Week 2 of this year’s Fit for the Holidays challenge starts this Sunday. Please read Fit for the Holidays Challenge introduction if you haven’t done so already. The challenge runs until December 24th and started October 8th. Each Friday, we’ll release the next week’s list of daily challenges. They’ll include a minimum of three days a week of exercises, along with challenges meant to instruct and grow your knowledge of nutritional and emotional health.
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 1
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 2
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 4
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 5
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 6
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 7
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 8
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 9
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 10
- Fit for the Holidays Challenge – Week 11
Sunday, October 22, 2017 – Act like a Baby
Listen to this Breaking Muscle Podcast episode with Tim Anderson. Spend a little time breathing deep, rocking, neck nodding, rolling, and crawling. Just play with the idea.
Monday
End or Begin your workout with 5 Minutes of Lunges- GO! Also, how are the pull-ups going? If unsure what else to do, practice those and go through that get back up circuit again.
In the video below we cover:
- Make sure you have a notebook and are tracking each day. This takes virtually no time, but will become really necessary as we move forward.
- 5 Minutes of Lunges
- Bonus- Pull-ups, Dragon Walk, RDL, Carries
- A reminder to do all days of the challenge, even the non-workout days. There is method to the madness. Many of the goals will become integrated as we go and promote willpower and mental health necessary for long term training success and physical health. Though our society doesn’t model this, we need to remember that you cannot separate physical, mental, and emotional health- they are deeply interrelated
Tuesday- Pay Attention to Your Attention
Nothing kills productivity like our frequent email and social media checks. Tristan Harris, a former Google employee, illuminates how the smartphone is designed to be a slot machine. You get hits of dopamine that create constant habitual checks for messages. Take back control. Set a new rule for your day that you will only check email at two specific times each day. If possible, make these during the work day and leave work at work. Train people to know that if something is time sensitive, they should call. Think you’re too busy to do this? Tim Ferris has successfully run companies batching email and checking only once a day.
Wednesday- I said Get-Up!
Learn to Turkish Get-Up. Read the linked article and practice. This exercise may have more bang for the buck than any other. It will make you strong and help you move better. Gray Cook calls it loaded Yoga. Don’t rush it, though. Start with a shoe on your fist. When you get good, go to a half full cup of water. For beginners, that’s as far as you can go today. For the advanced, dedicate a full day to nothing but the get-up!
In the video below we cover:
- The Turkish Get-Up
- Have fun learning this skill!!! Take the pressure off of trying to rush it and trying to get tired. This time investment will unlock tons of physical benefits and future training success. It’s a limitless exercise with limitless variation and upside
Thursday- Pay Attention to Your Attention Pt. 2
You’re down to 2 email checks per day. Now lets do add 2 social media checks per day. Batch it into 2 periods of 30 minutes or less.
Friday- Walk the Plank!
The plank is a foundation you have to have. Dan John claims that anyone who cannot do a 2 minute Push-Up Position Plank needs strength work. Set a timer for 2 minutes and Plank. If you crushed that, progress your plank. If those progressions aren’t enough, I like plank pulls or renegade rows. Play with 5 sets of these plank variations with 5 sets of 100 Jump Rope Jumps between each.
In the video below we cover:
- Plank Variations
- Plank Pulls, Bar Roll-Outs, or Renegade Rows, w/ 100 Jump Ropes- 5 sets
- Want to Really Crush your Core? TGU w/ Crawl (moving Plank) w/ J-Ropes
Saturday- Just Do It
What have you been putting off? Paying that bill? Calling your Mom? Raking all these dang leaves?!? Whatever you’ve put off, knock it out as early as possible today. Doesn’t that feel better?
