On my 2018: Annual Review post, I’ve mentioned I was going to try a 30-day Ever Better Challenge in order to address one of the items I didn’t do so well last year: exercising more!
My challenge was to do at least 20 minutes of any sort of physical activities every day. How did I do? Nailed it!
I have not skipped any day.
The physical activity (that is, related to exercising) I enjoy the most is rollerblading. I’ve done it three times during this challenge. Each time lasted a full hour, non-stop, in which I cover about 8 miles. Two out of those three times actually happened back-to-back on consecutive days; at first, I didn’t think I’d be able to pull it off, but I actually did! That’s an option I like because it is a good workout for my legs and lower back, good balance, and I use that time to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, music, etc. All of that, surrounded by a nice scenery.
Unfortunately, I can only go rollerblading on a more frequent basis when Daylight Saving Time starts, so I have time going to the park when I’m back from work.
The majority of the days (21 days), I did roughly 20-minute sessions as soon as I got back home from work. The ritual is:
- say hi to the family,
- make sure everyone’s well and nothing is required from me immediatly,
- change into workout clothes,
- exercise!
I now go through that flow without thinking about it, so I believe the habit is being formed.
I perform activities that can be done inside of the house: pull-ups, jumping on a mini trampoline, weightlifting.
In this period, I was out of town for 4 days. During those days, I walked an average of 4 miles each day, and I considered that my physical activity for the day, as I was out and about most of the time and there wasn’t much else I could do.
Another benefit I get from this is that I get to watch some good videos (TED and the like) while I’m exercising.
Moving forward, I’ll continue following the same rituals, and will add a couple more reps to what I do when exercising at home.
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