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The John P. Health Challenge – Are You Up For It?

workout
John P.

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workoutHey folks, next week I’ve committed myself to starting a new Health Challenge. Well, technically I stole that name from Jack Finlayson, our CEO at Layered Tech. You see, every year Jack runs a Health Challenge for the folks at work. It works about like this…

  • First of all, participants are all on the honor system. You can choose to participate or not, but if you are disqualified then you have to admit it and you aren’t eligible for the prizes that come at the end.
  • There are some exercise requirements.
  • There are some dietary requirements.
  • It lasts for about 12 weeks.

At the end of the challenge, whoever has shown the most notable improvement wins! So, starting this coming Sunday, April 12, 2009, I’m going to be kicking off my own little health challenge right here for readers of my blog. Complete with glory and prizes! You’ve got the rest of this week to prepare, but then the progress begins next week!

Personally, I am starting out at 188.8 pounds and 22.5% bodyfat. My number one goal is to lose inches off my waist which is 34″. Ideally I would like to have a 31″ waist.

Here are the Rules

  1. Almost completely eliminate sugar from the diet. No more candy, Coke, or other sugary drinks. In fact, nothing but water! One Coke and one candy bar per week are allowed.
  2. Decrease food portions by 40-50% for all meals. Instead of eating whatever looks good, stop eating after you feel full. (Overall, I want to consume half the calories I used to.)
  3. Snack all you want, but only fruit or nuts are allowed!
  4. Exercise every single day. This doesn’t mean long exercise daily. It means frequent bursts of exercise. Pushups and situps as many times a day as you can squeeze them in. Whatever you are capable of, just lots of it!

In a few days I’ll give you my Marine Corps style workout schedule. Perhaps I’ll even video a few of the exercises guaranteed to get you in shape… That’s it! Now, some of you are going to have to follow a couple extra rules if you decide to go along with me here.

  • If you are a big beer drinker, you are going to have to treat it the way I treat Coke. Cut it out! Only one or two per week!
  • If you are a smoker, I would prefer to see you quit altogether, but at a minimum you must cut down by 50% during the Health Challenge.

My Progress

As I’m going through the health challenge I’m going to report back right here on my progress pretty regularly. I’m also going to tweet periodically about it, so if you aren’t following me on Twitter, feel free.

Date Pullups Squat Thrusts Pushups Arm Curls Treadmill Weight Body Fat
April 6 35 34 reps / 60 lbs. 188.8 lbs. 22.5%
April 9 30 reps / 60 lbs. 186.5 lbs. 22.1%
April 12 50 20 87 reps / 60 lbs. 185 lbs. 21.7%
April 15 80 57 reps / 60 lbs. 183 lbs. 21.5%
April 20 15 125 20 25 reps / 70 lbs. 182.4 lbs. 21.3%
April 25 50 181.1 lbs. 20.9%
April 29 15 50 56 75 reps / 60 lbs. 178.6 lbs. 20.4%
May 8 176 lbs. 20.1%
May 13 174.5 lbs. 19.2%
May 16 300 30 reps / 60 lbs. 174 lbs. 19%
May 22 30 75 reps / 60 lbs. 172.6 lbs. 19.1%
May 24 100 30 reps / 60 lbs. 172 lbs. 18.9%

How to Join the Health Challenge

If you’d like in on this Challenge, here’s what all you can do:

  • Drop your Twitter ID in the comments and I’ll follow you back (maybe you can follow each other too), as long as you promise to stick with it and give us all updates as well! Motivation is key people!
  • You can give updates here in the comments on this blog, or via Twitter, or on your OWN blog, but your progression must be documented in order to be eligible for any sort of prize at the end.

Right now I don’t know what the prizes will be, but I’ll think of something if anyone actually joins me here and completes the challenge!

One last thought. A program like this always works best with peer support. So even if you don’t join in, how about sharing this with other people on your blog, or Facebook or Twitter or whatever. I’m committed, but I could use all the partners I can get!

Updates

Comments

  7. My challenge went half way through. Fell ill, lost path, now back on to getting back to the challenge with more enthusiasm. Did legs today. Planning a diet now.

  9. Fas,

    Most people are giving updates daily on Twitter. If you get TweetDeck and set up a search, you can see the updates by checking for #HealthChallenge. Also, I gave another big update on a new post today…

    John

  14. I didn’t workout today. Not in a position to workout today either but I am going to workout after remembering the challenge. Gonna do some pull ups and use a elastic rope to do various exercises.

