. As he desperately sprinted for his life from this vicious shitzu, that weighed maybe 10 pounds and was one fifth his size,  our wussy dog got so freaked out, he stumbled doing a face plant and actually got grass stains on his shoulder.
• If a wind blows while he’s out in our backyard, his fur stands up on end, he barks at it and bolts, full-speed, through his doggy door, into the house, to take refuge at Shauna’s feet.
• Want to see Ro run like there's no tomorrow? Just turn on the vacuum cleaner. Actually, it doesn’t even take turning it on. Just roll it out into the room and he’ll be making a bee-line for the doggy door.
• Last week there was an orange plastic road pylon that had him petrified. It wasn’t moving, had no scary images on it, or anything. Yet our big boy wouldn’t go near it.
• How about the night we were watching a dvd and had to pause it for a moment. The image of the woman’s face on the television screen had him cringing at the base of the couch, shaking as he growled at her over and over.
• We  put two doggy treats into a open, cardboard box, and it took him more than two hours and multiple attempts to work up the guts to put his head in the box for the treats. I even have 4 videos of the wussy dog in actionfor this one. I filmed him each time, hoping he'd get brave and take the treat.

Need I continue?? I think I have provided ample evidence to convince any jury that the term "wussie" truly fits our dog. It was after this last example, where he was so afraid of a box, that  that it hit me. Our dog is more than a wuss, he’s a big old Twinkie. He’s already used to his name, Romero, and all of its versions, so I can’t change his name now, or I would. He may look big and brave, but inside he’s all cream filling.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my Twinkie dog. Completely. He’s the one and only Twinkie that comes to my workouts though. If he were a human, he’d never make it. But, since he’s our dog, he’s one of my most faithful workout buddies. He comes everyday and does a little bit here and there - until he gets tired or something scares him.

My workouts aren’t for Twinkie people though. The WOWs and my philosophyare all about pushing forward, pushing past your comfort level, pushing toward a goal, pushing through your fears, pushing beyond pain or discomfort.

I knocked my knee pretty good doing the vaults on Tuesday (on the very last one, even). Yeah, I’ve got some swelling, and bruising will soon follow. It hurt like a you-know-what, but I knew when it happened it wasn’t a “real” injury – no real damage. So, after walking it off, I got back to my workout (albeit feeling bit embarrassed and dumb for losing my focus).  If it had been a real injury, I’d still find another way to workout. Quitting altogether is for Twinkies.


Two views of my banged up knee. Not horrific, but a bit less than perfect.

Everyone who did yesterday’s workout with me (Shauna, Laura, Dolores, and Melina) was a bit sore in the butt-regions today, but there we showed up today, and worked out anyway. We’re no Twinkies. Twinkies wuss out, Twinkies quit for little reasons, Twinkies don’t push. Twinkies give in to obstacles that should be hurdled. Don't be a Twinkie.

I’m sore right now – my knee is getting better, but it’s still swollen, my muscles have that “I worked out hard” feeling. Tomorrow is my Wild Animal Workout and I ain’t missing it. (By the way, demos of all 10 Go Wild actvities are up on the YouTube FitnessNutz channel.) I know it’s a tough one, but I’m no Twinkie. When it comes to working out and fitness, I’d rather be more like beef jerky than a Twinkie. There’s only one Twinkie doing my workouts and that’s our pup Ro-Ro.


Romero, the Twinkie, snuggling with his teddy bear.

Completed Superhero Step One. Up 30 and down 4. Wild animal. PF. Under construction. Free Bootcamp.

What the heck is all that about? That is my week. Or at least it’s the highlights of this last week as of this moment. Could change in 5 minutes. Actually, the second I hit “publish” for this entry, my mind will be flooded with more and better ideas. Isn’t that the way it always is?

Let me briefly explain each of those highlights.

Superhero Step One. I finished How to be a Superhero this week. A fun and informative read that has me ready to proceed to the next step on my journey to a superheroic life. I’ve developed my costume. Hmm . . . I should refer to this as my crime-fighting uniform, it sounds so much more impressive, doesn't it. Watch out, evildoers of Santa Barbara, a new superhero is coming to town. Stay tuned for pics and details of exactly what dastardly evils I will be thwarting in days to come. Good news, Julio Gonzalez, has already shown interest in being my arch-nemesis.

