Physical Fitness & Weight Loss Challenge

Week # 1 - Getting Started

If you haven't signed up for the weekly challenge newsletter, I encourage you to do so now (click here) because it is a great way to stay motivated, remind yourself to keep exercising and truly make lasting changes to your lifestyle.

Disclaimer: You should consult with your doctor before starting any exercise or diet program. By continuing with this challenge you acknowledge that the you accept all the terms & conditions of the challenge.

Weekly Rewards

Before getting to the weekly goals, I want to discuss the use of rewards as a motivational tool. Psychologists have known for many decades that "positive reinforcement" is a powerful method to shape behavior and help you take consistent actions.

While many people assume that big rewards lead to more motivation, small rewards spread over time can actually be more motivating than a much bigger reward that is far away.

As part of the challenge, you can come up with small rewards to give yourself as you complete the weekly goals.

These should be small, inexpensive treats that serve as a way to recognize & celebrate your efforts and accomplishments for the week.

Here are some examples of small rewards you can use: going for a walk in the park, seeing your favorite TV show, spending 30 minutes reading a novel, lounging on the couch for an hour, indulging in a treat, renting a movie, going to see a friend, eating a chocolate bar, etc. Be creative with your rewards.

Each week, your first step will be to come up with your reward for completing your goals for the week and to write it down on your scorecard.

For extra motivation, you can also celebrate every time you complete your exercise routine. Instead of a formal reward, you can just celebrate and feel great about taking your next small step toward improved fitness and health.

For example, you can do a fist pump and say "Yes!" like Tiger Woods after holing out, or you can play a favorite music CD and dance around for a few minutes. Anything that get's you psyched up will do.

Bonus Rewards

In addition to your weekly rewards, you can also pick four "bonus" rewards that you'll give yourself at different points in the challenge.

These should be slightly bigger rewards than your weekly ones; something like "Taking the family out to dinner," or "Going to see a movie," or "Getting my favorite treat," or "Buying a new DVD." Something that is not too extravagant but that you will definitely enjoy.

During the challenge, I'll let you know (via email) when you should give yourself each of the bonus rewards you've identified. For now, it's a surprise.

Then, pick a bigger reward to give yourself when you complete the first phase of the challenge. This might be something like "Treating myself to a massage," or "Buying a new outfit," or "Going on a weekend getaway." This reward should be something you will really enjoy and can look forward to.

Weekly Goals - Week # 1

Here are your challenge goals for this first week. If you don't have time to work on these goals right now, please go ahead and schedule a time in your calendar when you can commit to work on them.

Goal # 1 - Download Your Scorecard & Fill It Out

I've created a very simple scorecard you can use to keep track of your progress during the challenge. You can download it from here and print it out.

After you fill out the top portion of your scorecard, put it up in a place where you will see it every day. For example, you can put it on your refrigerator, or on the wall of your office, or next to your calendar.

Don't get stuck trying to come up with your bonus rewards. If you can't think of anything right this moment, don't worry about it. Let your subconscious chew on it for a while.

After you complete your exercise routine or other action steps for the day, simply put a checkmark on your scorecard to remind yourself that you've successfully completed another day of the challenge.

Your scorecard will help you stay motivated and continue with your exercise routine.

Goal # 2 - Pick a Regular Time for Exercise

Your next goal is to pick a regular time for exercise six days a week. This will form the foundation for your exercise routine.

It's best if you can chose a consistent time every day. For example, every morning at 7:00 am, or 9:45 am, or during your lunch break at 12:15 pm, or at 6:30 pm after you get home from work, etc. It's OK to have a different time for the weekends if it would make life easier for you.

You can choose any time of the day you want, although research shows that morning exercise routines tend to be easier to stick with over the long-term because there is less that can happen to throw your schedule off track.

All you need to start is 2-4 minutes for the next 7 days.

This goal will help you get in the habit of showing up for your exercise routine every day.

Go ahead and schedule time for your exercise routine in your calendar.

Goal # 3 - Get Your Gear

The challenge is divided into 3 tracks: advanced, moderate, and easy.

Start with the moderate track and see how your body feels. If you feel it is too difficult for you, fall back to the easy track. Similarly, if the moderate track seems to easy, you can jump up to the advanced track instead. Feel free to switch tracks at any point.

There are many exercise activities you can use as part of the challenge. I'll focus on two main exercise activities: exercise videos and walking, but feel free to substitute any other activity that works for you.

Your second goal for this week is to get any gear that you'll need for your exercise activity. For example, if you decide that you'd like to use walking as your exercise activity, make sure you have adequate walking shoes. If not, go out and buy them this week.

If you are going to use walking as your main activity, another tool you may want to purchase  is a pedometer, which is a small device you wear on your belt to help you count steps. This will be helpful when you begin increasing the intensity of your workouts.

While walking is a great exercise for beginners, I recommend that you consider using exercise videos as your main activity because they are very convenient, weatherproof, you can easily add variety by switching from one video to another, and you can increase the intensity as you go.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, talk to your doctor to see what type of exercise he or she recommends.

I'm going to focus the challenge on activities that you can do directly from home (which includes walking) because the inconvenience of having to go to the gym in order to exercise can be a major stumbling block for many people, particularly when you are just getting started.

You don't have to go to the gym to exercise, you can do virtually all your exercise at home using exercise videos/walking and hand weights.

