The Challenge: Exercise Every Day of 2020

Oh, boy.

You can probably already tell from the title of this post exactly what this blog is going to be about. I have set myself the challenge this year of exercising ever single day of 2020, in some form.

I’m both terrified and extremely excited in equal measure.

Who am I?

Hi! My name is Elise and I like to run. Not very fast, and not very far, but I enjoy it all the same.

I’m a Human Resource professional by trade, and serial hobbyist in my spare time. In the past, I’ve tried martial arts, dance, tennis, piano, creative writing and learning Japanese. Running is the thing that has stuck most for now.

Why every day?

Confession – New Year’s Day is my favourite day of the year, even more so than Christmas. I’m that person who loves to look back over what I did the year just gone, and make a list of goals that I’m going to focus on for the following one.

Often, I achieve them, sometimes I don’t.

One of my reflections this year however, was to review the fitness log I’ve kept for the past two years fairly consistently. It was a fascinating moment of insight for me, and if you’ve never kept a training log, I highly encourage you to start one.

I realised two things:

1. That I was able to improve my fitness levels very quickly, with a lot less effort than I might have otherwise expected, in the weeks where my training effort was moderate and consistent.
2. That over the course of the year, I have historically been in no way consistent. At all. In fact, if I really wanted to rub the salt into the wound and chart it, the visual affect would be closer to a heartbeat reading than a flat line on a steady incline.

So that consistency is really what I am trying to achieve this year. Yes, I’ll list some fun little goalposts a little later, but the number one goal is to exercise every single day.

What are the rules?

I want this challenge to be a real test, but also sustainable over the long run; i.e. I want to be fit and strong, not hobbling through injury and generally hating the experience. Ideally, although I’ve set this challenge to last throughout 2020, I would like to expand it into a lifelong endeavour. So, here are the rules I’m going to follow:

1. I must exercise every day for at least 20 minutes (I’ll try to actually schedule in 45-60 minutes for most of the week, but 20 minutes is the minimum).
2. That exercise must be for the sake of moving (incidental exercise is great, but won’t count for the 2020 challenge. The idea for me is to build a habit, not cheat the exam).
3. Every week will include a mixture of high, medium and low intensity exercise.

I think the third point is going to be key in completing this challenge. While I’m very excited about the flashy goals that I want to achieve this year, having a few restful days in there – which may only be a 20-minute walk, or a block of yoga – will be crucial to ensuring that I don’t burn out during the challenge.

SMART Goals!

365 days is a long time to exercise without an end in sight, so I think it’s still important to have something that I can show for it at the end of the year. So, here’s a few things I’d like to achieve for fun:

1. Run a 10k race <55 minutes by September. I ran my first ever 10k in September 2019, with a time of 1h 04 min. It was a complete shamble, but I really enjoyed myself.  I’ve my eye on a few races throughout the year, the first is 05 April in Canberra, and a repeat of the original 10k late September 2020.
2. Run a 5k <25 minutes. My best is currently 29:29. Achievable? Not sure, but let’s give it a go.
3. Do a chin up. Why not?
4. Squat 90k. My best is about 60kg but have never really focused on this. Might as well give it a go.

How am I doing so far?

So far, so great.

We’re 5 days (mostly) into the New Year, and here’s what I’ve done so far:

Wed 1 Jan – 20 minute ROMWOD. (This is a subscription-based mobility program, not sponsored. Visit https://romwod.com/ if you’re interested in a 7 day free trial).

Thurs 2 Jan – 60 minute gym session (4.2km run, 20 min weight circuit, 10 min stretch).

Fri 3 Jan – 2km swim.

Sat 4 Jan – 20 minute ROMWOD.

Sun 5 Jan – 50 minute gym session (6km run, plus stretching).

This has been a deliberately relaxed start while I’m still on holidays. I have another week off work where I’ll put in some more running and strength sessions. To be honest, it’s easier for me to get the gym work done when I’m back at work because the gym is literally about 500meters from my office so I’m not worried about starting back at work and trying to keep this up.

Want to get involved?

Please do! Even if you only find this blog later in the year and want to give the idea a little test run, please leave a comment at any time and follow along.

I’ll be posting every Sunday about my progress and would love for anyone wanting to get involved to add their own efforts in a comment below.

I’d love to hear about your goals too. Are you a runner? Do you prefer weights? Maybe you want to walk every day?

Take care and happy moving! xx