Down 4. Remember my This Is War entry back on July 23? Don’t sit there with that blank face. It was the one about how I was going to deal with the added 9 pounds I put on after returning from Palau. Well here’s my update on how my double-whammy approach has worked. I’ve dropped 4 pounds and feeling mighty fine. I did a little body fat test and found that I have indeed added some muscle mass weight so I’m okay with being a bit above my pre-Palau weight. So my new ideal weight is 98 pounds (keep in mind that I’m only 5 feet tall). This means I allow myself 2.5 pounds in either direction before alarm bells go off. The double-whammy is the way to go. Now, here’s the kicker. I'm keeping the changes I’ve made. I didn't just do it temporarily to shed some pounds. I’m sticking with the trimmed down portion sizes, one cookie and day, and amped up workouts. Hard cold truth -- this is the way to see results - lifelong changes for the best.

Up 30. On my Power Wheel Challenge, I’m up to 30 yards. 100 here I come. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my time-frame. I plan to be at 100 by the end of August. Shauna has sustained a bit of a set back on her attempts to get to 100 before me, thanks to our spasmoidian dog. He hit her like a mack-truck while she was working the wheel. POW! No, I didn’t make him do it just so I could win. I’m not that competitive. Check out Meet My Newest Toy to see what other people are doing for their challenges.

Wild Animal. I had a great week of workouts. I felt every workout in my whole body and I love that more than anything. From my shoulders to my calves, I feel like I gave this body a good workout everyday. Friday’s obstacle course part of the workout was a killer. Doing the side shuffles while moving the medicine ball in circles took a lot of big time umph to get through. I really loved our 10 animal movements on Thursday too. Talk about a workout that hits all of your parts, this was it. Those movements worked me from head to toe. Who knew an inchworm could  be so tough. If you did this one fully, you were saying your mantra(s) to get the most out of yourself. Mine were “never a quitter”, “push harder”, “100, here I come”, and the R-rated special “F!#*& this Sh!t.”

PF. This week, the PF Scale was born. Push Factors from 1-10! Keep your eyes on the national headlines, it’s sure to be in the Breaking News sections soon. Get in touch with your own body and become conscious of your PF Levels. During your workouts it should go something like PF9 to PF3, PF8 to PF2 to get the most out of your efforts. Push hard, rest, push hard, rest.

Under Construction. Now if you’ve read this far, congratulations. You have proven yourself worthy. You have endured my ramblings and musings. You have shown yourself to be a true fan of my fitness adventures. Or you could be just bored to death with nothing better to do than to hang out on my blog. Either way, I would love your input. I have a project in the works – a brand new fitness website (biggerer, and betterer than Open Air Fitness) one that will be stuffed full of ideas, workouts, resources and all sorts of great fitness stuff to help you get the most out of your life. I’ve batted around names and have trimmed the list from over 100 to the following 9. I’m not even going to explain each, just go with your gut reaction. Please post a comment with your vote:

1. The-Big-WOW.com
2. Fit-City.com
3. Fit-is-good.com
4. Ra-Fi-Ki.com
5. Fitzle.com
6. Fitteryoo.com, Fitter-yoo.com, and Fitter-you.com (if I do this, I'll buy all three)
7. JustPhit.com
8. PushFactorFitness.com
9. PushFactorFit.com

Free Bootcamp. And finally, I just read about a Free Bootcamp in Santa Barbara that I thought some of you, who missing the whole group dynamic, and are having a hard time getting your fitness act together, might want to check out. It’s being put on by Matt Hackney of MovFitness. His website says this is the first and only free fitness bootcamp in Santa Barbara, but we know better, don’t we? Anyhow, though his approach is a bit different from mine, it might be a great fit for some of you. He’s only allowing 30 people. Check out his website for more info. Actually, his website does a pretty crappy job of giving you all the info so here's the scoop - Monday through Friday from 5:30-6:30, for 6 weeks. You have to be a fan on his FaceBook page, write a bit about why you should get in, and read his book. Good luck on figuring out all the info and getting in.

Obviously, I’m going to do my own WOWs. It's free, everything is right there, the workouts will give me everything I need, and I can workout where ever I want. But I know you’ve got to have the ability to push and motivate from within to do that. That’s what I call your inner strength, your mental toughness, your Ki. More on ki at another time – let’s just say that’s one of the many areas of full life fitness I’m aiming at here.