  15. Great idea. Good luck with the workouts/diets. Why don’t you come down to the Boxing Gym for a free workout. It is good… And it does get tougher and tougher w/ age.

  16. Hey Fas, I just posted an update on the blog. But I’m going to keep updating my weight and stuff on the chart here every few days as well as keep Twittering about the progress. It’s going well, and next week I intend to put out a workout video to show you guys my routine.

    Cheers,

    John P.

  21. A bunch of folks are giving updates on Twitter. If you use TweetDeck you can set up a search for #HealthChallenge and you can see the progress people are reporting there as well. :-)

    I’m updating my progress in the chart above ever few days too so everyone can see how I’m doing.

    John P.

  23. I am seeing this a little late but I am in. My goal is 25 – 30lbs in 12 weeks. Is that reasonable? Hmmmmmm don’t know. @bnordo

  25. Did not workout anything today. Going to do some pulls ups in all types of positions seen on youtube.

    No one really bothers to update? I hope you guys are working out.

  30. Great idea! I’m joining. My goals: Eat less (as prescribed above), eat healthier, double exercise, lose 25 pounds in 12 weeks. Follow me on Twitter – I’m @Sherryness

  33. My goal is to bulk up. Get rid of my stomach and make 4 pack abs. Its not possible to make 6 packs in 12 weeks.

  38. Ok gang, I think I followed everyone on Twitter who dropped a message up to this point. I’m so glad to have you all joining the health challenge! We’re going to have a great time keeping one another motivated and energized!

    Over the next week I’ll start putting out blog posts to help everyone with getting in better shape. I’m going to demonstrate my workout routine for you guys on video… I’m also going to give you helpful tips on eating and things you can do to supplement your workout routine.

    Now, there is just one thing! I’m very happy to see that you guys are going to participate, but you left out one important detail! I’d like to hear what each of your goals are for the next 12 weeks. This is very important! If your goal is to do nothing, you’ll definitely achieve it. So let’s shoot for something a little higher, shall we? :-)

    John P.

  46. Oh man, oh man. What am I getting myself in to? I have been feeling the itch to do this, and I even hopped on my Wii Fit for the first time in several months… What the hell? I’ll do it! …do you have any pointers for somebody who’s never really done this before? I feel overwhelmed! @hadak

  49. I look forward to this competition and I want to join in, I’ve been looking for the right motivation to get into shape and this is exactly what I’m looking for. My twitter tag is @SelfUpgrade

  52. John i tried doing the exercises shown in the video i posted, they are really exhausting and it felt more hardwork then even doing cardio. I couldn’t do more then a set!!

  54. This sounds like an excellent plan! I’m long overdue a good detox so I think I’m going to give this a go too!

    I don’t have a twitter page but I’ll update next week. :)

  56. Can you please elaborate on the Marine Corps workout? There are quite a few good videos on youtube on working out.

  60. That is a fantastic link. I had not heard of Vince before, so thanks for sharing it! I’m going to definitely give this workout a try. It’s very similar to my Marine Corps workout with a couple of slight improvements.

    John P.

  61. I totally want to do this with you guys!! I have a rotten stinkin’ killer migraine today – so I can’t hardly even think about any of this right now! I’ve been meaning to get my tush back on track, though, and hopefully you guys will be just the push I need! Better write myself a note so I remember to revisit this when the DEVIL gets out of my brain!!

  63. Guys any updates on today? Did heavy workout (according to me) on chest and little of triceps. Continuing to eat healthy food and avoiding junk and fast food.

  65. So guys whats the progress? I avoided all types of junk food today. Will do pull-ups and stretching exercises today. I had done legs and biceps yesterday. I had lots of protein food today to stay on track of a healthy diet. What about you guys, please update what you did today, so we can keep a good track :)

  68. I’ll join you in this, John! Except I started challenging myself at least a week ago. Do I get to count that in my progress, haha? :)

  69. John, today itself I told myself about dieting. I am glad you started this challenge. I am in. I am following you on twitter.

    My aim is to bulk up a bit and increase mass, both are the same thing, LOL. Need to cut flab a bit and to get my dream 6 packs, I am considering swimming. Motivation is the key. There are a few videos which I watch which motivate me alot. One is of Jakub Hašpl, whose video working out at the age of 16 years is something which makes me go running to the gym. You can find the video on youtube.

  70. Great idea! I’ll take the John P. challenge!

    I’ll throw together some kind of way to log my activity and post back.