If going to a gym makes life easier for you because of family issues, weather, your commute, or schedule, then by all means do it.

I personally prefer to exercise at home because it would take me about 15 minutes just to get to the gym, and by that time I would be done with my home exercise routine anyway.

Using Exercise Videos

I highly recommend the Tae Bo exercise videos by Billy Blanks because they contain a good variety of exercises, they are good for beginners, and include intervals as part of the routines.

I would advise you to get the original 1999 Tae Bo videos rather than the newer bootcamp videos. I personally think they are much better suited for this challenge since they have a natural progression from the beginner's video to the advanced workout video and focus mostly on cardio exercises.

The Tao Bo Basic (beginner's) video has a good pace for those of you that are just getting started, and the more advanced routines will give you a great workout once you are ready.

Feel free to use other exercise videos if you prefer. I'll recommend different options as the challenge progresses so you can try different styles of exercises and add some variety to your routine.

If you want to use exercise videos, go purchase either the Tae Bo set or some other exercise video right away so that you'll have them ready to use sometime next week.

If you can afford it, it's worth it to spend the extra $3 or $4 for expedited shipping so you don't have to wait 3 weeks for your videos to arrive.

Goal # 4 - Exercise Goals - Start Exercising

Each week, I'll give you some exercise goals as part of the challenge. Remember that these are just goals; it's very important to listen to your body as you go to avoid injury or overtraining.

Some days you will feel really great about exercising, and other times you'll feel too worn down, sore, or sick to exercise. By listening to your body, you'll be able to easily tell the difference between days when you just don't feel like exercising but are fine once you get started, and days when you really should take it easy. When it's the latter, you might want to do lower intensity exercise, or even take the day off.

Be sure to reward yourself for listening to your body even if you did not exercise. Just don't fool yourself.

Here are the exercise goals for the week:

Advanced Track

Days 1-3: 4 minutes of exercise at warm-up intensity

Days 4-6: 4 minutes warm-up + 4 minutes of exercise at level I intensity

Moderate Track

Days 1-3: 2 minutes of exercise at warm-up intensity

Days 4-6: 3 minutes of exercise at warm-up intensity

Easy Track

Days 1-3: 30 seconds of exercise at warm-up intensity

Days 4-6: 1 minute of exercise at warm-up intensity

 

Day 7 is your rest day on all tracks.

Remember to check the box in your scorecard when you complete each routine.

Warm-up intensity is any low-intensity activity that helps you get warmed up. For example, you could march in place in front of the TV, march in place while moving your arms in circles over your head, or go for a walk at a normal pace.

You get to choose which day you want to be your rest day. For me, Sunday is the best day to rest, but it could be any day you pick.

While these exercise sessions may seem like nothing, remember that the goal this week is to get you in the habit of just showing up for your exercise routine at a regular time each day.

You'll be gradually adding more and more duration and intensity to your routine each week, so stay tuned.

Don't forget to pick your weekly reward for this week.

Signs to Stop Exercising

It is important to listen to your body as you exercise to avoid injury. Here are some guidelines from the National Institute of Health advising when you should stop exercising.

"Stop your activity right away if you:

• have pain, tightness, or pressure in your chest or left neck, shoulder, or arm
• feel dizzy or sick
• break out in a cold sweat
• have muscle cramps
• feel pain in your joints, feet, ankles, or legs

You could hurt yourself if you ignore the pain.

Ask your health care provider what to do if you have any of these symptoms."

Starting the Challenge Midweek

If you are starting the challenge midweek, then just follow the start of week (days 1-3) exercise activity each day until you get to your rest day, and then start over with this week again on Monday (day after your Rest Day.)

Goal # 5 - Social Support

Recent studies show that, for many people, social support is an important factor in developing a consistent exercise program and achieving long-term weight loss & fitness goals.

A great way to get this support is to invite a "challenge buddy" to join you in the challenge. It could be a friend, family member,  neighbor, or co-worker.

Your "challenge buddy" helps you stay motivated during the challenge and helps you get back on track when you slip up. And you'll do the same for him or her.

If you don't feel like inviting a specific person to the challenge, you can still get all the benefits of social support by joining and using the challenge's community forum.

For even better results, do both :)

Challenge Forum

I've created a forum specifically for the physical fitness and weight loss challenge.

This forum is a great place to introduce yourself, tell everyone about your fitness & weight loss goals, share your success stories, log your progress, ask questions, and get support.

Exercise & Weight Loss Strategy

The challenge follows the SMART strategy that I outlined in another article. This strategy should work well whether your goal is to start exercising, get in better shape by doing more exercise, lose weight, or all of the above.

The basic idea is to build up your exercise routine slowly and gradually, make realistic and reasonable changes to your routines & habits, and that you permanently transform your lifestyle rather than approaching it as a temporary short-term fix.

Looking Ahead

In weeks 1 & 2, your primary focus will be on developing your consistent exercise routine.

Starting with week 3, you'll begin to develop healthier eating habits while continuing to build your exercise program.

In later weeks, you'll gradually increase the intensity of your workouts & start incorporating resistance training into the mix.

That's it for now... Have a great week!

P.S. If you think this challenge is a good idea, I would really appreciate if you tell you friends, family, and co-workers about it.

This article is part of the physical fitness and weight loss challenge. Click here to learn more and join the challenge.