Today’s workout from WOW weeks 11 and 12was all about what will now be called The Push Factor. Nope, I didn’t borrow this term from some other person. It’s my very own genius creation. I’m sure it will be all the rage soon. It’ll be heard in break rooms, cubicles, gyms, and Starbucks across the land. Just remember, it started here first.

I use the word “push” a lot in my workouts. I use it when I talk to myself in a workout. I remind myself constantly to push past my comfort zones, to push myself further than what I’ve done before, to push past my fears, to push to get the most out of myself and out of every exercise or activity.

To me, it’s either Push or Cruise. I want total fitness, so I choose Push. I’m thinking I have a Push Factor Scale of 1-10. Levels 1-3 is pretty much no pressure to a super-gentle, almost unnoticeable nudge. Levels 4-5 are comfort level stuff, pretty much, no real push required. Maybe a little, teeny bit of conscious effort here and there. Everything from PF 5 down is “cruising” in my book. Level 6 is where the actual push is begins – it’s break-a-sweat time. Levels 7 and 8 bring on the heavy breathing and  muscle aching as you see signs saying “You are now leaving the comfort zone. Come again, soon.” At level nine, I’m feeling like I’m giving it just about all I’ve got. The heart is pounding, the muscles are screaming, I’m pouring sweat, and I’m wondering if I can do one more rep or 10 more seconds. Level 10, I’ve got numbness starting in my hands, getting dizzy and nauseous, and there’s clearing a sign ahead that says “Warning – Unconsciousness Ahead.” I’m going to use Push Factors in my WOW exercise descriptions, so now you’ll know what I’m talking about.


This is an example of me at PF8 or so.
Notice the fierce look on the face.
Are you intimidated, or what?

I could have done all of today’s workout at a Level 7 or lower, if I wanted to. Since I’m a nut about fitness and being the best I can be, I refused to do that to myself. We started out with four rounds of shuffles to stationary sprints, then forward back runs to speed-skaters. If I let my thoughts wander, my Push Factor slipped every time. So I made up my mind, said my mantra, kicked my self in the ass mentally, and then poooooshed. I made myself get lower on my shuffles, lifted those knees up on my stationary sprints, made myself go hard on my forward and backs, got those stubborn, whiny legs to bend to get low, low, low, made my hands touch the ground, and refused to let my swinging leg touch the ground on my speedskaters. I made myself do it. My body wasn’t thrilled about it, but that’s just too bad. I was at PF 8 and 9 for sure (that’s Push Factor 8 and 9 for those who were snoozing earlier).

My workout buddies, Shauna, Laura, and Yesi were pushing too. I could tell by the looks on their faces – looks of concentration and purpose (or they just really had to pee).

Then, when we were good and tired from that, it was time for our 100 workout. We actually made it a 200 workout by going the 100 reps two times through. Each of our activities could be done in different ways – some would be a cruising level and others would require high PFs. We all chose variations that fit our own personal levels – ones where we’d have to truly push to finish the reps. For me that meant declined pushups, 12” high box jumps, vertical assisted pull-ups, and legs raised on my tricep dips. Next week I’m 200 reps non-stop. If you did today’s WOW, how about you go for more than 100 next week. You can increase the reps of some or all of the activities, or do two sets. Get ready to push and push hard. Let’s aim for PF8 all the way.

By the way, examples of all of today’s abdominal and core exercises are up on You Tube. Check out FitnessNutz channel. If you subscribe, you’ll get an email every time I post a new video.

This is my new toy – my power wheel.


It’s a lot like an ab wheel, but bigger – about twice the size – and it has foot pedals and straps. Whoopeeee! I know, I know, it’s a possible sign of weirdness to get all aflutter inside about new workout toys. That’s me - weird! I’ve had an ab wheel for years and have always wished that it had foot attachments. So when I found one, well, I just had to have it.

With my new toy comes my newest challenge. I want to be able to do a power wheel crawl for 100 yards – all with great form and without stopping.

I love challenges in general – especially fitness-based challenges. I like having a goal I’m reaching toward. I like pushing myself to achieve something difficult, something just out of my current reach, something not done by everyone, something truly challenging! Last year some of my challenges included running a half marathon, doing 4 full hang vertical pull-ups in a row, and climbing a 30 foot fitness rope. Some of my other current challenges are to be able to do 10 full hang pull-ups by the end of the year, to do a handstand with no support, and now to power wheel crawl for 100 yards.

I’ve started working toward this latest challenge by crawling back and forth on my living room floor. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. So don’t be surprised if you see a nut-job, mid-forties chick who looks something like me out there at City College in the days and weeks ahead as I work toward meeting my power wheel challenge.

