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:
- Day 0 – Pre-Work: Create Your 21-Day Fitness Plan! | 74 Comments
- Day 1 – It All Begins! | 101 Comments
- Day 2 – Building Up the Momentum… | 106 Comments
- Day 3 – Turning it into a Routine | 66 Comments
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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Today my puppy and I took a 30 minute walk. We are trying to go just a little farther every day. I so enjoy the walking but cannot look forward to it yet. The thought of exercise does not make me happy. I really want to change this.
Day 4 was a short ski day, but I skiied non-stop from 10am-2pm. I was starting to feel some muscle fatigue, and my gimpy left foot started bothering me. I did what I could with what I had. All in all, it was a great active weekend!
10 to 2? I’m impressed! Way to go
I did fit in my morning walk of about 3 miles.
I did 40 minutes today on the stationery bike. Listened to a MP3 workout from cardio.coach.com.
I like this, mixes up intensity and alleviated the boredom. Definitely end up pushing myself harder than if I just tried to motivate myself.
Motto for Day 4: “One CRISIS at a Time”
Yesterday (Monday) I was down on the couch all day with a heavy chest cold, spent the entire day coughing & trying not to pee my pants, haha! So no exercise for Monday.
I will put in my walk & my words tonight before bed, as I had no choice but to be up & about this evening for family stuffs — had to take my little one to cheerleading practice, had to help my big one with a school project, & had to help my hubby with some other errands that couldn’t wait. Might as well take advantage of this second wind & thereby keep up my promise to carry on!
Yet another of my mottoes: Every Day is Day 1… Don’t Stop Starting!
I was concerned about the exercise today, but I walked while teaching a class for two and a half hours. I had forgotten just how much movement I get when teaching. Since I more around constantly, I did pretty well. About two years ago I actually put a pedometer on to see how many steps I took each day – on average 12,000 while teaching. So I feel like I got my physical work in. I did notice that my legs were not at all sore when I got home from class. The last three weeks my legs have ached a lot when class was done. Maybe it’s the yoga stretching that’s helping.
Tomorrow….a walk…..
missed my workout class and ended up feeling a bit bad about that fact as I went to a meeting.
erased those thoughts and decided to walk part of the way home from the meeting.
walked 40 blocks. approx 30 min.
ended up eating some junk food upon returning home. which was a bummer after eating super well all day
saw for myself how I sabotage myself in this area and also other areas of my life
this is not the first time I have seen this behavior in myself
but I did not beat myself up.
Hey stuart, that’s great that you did not beat yourself up. :hug: In addition, I’ll like to encourage you to learn why you reach out for junk food during the times you do. Patterns in life can only disrupted when the origin for the patterns are uncovered. You may find the emotional eating series helpful, as well as the article on “How To Break Out of Recurring Patterns in Life” (if you have a copy of Personal Excellence Book Volume 2).
Yesterday (on 6th Feb), I didn’t do any exercise because I couldn’t take out time. I worked in the morning, chatted with friends in the evening and watched movies till late night.
Hi Viva! I appreciate your honesty and your effort to report back on your progress even though you could have just slipped out of the challenge. It speaks a lot about your integrity to yourself. :clap:
On not being able to take out the time, I think it’s a matter of asking yourself: ‘How important is fitness to you?’ I’m sure everyone has their own list of priorities to do every day (including me), and the only time when we ‘have time’ to workout is when we *make* the time to do so. And it doesn’t take all that long too – a good quality workout can be fitted into a 15-20 minute time slot if we want to. You may find this article useful: Are You Putting Any Parts of Your Life On Hold?
I’m so upset with myself for Monday :(
I had 3 classes from 9 am to 9pm…I managed to get home by 10 but was so tired to even do the yoga I had planned in mind.
I’ll definitely make it my priority tomorrow to do yoga!
Day 5- WOO HOO! I’m off work today so I started the day off with a pre programed 30 minute workout on my treadmill & then I hit the streets for an additional 30 minutes with my pooches! Go me & thank you personal excellence for the challenge! Great work all of you fellow 21dfc buddies! I love reading your posts, you inspire me.
I have not been commenting due to IT issues, my own, but have been enjoying the shift in attitude this challenge has brought with it. I have a three and a half yr old son and there are many opportunities to enjoy physical activity with him in a day. On the first day I had a half hour wrestling and chasing session with my son, ordinarily after a few minutes I would be ‘over it’. Day 2 I mowed my own lawn (first time ever) and that took a good half hour or more and was hard work! I have a lever that makes the mower drive automatically but only used that to turn the machine not for doing the straight mow, and it worked my upper body quite hard. Day 3 was a 12 minute run, I had wanted to do longer to test out my new three wheel jogging pram I got second hand but the tyres were all flat from a leak! So it was really hard!! And day 4 was another run/walk with the pram and my 13kg son for 20mins. It was lovely to go this evening, after we had dinner and my son was dressed for bed…much cooler to jog and the fresh air helped him get off to sleep later.
