In yesterday's blog post at the Whole Life Challenge, Andy Petranek (one of the founders), discussed the 'show up muscle.' I absolutely loved the term and the concept.
During the Whole Life Challenge we're supposed to exercise every single day for a minimum of 10 minutes as well as stretch/do some sort of mobilization for 10 minutes.
The reaction to exercising every single day has been interesting. Most of my friends think it's insane. In fact, even when I read about it the first time, I thought - Really? Every single day?
What you have to realize is that it's not saying we need to run a 5K every day. We don't to do a cardio kickboxing class or a heavy weight lifting session everyday.
What they're encouraging us to do is SOMETHING every single day.
Show up.
Do something.
Reading it as working the 'show up muscle' really made sense. It's about building in the discipline of stepping away from the computer, switching off the TV, waking up slightly earlier or whatever, in order to incorporate some sort of physical activity into your day.
It could be going for a 10 minute walk, doing a bunch of crunches, push-ups, squats in your home, or whatever.
It's about being aware of how your'e spending your time and what you are/are not doing in terms of staying healthy and making healthy choices.
I really, really like this idea because developing the discipline and understanding the good habit makes it so much easier to repeat on a regular basis. I think once you've established a routine, you're more likely to stick to it and find a way to make it work.
It's also great because all of a sudden you do realize that - Hey, I can make 20 minutes for exercise, even if it's simple and just at home. Realizing that exercise doesn't have to be painful or exhausting all the time is a positive way to look at exercise.
So, practice showing up. Practice putting in the effort. Stick to it long enough and it will become routine.
During the Whole Life Challenge we're supposed to exercise every single day for a minimum of 10 minutes as well as stretch/do some sort of mobilization for 10 minutes.
The reaction to exercising every single day has been interesting. Most of my friends think it's insane. In fact, even when I read about it the first time, I thought - Really? Every single day?
What you have to realize is that it's not saying we need to run a 5K every day. We don't to do a cardio kickboxing class or a heavy weight lifting session everyday.
What they're encouraging us to do is SOMETHING every single day.
Show up.
Do something.
Reading it as working the 'show up muscle' really made sense. It's about building in the discipline of stepping away from the computer, switching off the TV, waking up slightly earlier or whatever, in order to incorporate some sort of physical activity into your day.
It could be going for a 10 minute walk, doing a bunch of crunches, push-ups, squats in your home, or whatever.
It's about being aware of how your'e spending your time and what you are/are not doing in terms of staying healthy and making healthy choices.
I really, really like this idea because developing the discipline and understanding the good habit makes it so much easier to repeat on a regular basis. I think once you've established a routine, you're more likely to stick to it and find a way to make it work.
It's also great because all of a sudden you do realize that - Hey, I can make 20 minutes for exercise, even if it's simple and just at home. Realizing that exercise doesn't have to be painful or exhausting all the time is a positive way to look at exercise.
So, practice showing up. Practice putting in the effort. Stick to it long enough and it will become routine.
For some reason, your photo is covering a lot of your post today. My text reader just read right on even though I could not see it myself.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea a lot. I'll admit that a lot of the time I do not show up for exercise because I push it to the back of the list of things I want or need to do that day. Thanks for sharing. :)
Hi A, the photo is covering most of the post for me as well. In my first years of exercising, it was especially important for me to exercise every single day. I was building a habit, and nothing is more important for a habit than consistency. Now, over 6.5 years later, I do skip exercise on certain days, except walking Keebler--which probably qualifies enough to meet daily exercise quota. :D
ReplyDelete