The journey toward reaching a goal feels so good in itself – knowing you are pushing your limits, feeling yourself getting stronger, knowing you are getting closer each day. Then, if you stick with it against all the obstacles, there comes the day when you succeed and meet the challenge, and that feels utterly amazing.

So, what’s your fitness related challenge?? Wait a second. In case you thought that was just a rhetorical question, you’d better just slow yourself down there, speedy. Don’t just cruise past that question. Think about your answer. I really want you to have a fitness challenge of your own and I'd love to hear about it.

Please don’t leave this webpage until you leave a comment sharing your fitness challenge. Make it specific and simple. Make it fitness, workout, or exercise related. Give it a time frame. Make it something just out of reach.

It could be to run for a certain distance or time, or to do a given number of pushups, pull-ups, squats, wall balls, crunches or whatever activity you want to do better at. It could be to hold a plank for a set time. Or maybe you want to be able to lift a certain amount of weight in a particular activity – like do 20 thrusters with 20 pound dumbbells. It can be anything regarging a particular exercise or fitness activity.

Stop right here, take a moment and think of something right now. Got it? If not, take a deep breath and try again. You can come up with one. Okay, now that you’ve got a fitness challenge in mind, click on that “Add Comment” link down there and share your personal fitness challenge in writing and will be your way to commit to it.

Now it's time to get started toward conquering your challenge. Today - yes, today - take your first steps. Above and beyond your regular workout, just take a few minutes a day (or every other day) and take small steps toward reaching your goal. You are going to love the way it feels to have something you are reaching for and then the feeling of success you’ll have when you’ve met your personal challenge.

In case you live in total seclusion, and don’t know certain world-shaking facts, today, August 5, 2008, is National Underwear Day. Now I’m a full-on nutjob about fitness, as you know. But I’m also quite fanatical about that oft-neglected, mostly unappreciated garment --- underwear. Where would we be without them, really?

We’d all be going commando style, experiencing friction and poking in unwanted places. We be missing all the shape, support, and lift our undies bring. So today is a day to honor those fine undergarments – the first thing we put on and the last thing we take off everyday.

Me and my workout buddies, just after the workout.

There are a variety of ways to celebrate National Underwear Day. You can buy yourself, your family and friends new pairs fun underwear. I believe life is too short to wear boring underwear. So go out and pick up a pair that are fun, inspiring or sexy. You could celebrate by wearing your favorite pair for the day. Or you could do what I’m doing right now and what I did at today’s workout. I wore nothing over my underwear to work today. Lucky for me, I work from home. As I type this, I am here wear in my blue polka dot undies and my normal  upper half attire, a t-shirt!


It's the face on the butt that I like the most.

For this morning’s workout I toned it down a notch, and wore my funnest undies over my shorts. I walked 5 blocks up to the park for my workout. My workout buddies, Shauna, Dolores, Melina and Laura were all there. Usually Shauna and I see no one on our trek to the park or during the workout. Not so today. Funny how that happens huh. I was the oddity they were looking at with quizzical looks. I’m sure they were just trying to figure me out. Their eyes said it all, “Why in the world is that woman wearing those crazy underwear over her shorts?” But they didn’t ask out loud, so I acted like it was perfectly normal behavior.

Dolores actually had undies ready to go too, but she didn’t wear them for the whole workout. She was a brave soul though, and put those things on right out on the street after the workout to honor the day.

Other oddities cited about town? There is a wonderful group who meet at 6 a.m. at Kids World to do our WOW. They go by the handle “Early Birds.” They were out there doing the zig zag activity that has you sprinting to a cone, then squatting over it for 30 seconds, before exploding upward and sprinting to the next. It’s a fantastic workout for the legs and quite entertaining for passersby as this email from Dawn shows:

we sure got some funny looks from people passing through the park this morning as we crouched over the cones in a squat for 30 seconds...
With serious looks of pain and moaning and groaning...they probably thought we had some bathroom issues :') It was a great workout today!
Thank you!

Go ahead, be a little odd! Don’t worry about what others may think. In all truth, they are probably wondering why they aren’t having as much or working out as good as you. A good, rich, full, exciting life may have people thinking you a bit odd. Odd is really just “out of the ordinary” and who wants to be ordinary? The average,ordinary person isn’t fit and is wishing they were doing something about it. The average, ordinary person is so busy being overly stiff and “mature” (aka Boring) wondering where all the fun went in life. So, here’s to being odd!

