the 1, 2, 3 getting started plan

With today being the first of the month, and the first day of the 2nd half of the year, I thought I'd share a simple idea to get started down the road to fitness. Here's a simple routine to get off the couch and work lots of different muscle groups in a short amount of time:

Push-ups, Sit-ups, Squats

• July 1st - do one of each. That's it, just one.
• July 2nd - do two of each.
• July 3rd - do three of each.
• and so on.
• Each day, add one more of each exercise to what you did yesterday - you'll do the same number of each exercise as the day of the month.
• It doesn't matter if you do them all in one set, so long as you do them all on that day. For example, on the 20th:
• do 20 in a row, all in one set. Or,
• do as many as you can, take a short rest, and then continue. Take as many breaks as needed to get to 20. Or,
• do 10 in the morning and 10 in the evening.
• As long as you 20 of each exercise on the 20th, you're on target!

The first few days may seem easy. That's OK - half of the battle is mental, and simply getting motivated to do the exercises is just as important as the physical exercises themselves. You're changing habits and building routines, which isn't easy in and of itself. Just relax and keep at it - it'll get physically demanding soon enough.

By the end of the month you'll be doing 31 push-ups, 31 sit-ups, and 31 squats in a single day. (and you will have done 496 of each during the course of the month!) This will be a great starting point to build from next month.

Remember - the goal is long-term health and fitness. You're not going to completely change your body this month; you're simply making forward progress down the path of creating a better you. Six months from now, a year from now, 5 years from now - it won't matter whether you started with 1 push-up or with 100; if you exercise consistently you'll be "fit".

Now go get after it!

- Chris Butterworth

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