Oh and tomorrow I am at work (I am a personal trainer who feels hypocritical as I look the part but dont feel I walk the talk enough) so will have a 15min run on the treadmills there. I am aiming to do a 14km run in May for a charity event, then a triathlon in November and would love to work on my running to see if there is a 6pack hiding under my “mummy tummy”
Day 4: Back on track!
Took a 3.5km walk but took less time than before. Definitly exercising so often is making a real difference & it’s great :)
You go, Nadia! :D I second what you said – this fitness gig is really making a difference for me too, as I shared in Day 4’s update. :D
I planned to do small fitness activities today such as standing up working and taking the stairs. It would have been so easy – but i totally forgot. I need something to remind me.
Tomorrow I plan to go to the gym.
Sadly, I had miss a day as my body was just to sore.
:(
What physical activity did you do (if any), and for how long?
-An hour long. Today was Clean and Snatch. Olympic Lifting technique. Requires you to lift a bar, squat, and press over your head. Got up to 125 pounds before I ran into difficulty. Mostly because my lower back muscles are not quite strong. I did strain them as recently as November, so I have played on the cautious side, but I am growing stronger in my natural body movements.
What physical activity do you plan to do tomorrow?
-Tomorrow its five rounds. Triceps Dips 7 times and “sumo” lifts 21 times. If they think I can do it, I may be using rings instead of bars for Triceps dips. :)
Wow, 125 pounds!! Great work, Kevin! :clap:
Day Four
Didn’t think I was up to increasing my activity today, but I decided to do just a few minutes with the bands, etc., and a few minutes became 20! I am glad when my muscles get some workout. So are my muscles! :angel:
Even though I’m not at my best today, I am doing my best. Something is going on with my gum/jaw and that last tooth is very sensitive. Don’t know what is causing the inflammation, but hopefully it will pass. Sometimes things like that happen, then they go away just as mysteriously as they arrived. :?: I take very good care of my mouth and teeth, so I am clueless. Anyway, I notice when I exercised, the increased blood flow made that area act up with pain. So I am mindful of not overdoing since that area is compromised.
Enjoying reading others’ posts. Helps to keep me focused and motivated. Some of your posts just blow me away with all that you do for this challenge! :clap:
Tomorrow I am hoping it is a swim day. I really increase my fitness level aLOT when I swim, and I really enjoy it so much! :heart:
Bette
Glad to hear that things came together for you! Exercise bands are wonderful for our muscles and it is easy to get into doing them once we start!
Sorry to hear about your tooth issue. Any chance you have had a route canal there in the past? I had a similar instance and because it came & went I ignored it until it didn’t leave and became quite painful. Turns out the root canal I had years ago wasn’t done properly and had to be re-done. It wasn’t a big deal, but hopefully for you that isn’t the case. I would recommend getting it checked out though!
Thank you for bringing up about swimming and increasing your fitness level. I hadn’t given that much thought & have decided that will be my Day 6 activity!
Wishing you a wonderful day!
Day 4 has been great!
Started off today with my 1 hr walk with my dog, including two sets of stairs! Came back, hit the gym & did 20 minutes on the stationary bike, 10 minutes on the elliptical and then some free weights for upper body and some squats and lunges for lower body. Finished off with some stability exercises on the ball & lots of stretching on the floor mats. Was in the gym for about 50 minutes, so really increased my fitness time today.
After working out, cleaned up and went about doing errands. I’m parking farther away now in parking lots so that increases a little more activity.
I have noticed several things yesterday. I have an eagerness to get going whereas before I seemed to always have excuses. I feel more energized and it lasts throughout the day. I sleep fairly well at night and take very little time to get going in the morning! I am feeling stronger in my upper body & my lower back is much happier with the increased activity!
I also finished off the afternoon with another 20 minute walk with the dog! It’s been a great day!
What physical activity did you do (if any), and for how long?
I did a mix of push-ups, dips, squats, and climbing lunges for around 10 minutes, and then went out and walked around for another 10. I then came home and stretched for around 10 minutes.
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?
I was able to exercise.
What physical activity do you plan to do tomorrow?
Sprints up a hill and then a walk.
Day 4 – I walked for 45 minutes during lunch time at work. Then I got on the treadmill in the gym in the evening and walked for 30 minutes and ran for 30 minutes. Felt incredibly good.
I plan to wake up early tomorrow morning so I can get my exercise done first thing in the morning at 5 am.
I walked 6 miles inside a beautiful university campus today :dance:
Well I didn’t get as much exercising done today as I would have liked… turns out our new cable provider doesn’t have any free “on demand” exercising videos like our previous one did. Boo!
However, I did walk to work today – something that I haven’t done since the car broke down about three years ago. Mind you, we are a lot closer to my work now than we were before. I have to say I really enjoyed the walk and the fresh air!
Hope everyone else is enjoying the challenge. Looking forward to tomorrow!
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