Don’t you just love it when need to have some repair-person come to your house? It doesn’t really matter if it’s for your phone service, your plumbing, your appliances, or your satellite or cable TV. They do that “our service technician will be there between 8 a.m. and noon” thing. They give this four hour window when the guy will show up.

How do they get away with that? Placing us all on house arrest until the almighty service technician shows up. Can you imagine making appointments for yourself like that. Try telling the doctor, your hairstylist, or your babysitter that you’ll be there . . .  . oh . . . between noon and 4:00. Ha! Like that would work.

Well, we were on house arrest today - waiting for our service technician to arrive anywhere from 8 a.m. to noon. So doing the Monday workout (the one I was so looking forward to with the 60s and the reps to beat from last Monday) wasn’t going to happen. We weren’t going to be able to leave the house. So  . . . that’s it . . . no workout.

Uh, I don’t think so (or using the words of my current mantra “F*** that Sh**!” – sorry if I offend any of your but I’m determined to be nothing but real with you here). My workout is non-negotiable. My workout is a priority. Why am I such a stickler about my self-imposed torture sessions?? Because my life, my health, my energy, my peace of mind, my emotional state are all a top priority in my life. I’ll find a way to work around or overcome the obstacles. Some little hindrance like house-arrest isn’t going to stop me.

Today’s solution was to do the 8 Hour Workout all in one setting, no four hour breaks between the three activities. We put a note on the front door for the service technician to make sure he knew we were home, then off to the backyard Shauna and I went. Out came the 18 pound kettlebells, the 15 pound dumbbells, and the suspension straps (these are 6 foot long straps that we anchor to a bar 9 feet off the ground). We happen to have a full-size kickboxing bag out there as well, so we were ready to rock.

30 seconds of burpees then 30 seconds of jabbing and punching the bag. Two minute rounds of that, four times. Whoa! We pounded out both of those at a super high intensity and then panted like our dog, Romero, for 30 seconds after every two minute round.

Then we grabbed our weights. Two activities - kettlebell swings and inclined pullups on our suspension straps for me; dumbbell thrusters and inclined pullups for Shauna. In round one, we did 21 of each. The next round we did 15 of each and then for the last round we did 9 of each. We picked our weights to really challenge ouurselves. It took everything we had to get through that first round – that’s what I mean when I say “really challenge.” I was swinging two 18 pound kettlebells and, oh my gosh, I was pushing hard to get them up. I had never worked that hard before on swings. Shauna was feeling the same on her thrusters. And that’s how it should have been. We were only doing three rounds, and it took every ounce of muscle to get through it.

Next, we just happen to live on a hill. So I sprinted up and jogged down that sucker for 15 minutes, which basically turned into 15 sprints. If the service technician arrived, he would have to drive past me to get to our house, so we were set.

I bet you can guess what ended up happening in regards to the arrival of our special guest, the illustrious service technician. Well he didn’t arrive during our workout. Of course not. He pulled up at 11 a.m., worked his magic and left. And I wasn’t even pissed at him. Had I skipped my workout to wait for him, I might have had a wee bit of bitterness when I saw his face at my door, and I may have taken that out on his person. I greeted him with a smile, was so very kind to him and avoided committing a major felony and subsequent incarceration all because I found a way to do my workout at home. See how important this fitness stuff is?!

What do you want?
How bad do you want it?
What are you willing to do to get it?

Those are three questions we’ve got to ask ourselves in this life.

I believe most people don’t even take the time to figure out what they really want. For example, most people when asked that first question, respond with a list of “stuff” they want. Sorry, folks, but quite honestly, that is just pitiful. What you really want, should be more than stuff.

I could go on and on with my opinions about how “stuff” is probably our biggest problem and about how what you really want are the things that will end up as regrets at the end of your life if you don’t realize them. On people’s death beds, it’s not lacking “stuff” that they regret. And it’s not their piles of “stuff” that made their lives full. Enough on that. Ponder that and think about what you REALLY want in life.

In my opinion there are different degrees of “want.” There’s . . .

Sometimes it takes years to work through all of those degrees of want until you want it enough to do whatever it takes to go get it. Some people never get there. They stay at a lesser degree of want all their lives and have loads of regrets at the end.

What do you want?
How bad do you want it?
What are you willing to do to get it?