Nerd Fitness

Level up your life, every single day.

The 28-Day Challenge: Are You Up For It?

What’s with the beach?  Keep reading and find out.

While I was out at sea last week, I had an article published over on Art of Manliness: 8 Reasons You Need to Rediscover Your Passion for Exercise.  I feel really honored to be a part of that site, so thanks Brett and Kate! If you’re new to Nerd Fitness, welcome!  Here are the best ways to connect:

• Subscribe to the site via RSS reader or Email.
• Be a fan of Nerd Fitness on Facebook.
• Follow me on Twitter.
• Email me at Steve@Nerdfitness.com and say what’s up!

Site Update

I realized I did a site update a two weeks back, but it’s time for another quick one:

I now have over 1,000 email and rss subscribers!

If you run your own blog and are currently trying to build a following, I want you to know that it took nine months of writing every single day to get my first 100 subscribers.  It then took three months to get to 500 (after I cut back to two high-quality posts a week and started putting major effort into building relationships with other bloggers and websites), and then a month and a half to go from 500 to 1000 (with a big bump from my guest post on Art of Manliness).

Moral of the story: Whether you’re building a website or losing weight, remember – momentum is a powerful thing.  Stick with it.

The Four Week Challenge

Four weeks from now, I’ll be back out on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. This time, however, it won’t be for work – I’ll be going on an actual vacation!

Because of this, I figured it would be a great opportunity to challenge myself to get in great shape over the next month.  If I’m going to be sitting on a ship deck or the beach in board shorts every day, might as well try to look damn good doing so.  I plan on taking some updated pictures and shooting a video or two for Nerd Fitness while traveling, which is all the motivation I need to stay on target.

Here are my goals for these upcoming 28 days:

• Gain at least five pounds, hopefully all muscle – I know you’re saying “damnit steve you suck, who gains weight before going on a cruise?”  Well, I’m a skinny mofo, and I want to be a little bigger.  The only way to do that is by eating lots of good, healthy food over these next four weeks.  I’ve gained 18 pounds in 30 days before, but this time I’m going to do it in a much healthier fashion.
• Hit the weights hard three times a week – If I’m going to get bigger, I need to lift heavy weights with consistency, so I’ll be working out at a gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
• Sleep more - I never sleep – I stay up way too late answering emails and writing articles (like this one), which is great for the site but terrible for my health.  I’m never going to get bigger and stronger if I don’t take care of myself.

Rather than fill up this blog with daily ups and down of my 28 day challenge, I’ll be posting my journal in the 28 Day Challenge on the Nerd Fitness message boards.  I’ll be posting my meals and complete workouts on there so you can follow exactly what I’m doing.  Yup, this is you getting early admission into the GREATEST MESSAGE BOARD EVER!!

Warning: the previous statement was a blatant lie.

Join Me.

Starting today, I want you to make a pledge to do two or three things that level up your life with 100% consistency over the next 28 days.

I’ll be taking a picture of myself and all of my measurements this morning (bicep, chest, legs, waist, and weight).  I encourage you to do the same – even if it’s just a picture and your weight.  – You don’t have to show anyone your pictures either – they’re more for you to see your results, but if you ARE okay with showing them that’s okay too.

Next, I want you to come up with a list of two or three obtainable goals or new habits you’d like to develop over the next month.  Preferably one diet related and one fitness related.  Don’t be too ambitious, but make sure your goals will be a challenge for you.

And then get it done, one day a time, for the next four weeks.

Why 28 days? Other than the fact that my vacation is four weeks from now…28 days is the perfect amount of time to see the start of great results (if you are completely devoted to the task at hand), and it’s also the perfect amount of time to develop a new habit according to Leo over at ZenHabits (one of my favorite sites).  Also, 28 days is enough time to build up some serious momentum going into April and May – which leaves plenty of time for you to get ready for the summer and swimsuit season.

Join the NF boards and start your own thread/diary on the 28-Day Challenge section along with me. Public accountability is incredible for keeping you going when you feel like giving up; plus, you’ll have a community of people to lean on when you’re not strong (cue “Lean on Me”).

Note: when you sign up for a new account, it should email you an activation link.  If it doesn’t email you anything after an hour or two (and it’s not in your spam), please email me at steve@nerdfitness.com and I’ll make your account active.  Still trying to work out the kinks.

Win a Prize – OMG!

To make things interesting – I’m going to award a prize to the person who is the most consistent and a prize to the person who has the best results (biggest transformation – either weight loss or muscle gain…this is where pictures really help).

Please note: I’ll be picking my winners from people that post their goals and results on the NF message boards and people who announce their acceptance of the challenge on their own website and track progress there.  If you’re in, let me know a.s.a.p!

Now, because this is all on the honor system, and because I’m broke as hell – the prize isn’t going to be “1000 dollars cash!” or anything like that…OR IS IT!?!?!

(no, it’s not.)

I was thinking more along the lines of a Nerd Fitness t-shirt (not even available yet!) and an iTunes gift card. Maybe I’ll even pick you up a souvenir down in Mexico when we stop in Cozumel…I hope you like comically oversized sombreros!

To preempt your questions or concerns that this 28-day challenge isn’t very well organized or thought-out, that’s because it ISN’T very well organized or thought-out.  I came up with this idea at 11:15PM last night when I should have been going to bed, so cut me some slack

Alright, let’s do this:

• Post your goals on the Nerd Fitness message boards (preferred method).
• Post your goals on your own website and send me a link (I’ll take it).
  

Don’t forget to take a picture of yourself today, and another picture of yourself at the end.  I encourage you to write down as much as possible, every single day – it will help you stay on track – and it will make it easier for me to pick you as a winner!

Let’s see what we can get done in 28 days as a fellowship.  I don’t care if I’m the only one doing it or if all one-thousand of us are leveling up during the month of March…either way I plan on kicking ass and getting stronger and healthier.

How bout you?

-Steve

###

If you liked this post and you want to keep flexing your brains and biceps, please sign up for the RSS Feed of Nerd Fitness or get NF posts daily via email.

photo: JeffPro57

If you enjoyed this article, sign up for blog updates and free giveaways by joining the Rebel Army Email Newsletter! You can also subscribe via RSS feed.

Please read the Nerd Fitness DISCLAIMER | WP Premium theme by PSD to XHTML
Copyright 2010 Nerd Fitness. All rights reserved

• Start Here
• About
• Rebel Fitness Guide
• Favorite Posts
• Join the Rebel Army
• How-To Videos
• Message Boards