I wasn't out searching for a new challenge or something to keep me motivated. Then, motivation found me through Bethany at the Bike Box Project. I met Bethany through Team Fox, and now she is also a Rock Steady Boxing coach. She posted about a great campaign she was starting in January called End PD in 2021 (#endpdin21). The concept was simple, do 21 repetitions of an exercise in January, tag #endpdin21 and the Bike Box Project donates $1 to Team Fox.
I was already exercising daily, what motivation was there for me to join this challenge? Well, Bethany hit onto one of my weak spots ... she challenged everyone to be creative with their exercises. Immediately, I found myself thinking, what unique things could I find a way to integrate into this daily challenge? It worked. I was in for the duration and set about trying to see if there were some exercises I could do that were different enough to be interesting, challenging enough to keep my competitive juices flowing, yet appealing to someone looking for some motivation to get them started moving. Exercises ranged from advanced speed bag combos to med ball plank jacks to figure "4" squats to jumping rope backwards, to playing guitar while planking!
I had a blast doing the different exercises (you can see each of the posts for January by clicking "Instagram" at the upper right corner of this site). I got some great feedback from people literally around the globe. I had more than one person indicate this motivated them to try exercising ... I was beyond excited and humbled. This was truly an example of the power of sharing a positive or encouraging message. Trying not to sound too cliché ... If you build it, they will come!
Bethany's challenge raised over $1,500 in January. She has now lined up sponsors to keep this going all year in 2021! You can find suggested movements at www.bikeboxproject.org She has even started up a Facebook group for posting movements going forward #endpdin21 MOVEment Challenge.
Stay tuned for my next challenge!