In fitness and in life, what we know doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t translate into action. And taking action doesn’t really matter if it’s done inconsistently.
This should be obvious if you think about it. For example, knowing that you’re more likely to achieve a certain goal by eating an apple instead of a Snickers bar doesn’t do you any good if you eat the Snickers anyway. And eating an apple today won’t really do you any good if you eat a Snickers every day for the rest of the year.
That doesn’t mean you can never have a Snickers, but rather that you need to eat an apple far more frequently if achieving your goal is actually important to you. Which it should be. Otherwise it’s kind of pointless to have as a goal in the first place!
So then why do we eat the Snickers (or skip exercise, watch TV instead of study, scroll through Facebook instead of go to bed on time, ignore our loved ones, etc.) even though we know better?
There are a variety of reasons, of course. But our self-image and habits play not insignificant roles. So if you really want to achieve important-to-you goals—and experience even more long-term positive benefits—intentionally molding your self-image and habits is the best place to start.
And the best way to do that is to commit to completing a ridiculously tiny action just outside of your comfort zone on a consistent basis for a period of time.
So on that note, here’s a little challenge—or a dare or a two-step action plan, if either appeals to you more—to help you with the molding process.
31 Simple
The name of this challenge is a spoof of a popular “transformative mental toughness program” called 75 Hard. If you haven’t heard of it, you can check it out here. If you have heard of, started, or completed it, don’t think that I’m making fun of or trying to discredit it. I’m not! It is a transformative mental toughness program that will change your body and your mind if you complete it.
But those last four words are part of the reason I’m offering up this variation. Plenty of people don’t actually complete it. And almost everyone who does—actually everyone who I’ve talked to who has completed it, limited sample size as it may be—doesn’t stick with it after they do. That happens to be the second reason I’m offering up this variation.
Intense challenges can serve to expand our comfort zones. But they can also have the unintended consequence of demotivating us from partaking in future challenges and continuing to grow because they’re not only uncomfortable but also really freaking exhausting and hard. And that takes time to recover from and rarely promotes wanting to have a repeat experience.
(Some people do repeatedly gravitate toward challenges & growth like this. If that’s you, rock on! If that’s not you, know that multiple pathways always exist to any end goal. 75 Hard and 31 Simple are two such pathways. Use the one that works best for you!)
To make long-lasting changes that stick, we need to continually step just outside of our comfort zones and then step back inside to recover after experiencing a few nicks & bruises. That’s what this challenge is about.
So, here’s how to complete 31 Simple:
- Every day for the next 31 days, do 2 sets of 5 challenging-for-you push-ups with a 1-minute rest between sets.
- Progress to a slightly more challenging variation when the current variation becomes noticeably easier.
That’s it!
If that seems too simple or easy for our purposes, I assure you it’s neither.
It won’t be easy because of that “challenging-for-you” term that conveniently appears before “push-ups”. (More on that below.) Still, it’ll be completely doable, or “not hard”.
And while it’s simple and requires a very minimal time commitment, that doesn’t mean it won’t produce the intended effect.
Will it change your body as much as 75 Hard? No. But you’ll still get noticeably physically stronger.
Will it change your mind as much as 75 Hard? Yes, but in a different way. You’ll still improve your discipline and confidence (both of which are parts of your self-image). But you should also develop a greater sense of curiosity and excitement about the next action you could implement to continue to make progress.
And, ultimately, I’m more interested in helping you make lifelong progress as opposed to 75 days’ worth followed by some drifting time.
Putting it into practice
Next week I’ll elaborate more on adjusting the difficulty of bodyweight exercises and actually demonstrate some push-up options. For now, do the best you can using the following options:
- With hands elevated. High (on a table or couch back), medium (on a chair seat), low (on a step)
- At ground level
- At ground level, with a narrower hand placement
- On one hand, at an elevation (see option 1)
- On one hand, at ground level
- On one hand and one leg
A “challenging-for-you” variation is one that you can do for about 6 reps while maintaining a good plank position. (Video yourself to validate.)
