Find me at FitCity today- and I'm challenging YOU!!
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My friend Christy and I are definitely Fit Friends. We workout together everyday on our lunch hour. We run races together. We encourage each other to get 10,000 steps each day on our pedometers. We help each other figure out aches and pains.
We’ve been members of our gym, Empower Fitness, for several years now.
Back in 2009, we took an Endurance Challenge to benchmark where we were in terms of fitness. In November of 2010, we did the Challenge again to see improvements. And in March of 2011, we’ve done the Challenge again.
Our biggest improvement happened from 2009 to 2010. That’s when we had started running and taking strength training more seriously. I remember being pretty thrilled with the results of that Endurance test the second time around. And this time around, I was able to take time off my 1/4 mile and that felt awesome. Well, it felt awesome when I was done and had stopped running. It was pretty awful while I was doing it. Christy and I both made improvements in a lot of areas and we know what we need to work on to improve for next time.
Can you do our Endurance Challenge? Maybe you don’t have all the equipment. But you can make adjustments. Take 30 minutes today to do a set of specific exercises. Challenge yourself to do as many reps in 60 seconds as you can. Ask a friend to do it with you so you push each other. If you want more detail on each of the exercises we did, read the post I wrote about it back in November.
Another challenge I’m currently involved in is a Shape Up Challenge at work. This is a challenge that lasts 10 weeks. My team is competing in 2 out of 3 areas- Exercise the most minutes per day and Walk the most steps per day. There is some fierce competition out there. Christy and I are pushing each other to get at least 10,000 steps per day and we really want to push to 15,000 per day. I did get my 10K in each day last week- and got some great encouragement from my FitCity Fit Friends on Facebook one night. I slipped a little one day this week- I was under the weather. 2,000 steps is approximately 1 mile. On my running days, I get 6,000 steps on my lunch hour. It’s easy to hit my goals on those days. I have to get more creative on my non-running days. Walks with the kids in the evening, for example. Last week, we took a night walk. We had a glow stick and a flashlight, we listened for birds in trees, we counted dogs, we moved sticks off the sidewalk. Another evening, we walked 1 mile to dinner and then 1 mile home. Christy, one of my Fit Friends, was with us for each of these walks.
I challenge you and your Fit Friends to walk 10,000 steps. Pick a day and do it. Find ways to get outside and walk a mile. Get on treadmills at the gym. Stand in front of the TV and swing your hips, jog or march in place, dance. Get moving and get those 10,000 steps.
I also challenge you to share what you’ve done!! Share it on our Fit City Facebook page. Post it in your status. Tweet it. Blog about it. Let people know that you are getting active and focused on fitness. There is an amazing thing that happens. You will soon start to connect with others who are fitness focused and you can encourage each other. You will see friends start posting about going to the gym or getting out for a run. Friends will ask for encouragement to get their activity in for the day. Start sharing and you will start to form a support network- you will inspire others and you will be inspired. In the past year, I’ve watched on Facebook as my list of friends have started sharing more and more about their activities and it definitely inspires me to keep going! Major props to Lety, Krista, Lauren, Katie, Tonya, Jessica, Emily, Ashli, Ginger, Michael, Mike, Kirsten, Beth, Amber, Darcey, Kris, Carol, and so many more!!! I love scrolling through my news feed and seeing people encouraging each other, asking quesitons, getting support.
So what challenge will you choose for today? Going to take on that Endurance Challenge? Going to get 10,000 steps? Going to start sharing your activity and connecting to your Fit Friends?
