Lessons Learned from Resolution 2: Working Out

As we’ve posted before, overall, this resolution was MUCH easier than our first resolution (no joke.) However, had we done this one first, or even in isolation, I’m sure we would have found it to be much more challenging and hard to maintain that it actually was. Working out everyday is hard and it is daunting! Sticking to this resolution everyday was tricky for sure, but it led us to be more disciplined and strict about working out than we had been prior, and it definitely taught us that when you set goals around working out, they can be much easier to reach than you often hype yourself up for.

Here are the top ten lessons from our 36.5 days of “Working Out”

(1) Working out is personal! While most of our first resolution was something that we took on in full unison, during the course of this resolution, we ended up taking it on in very different ways and in very different extremes. Perhaps this was because this resolution really only required 20-60 minutes of dedicated effort, and we often found that we carved time out of our days in really different ways and the activities we chose to do were pretty different in aerobic levels and intensities. Needless to say, this resolution was much more personal and independent than our first.

(2) 8 Minute Abs trumped all. Regardless of how different our workouts were, no matter where we were, or what time of day it was- 8 Minute Abs could be found somewhere near by.

(3) Big improvements in the pull-up department! For my birthday last year, Jon got me a pull up bar that hooks on to the back of our closet door. Over the course of this challenge, I improved from being able to do 5 pull-ups at a time, to 11! WOOHOO!

(4) Jumping rope is still hard- Still not quite at the continuous 10 minute mark yet!

(5) Your body can be your best piece of equipment. Don’t let the gym or a piece of equipment hold you back from working out- you have everything you need attached :o)

(6) Let your favorite shows be an excuse to work out! Since getting rid of cable, we’ve found that if we want to watch out favorite TV shows live, we’ve got to make it down to the gym to do it. Top Chef All Stars definitely gets credit for at least 5 hours and 2000 calories burned for Jon.

(7) Planning ahead is key. I found that if I put my workout times into my work calendar ahead of time, I was more likely to follow through and be less anxious about when/if it would happen.

(8) I’m a Thigh Master supporter and lover- It’s a great way to work out your legs while you are watching a little Hulu at the end of the day.

(9) We wish we’d incorporated more outdoor winter sports- while we got to ice skating, skiing and snow tubing each once, it would have been nice to have done even more outside during these chilly months.

(10) Working out everyday is totally sustainable. Once you’ve got the routine and don’t make a huge deal out of it (or even make it about going to the gym), you can totally do it everyday.

And, because I want even more motivation to continue this resolution (ideally everyday) now that it’s over, I read these facts from Women’s Health about what happens to your muscles when you stop exercising for certain lengths of time – hopefully these will keep us on our toes and on top of continuing to work out!:

If you take a break from working out for 2 weeks:

You can loose up to 12% of your muscle strength (!), 7% of your aerobic endurance and your comeback time is 1 week

If you take a break from working out for 2 months:

You can loose up to 35% of your muscle strength (Ack!); 18% of your aerobic endurance and your comeback time is 6 weeks (holy smokes.)

If you take a break from working out for 2 years:

You can loose up to 50% of your muscle strength; 50% of your aerobic endurance and your comeback time is 12 weeks (yikes.)

So here’s to Resolution 2… A 36.5 days well spent…