What a cynical title. Boo hoo everything sucks. It’s true.
The only thing that sucks worse than starting is starting over again after a juicy hiatus. That’s what I’m dealing with one of my #NoNothingNovember challenges. The 100 pushups, 100 crunches, and 100 air squats everyday challenge.
Damn, back in the day when I was in Okinawa I could bang out over 50 pushups without thinking anything of it. I kid you not, day 1 of November I could barely do 20 in a row.
I had to blow the dust off my joints, I am not used to this calisthenic work. How is it I can bench press a pair of plates and a few doughnuts but can’t do a few dozen pushups in a row?
So here’s the extended game plan: don’t stop again.
When I was at my peak, I could run a 22:30 5K. Not the best by any means, but respectable, at least to the general public. I guarantee if I had to run one tomorrow, I couldn’t run for the entire 3.1 miles.
That fucking sucks, and that’s restarting things.
But it’s worth it.
I know what I’m able to accomplish. Hell, I never did pushups before for actual “training”, so I know if when I finish the November challenge I’ll be banging out 100 reps in at most 2 sets. That excites me. There’s already a goal in place, unfortunately, it’s a goal I accomplished at a previous point in my life. Now it’s a matter of getting back to that spot, and turning that into my new baseline.
I have plenty of fitness based baselines. I didn’t lift for around 6 months but was still able to bench press 225lbs for a few reps. I could deadlift 405lbs, albeit there was a slow struggle the whole time. I don’t know if there will be a time I squat less than 275.
Unless I end up on a damn island for years like I’m Tom Hanks.
That’s why I’m extending my #NoNothingNovember until infinity, at least the things I feel improved my life. Planning my next day is surely up there, along with daily calisthenics. Going to sleep early and waking up early is quite easy, and it’s a great feeling being able to crush a few goals before the sun rises.
Over time, I’ll reevaluate myself and see what needs changing. Maybe waking up at 5 AM is no longer beneficial, and I need to push it back to 4 AM. What if eating steak and potatoes every day is not helping me and I need to replace the potatoes with spinach? Adapt and overcome, that’s what they told us in the Marine Corps time and time again.
The bottom line is, everything sucks in the beginning, whether it is fitness related, writing every day, or waking up early every day.
But to get to where you want to be, you have to start somewhere.
And that’s the important part: starting.
Also eating steak and potatoes.