21DFC Day 4 – Loving the Sweat, the Pain, and the Aches!

This is Day 4 of the 21-Day Fitness Challenge held in Feb 2012. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.

Hello and welcome to Day 4 (Feb 6) of the 21-Day Fitness Challenge! :mrgreen:

Sign ups for 21-Day Fitness Challenge are now officially closed. Guess what – we now have nearly 300 participants with us on 21DFC! :D Congratulations to 296 official participants who are on board! :clap:

For all 296 of you, please do and post your pre-work (Day 0) if you haven’t. At the same time, post your progress for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 too if you haven’t – it’s the commitment we’ve made to each other when we signed up (remember our 21DFC pledge?). Even if you didn’t do any physical activity for that day, the act of reporting back on the site will keep you within the community, which is one of the keys to success in this course.

If you don’t post anything, instead taking the read and see-only approach, you don’t stand to gain – at all. Share. Engage. Participate. This is how all of us will get the best out of the challenge.

While you’re at it, please read and apply the 8 tips to succeed in 21DFC I’ve shared on Day 0’s post. They are crucial in your success in 21DFC.

Review of Day 3

We’re now into Day 4 – seems just like yesterday when the challenge started. :D It seems that many of you are getting into the fitness groove now, which is great! I’m having a great time reading your progress via the comments for each day:

It seems like some of you are still having difficulty living true to your fitness plans. Here’s one suggestion – If you did not get to do your physical activity for the day, identify what exactly led you to skip/avoid the activity, learn from it, share your lessons with everyone in your progress update, then commit to making tomorrow a better day where fitness is concerned. Don’t just brush it off, because that’s almost a sure indicator that it’s going to recur again. Big rule in personal growth: Whatever does not get addressed will always resurface. Uncover the root and you eradicate the problem.

I’d like to take the chance to say a huge THANK YOU to those of you who have been reading other participants’ replies and taking the time to leave a positive word or two. You guys are selfless beings with hearts of gold. Know that your words do make a difference and you have unknowingly brightened up someone’s day. I believe those of you who have been receiving replies from others can attest to that.

For those who have been participating only by way of doing your fitness regimes and posting your updates, take some time out to read the other participants’ updates and replying to 1-2 of them, at the very least. 21DFC is more than just personal accountability, though that’s one big part of it. It’s also about the community, making new bonds and appreciating them, as are all challenges at PE.

My 21DFC Progress, Day 4

In just 3 days of getting back into fitness mode, I’ve been observing these amazing benefits:

My muscles are now more defined, especially with my legs and calves, since jogging and lower body workouts have been my main fitness activities for the past 3 days.
My legs are definitely slimmer, hips smaller, and stomach flatter.
My face is now sharper with more defined features, probably from weight loss due to fitness
My breathing feels more regulated – not that there was any problem with my breathing before, just that when I compare it with the past, it has clearly improved.
My natural posture has also improved, probably due to increased muscles throughout my body.
Mentally, I’m more alert. My level of concentration is higher.
I feel more energized than ever. I don’t feel tired at all during the day, and when I sleep I sleep soundly – no restlessness. When I wake up, I feel wide awake and ready to start the day.
Spiritually, I feel more aligned as a being.
Emotionally, I feel really awesome that I’m at the top of my fitness game. The positive emotion is in turn rippling out to other parts of my life.

I’m excited to see these benefits, especially since it’s only been 3 days! I can’t wait to see what 21 days of complete fitness will do to my body. :D In a way I’m inspired to go the extra mile for my next exercise session, because, hey – no pain, no gain, right? ;) It’s obvious that the more I commit to my fitness, the more benefits I’m seeing. There’s no doubt about that. And same for you, too.

So Day 4 – I woke up at 6:30am, went for my now routine morning jog of 3.6km (2.2 miles). And unlike Day 3, I was definitely earlier than many other joggers today. :D

Sun rising over the horizon as I jogged along the path

By the time I was done with my jog, the sun was completely up. Rise and shine, people! ;)

Enjoying my morning fruit as I start work for the day. ;) This is the Dragon Fruit – a sweet tasting fruit found in South East Asian countries, among other places.

I already planned to head out today to buy lights for the new videos I’m producing for PE. (My room uses ceiling light, which is terrible for shooting videos.) Since I’ve already been exercising twice a day during Days 1-3, I wanted to exercise again after my jog today. So I decided to hit the gym first before going to town to get the lighting (and run some errands).

As I mentioned on Day 2, I stopped taking the elevator since Day 2 and have been climbing the stairs. I’ll be doing this for the whole of 21DFC.

Walking to the gym again, instead of taking the bus. It’s a nice 30 minutes walk in the sun.

At the gym – it was busier than usual when I reached! Probably because it was during the lunch hour.

I actually planned to sign up for a 6-month gym membership today, but they needed a passport-size photo of me for the membership card. And since I didn’t have one with me there and then, I couldn’t apply for the card today. Oh well – next time, then.

I worked out for 45 minutes at the gym – 15 minutes on the recumbent stationary bike, 15 minutes of indoor rower, 5 minutes on the elliptical, and 10 minutes on the stationary bike. At the end of the session, I was satisfied with my progress and went for my shower, then lunch.

While my “official” exercises for Day 4 ended here, I continued to engage in physical activity throughout the day. For example, instead of waiting for the bus on my way to lunch, I walked my way to the mall – about 15 minutes long. I also stood/walked for a good 2-3 hours today while I was out running errands and getting my lighting in the afternoon. On my way back, I chose to alight at the bus stop next to an overhead bridge so I could climb up the bridge, cross it, and climb back down the bridge.

So all in all, it was a great day today for 21DFC. I continue to feel aches and sores throughout my body for all the physical activity I’ve been doing, but by now it feels a natural part of the (strengthening) progress. Funnily, they’re fading away with the regular exercises I’m doing – and not worsening as one might imagine.

That’s it for my Day 4 – Stay tuned for Day 5 tomorrow. ;)

How About YOUR Day 4? Share Your Progress!

How did YOUR 21DFC Day 4 go? Did you get to complete your scheduled activity? Did you achieve any personal victories? Did something unexpected crop up, which made you learn some valuable personal lessons?

Regardless of how your day went, we want to hear it all. 21DFC is not about sharing ‘flawless’ fitness progress, but about sharing everything our journey towards a healthier, fitter life – obstacles and all. Post your day’s journal in the comments section! If you have any images to share, simply upload them to Photo Bucket or Imgur first, then include the link(s) in your reply.

What physical activity did you do (if any), and for how long?
If you didn’t get to do any physical activity, why? And what can you do about it such that the same thing doesn’t happen again?
What physical activity do you plan to do tomorrow?

Check out other participants’ responses and join in the discussions!

Looking forward to Day 5 tomorrow! ;)

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