Selling Myself Short

About a week ago, maybe 2 weeks, anyway, David Goggins did a live social media challenge, 1,000 pushups in 1 hour. I knew he would do it. I knew I couldn’t. I wanted to watch. He challenged everyone to join in and choose a number that seemed impossible for them. He didn’t care if it was 25. I chose 50. I’ve never done that many in one day, ever. Now, I’d challenged myself to do 50 in an hour. Because of a bad back, knees, and ankles, the floor is not really a viable option. I may make it down but making it back up is a dicey proposition. I wanted to be challenged not crippled. So, 50 pushups against the wall in an hour. I did it, in 30 minutes. I didn’t try to do more because I was feeling it.

This started me thinking in an unexpected direction… maybe not so unexpected. I do 10 reps including my 3 physical therapy exercises, which all work on core muscles. I then do 7 upper body exercises and the pushups. If I could do 50 pushups in 30 minutes, why can’t I do more than 2-4 reps of my workout routines every day? Game on.

By doing a 10-count rep and taking a break, I’m performing 6-7 reps throughout the day. I’m better at sitting up straight. I’m not losing weight, but fat is disappearing. Cool. Didn’t expect that. The arm I messed up is straighter than it was when I started. Cool. Didn’t expect that either.

I’ve been selling myself short, thinking I couldn’t do things because of my physical limitations. I know better than to go wild, but I’ve discovered I can push myself a little harder than I have. Like Goggins, I hate exercise, but I like the results I’m seeing because of my exercises.